94 replies to this topic

[PrejudiceSucks]

All I can say is that the games of yesteryear are no less full of sexual and violent content, but now the graphics to show these things are better, that's all.

All I can say is that in my opinion it's far better to allow sex (which is legal at 16 in the UK) in games than violence (which is obviously illegal at any age above ten).

That's just my opinion though. I don't think that an increase in sex in games will bring about a massive influx of STDs but then again I don't think that taking violence away from games will cut crime figures. It'd be nice, but it's not likely.

Violence in games is basically used as a scapegoat by pretty much any American parent who couldn't manage to keep their mentally challenged child away from their guns. Possibly actually making parents more responsible in a country where weapons are easy to come by is a higher priority than banning games.

Twelve year old kids who play GTA and then go on a killing rampage with their father's pistol are obviously not stable in the first place. I've been playing games for over ten years now and I have never taken my dad's cricket bat out of the house and smacked a bystander in the face with it. Nor, after playing games containing sex, have I then gone out on a sexual rampage to, I dunno, Ikon and Diva (rest in peace) and picked up some girls.

People can't really use games which are purely fictional as a reason for violence when you see far worse every day on the television. If the news yesterday was turned into a game, with the amount of blood around it would be an 18+ game. That's just the way it is though.

[A. J. Raffles]

Right, but are you saying that the games you play have no influence whatsoever on you? That can't be true, otherwise you wouldn't be playing them, right?
I'm only saying that games can be potentially harmful. Obviously you can't shield your children from everything, but in those few areas in which you might be able to, shouldn't you at least try to protect them? And really, saying that a child who takes a game too seriously must have been crazy to begin with won't do. Because if he hadn't played that particular computer game he might not have gone on a killing spree with grandpa's gun. Then again, he might have done it anyway, of course. But are you going to issue labels "Warning! This game is only for the emotionally stable. If that doesn't apply to you and you decide to play it anyway - tough luck."? You can't assume that everybody has common sense and is emotionally stable, just because in an ideal world everybody would be.

[DeathDude]

Really even if say violence and sex went down in games, it may have a slight difference but I  doubt it would make a huge impact on a grand scale. Definitely when I hear about the cases that see kids or adults saying, well blah blah I blame GTA for this kid going on a rampage, car jacking etc. Just really is something that makes you wonder about parents indeed scapegoating games. Really some games definitely send out a message and obviously not everyone is going to follow it, some will and that's the scary part especially if that game is a violent one and well if their had been enforcement of sorts or if the parents had been paying attention, little Johnny wouldn't be playing that game.

[DannyMc252]

I have never followed any game messages.. apart from 'Kill all enemies in the next level' just so I can complete the game.
Im too busy playing games to follow any lifestyle emssages they give out..

[DakaSha]

A. J. Raffles, on Oct 31 2005, 08:30 PM, said:

Right, but are you saying that the games you play have no influence whatsoever on you? That can't be true, otherwise you wouldn't be playing them, right?
I'm only saying that games can be potentially harmful. Obviously you can't shield your children from everything, but in those few areas in which you might be able to, shouldn't you at least try to protect them? And really, saying that a child who takes a game too seriously must have been crazy to begin with won't do. Because if he hadn't played that particular computer game he might not have gone on a killing spree with grandpa's gun. Then again, he might have done it anyway, of course. But are you going to issue labels "Warning! This game is only for the emotionally stable. If that doesn't apply to you and you decide to play it anyway - tough luck."? You can't assume that everybody has common sense and is emotionally stable, just because in an ideal world everybody would be.

yeah but if you look at it that way then you can say lets forbid (or forbid for certain groups):

Movies
Novels
Guns
Kitchen Knives
Shards of Glass
Automobiles
Gasoline
Money
The Internet
Martial Arts
Religion

...

uh the list goes on

[A. J. Raffles]

Why do you all seem to think of violence in computer games as inevitable? It isn't, you know.

[DakaSha]

id be pissed if all games were violent... the moment i see Mario bashing open Bowsers head with a block  and his brains flying through the room and splashing the Princess im gonna flip...

