Oh boy i should read the whole post before i hit reply^^
In this i case i dont think its lost athmosphere, cause i always got this moments while playing Singleplayer SA where i had my laugh p.e. driving down the road some passenger jumps of the street to escape my car and got wrecked up by a big truck, sounds simple and violent but its just the game i definitly wont laugh if something like this happen in reality.
imo thats the thing that make GTA such a great game its close to reality and you can be any kind of person you want to from a mass murder to the gently guy that helps an old lady across the street, anything is possible but it stays virtual.
As long kids got a good education and parents that care for them i believe they wont have any problems to differ reality from virtuality. But sadly there are too many kids out there who dont have responsible parents.