But if im going to play a game like Resident Evil... then id surly be pissed if i defeated the Zombies by jumping on thier head too.

i just think violence should be existant when it fits to the game.

what IS sad is the fact that yes... many developers try to sell thier games by making them as violent as possible.... but i dont think that way because im scared that some kid is going to flip... i feel that way because it doesnt have anything to do with the art of game design

[taikara]

One reason I loved the KQ series is because although you could at time take violent methods of solving puzzles, you were rewarded MORE for figuring out the non-violent approach.

Brilliant, really.

Raffles is right, it's not inevitable, and nor is it necessary to include violence or sex to make a good game.

Personally, I don't think that the damage is outright except in the case of already unstable children... Few children are going to go out and grab a weapon and start killing people after playing a game. What's so damaging about graphic violence and sex in video games (or any entertainment media) is that it warps perspective in developing children to accept these things as normal, and even worse, as entertainment.

I mean, how many of you have watched shows like Jack*** and laughed at it? If you think about it, there's really nothing funny about the show. What people are laughing at is the fact that other people are getting hurt. It's self-inflicted violence, but it's still violence.

And for that matter, how many men have treated their girlfriends like dirt sexually because of the perspective on sex they've developed from being exposed to things such as porn? And don't say none, because it happens, I know this for a fact, and it's not that they're bad guys, or that they mean to be jerks, but that they expect their significant others to behave a certain way, when it reality, it just doesn't happen that way.

[DeathDude]

Kinda reminds me of thief too where it pays to be stealthy instead of being violent which will just make the game much more harder to beat and play.

I don't see it as inevitable for games, the problem that lies right now is those sorts of qualities sell games. It's a drawing factor for gamers, that's why games like GTA sell or even a game like DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball sells. Then we end up with like half a dozen clones of these types of games and bam, all for the money, if it's contreversial in some way, it sells. Just look at the ruckus Jack Thompson has caused over San Andreas, ya think it raised awareness? Well it did, but it also no doubt helped gamers or other people who weren't planning on buying the game, take a closer look, helping rockstar indirectly.

[Stebbi]

sure blame it on the video games be an Canalis Analis i dont mind but they never say anything about the internet... the internet has far worse violent and not too forget tha porn sites(they are freakin everywhere)!!!!!.... and those pic's tom linked they are nothing compared to the video's on the internet... i have seen a guy cutting of his balls, hostage executed, a guy crushing his finger of with a chisel.....im f***ing 15 years old..... i think the video game is the least of your worries.

[Abi79]

Stebbi, on Nov 1 2005, 06:42 PM, said:

i have seen a guy cutting of his balls, hostage executed, a guy crushing his finger of with a chisel.....im f***ing 15 years old..... i think the video game is the least of your worries.

Cutting his balls ? They are crazy, crazy I tell you !!!!

[Tulac]

Yup there are much worse things on the net, but you can avoid them...

[DeathDude]

Yup that's for sure it can be avoided, there are definitely things on the net that is very bad, but considering video games get more attention, this is one of the reasons it's getting more exposure.

[PrejudiceSucks]

Ah yes, violence isn't inevitable and nor is sex, but on the other hand, relationships and also conflict is what drives pretty much every story ever made.

If games are ever to evolve then they need to include more of a story and probably more relationships. It's just a shame that the current way that the computer games industry tries to show these things is by including graphic violence (sex is a lot more uncommon in games, unless you actually go looking for games with it in).

It'd be nice to have great games with stories that were complex etc. but for the time being games are a business investment and not something that people make for fun.

Look at the death of Introversion for example. That's a company that'll go bust soon as its games were very different from the standard market. As their leader said, it saddens him that people will "pay forty pounds for licenced turd".

That's the way it'll be for a while though, I imagine.

[A. J. Raffles]

Stebbi, on Nov 1 2005, 03:42 PM, said:

sure blame it on the video games be an Canalis Analis i dont mind but they never say anything about the internet... the internet has far worse violent and not too forget tha porn sites(they are freakin everywhere)!!!!!.... and those pic's tom linked they are nothing compared to the video's on the internet... i have seen a guy cutting of his balls, hostage executed, a guy crushing his finger of with a chisel.....im f***ing 15 years old..... i think the video game is the least of your worries.

OK, fair enough, but you're missing one important point: sure, there's that sort of disgusting things on the web, but you actually have to LOOK for them in order to find them. You wouldn't just stumble across something like that by mistake by clicking a link on Amazon, would you?