10 replies to this topic

[Owozifa]

I happened to see these two articles one right after the other, and found it a little eye rolling.

http://news.yahoo.co...topstories.html

http://news.cnet.com...gh/?tag=nl.e497

The first one is definitely the worst, the typical media oddness, though the idea that World of Warcraft is a "violent" game seems almost silly to me.

The second article I did read with a more open mind, if only because I honestly share some of the same opinions, but it still really...irked me somehow. Maybe just in how it talks about The Last of Us trailer like it's truly this shameless font of violence, when I actually thought it was one of the few video games I've seen that has real consequences to its violence. I guess maybe I wish they'd shown part of the game that wasn't that, but compared with many films I've seen I did not find it to be overly violent.

It's just weird that this specter haunts video games still, even among people who seem like they should be a bit more nuanced in their analysis.

[Indy aka Rex]

You would think they'd poo-poo all over The Road and Book of Eli considering the amount of violence in those was as bad (if not worse) than what was on that trailer...

[Fahrenhype]

When people gripe about violence in video games, I feel like I have time warped back to the 90's. It isn't like games succeed on the strength of violence and little else, or State of Emergency would be bigger than GTA. Likewise, "torture porn" horror movies trolling for reactions aren't held in the same regard as a David Cronenberg film. Just the same old story. I'd be more impressed by a mainstream article discussing how games that used to be about horror, adventure, or stealth are now all third person shooters with cover mechanics.

[Raughn]

I'd be more impressed by a mainstream article discussing how games that used to be about horror, adventure, or stealth are now all third person shooters with cover mechanics.

Seriously. That's the real problem. I understand the violence issue emerging again, because the gore did seem to escalate with this E3. But I think that can be blamed on publishers and developers trying to get attention when everyone is making the same damn game.

"But our game with guns and waist-high walls and recharging health and swearing has this slow-mo head asplosion."

And while The Last of Us is clearly aiming to bring some (comparative) gravity to video game violence, it's hard for casual observers to keep from lumping it in with everything else that includes meetings between bullets and faces.

[borstalshark]

You would think they'd poo-poo all over The Road and Book of Eli considering the amount of violence in those was as bad (if not worse) than what was on that trailer...

I haven't seen Book of Eli, but I would have to disagree on The Road. I thought the end of the Last of Us demo was maybe a bit excessive in its brutality. Not that is was more violent than the book/movie, but in the intent of the protagonists and the contrast in their individual willingness to commit murder. Although we still lack the context of the situation, blasting the face off of an enemy lying helpless on the ground begging for mercy is contrary to the The Road's character's clinging to their last shreds of humanity. The man would not have shot that guy because the boy would not have allowed it. Hell, the boy may have even insisted on giving their assailant a can of peaches before they stripped him naked and walked away...

Comparisons aside, I was really impressed by the demo and will be eagerly anticipating this game's arrival.

[Owozifa]

Well one of the interesting things I think could be better explained about The Last of Us, is during the part where the shotgun is aimed at a guy's face there is a reticule on screen. It's possible that the outcome of stuff like that is totally up to the player.

That's the trouble sometimes with interactive sorts of narratives. It's really hard to tell the breadth of what you can do from just the video.

[borstalshark]

I was thinking the same thing, that the outcome of that situation and others like it are probably entirely up to the player. I'm sure it was played that way for effect, and from the sounds of it, they got the desired response. Both in the cheers from the crowd, and also the controversy and exposure.

[Jave]

The part that I find strange is that the spectacle of violence being incited in the second article (the first one is pure sensationalism and not worth anyone's time) is really just on the periphery of the game itself. Games are no more violent now than they've even been in terms of actual player interaction, they've just gotten better at displaying the consequences. If you walk up to a guy and push A to finish him off, there really isn't that much difference between curb-stomping him or casting firaga.

People who freak out about the visual spectacle are completely missing the point, but so are the fanboys who rush in to defend it.

That said, the spectacle of violence is escalating, and personally, I'm not crazy about it. Not because I have any sort of moral issue with it, but because of what it says about how the people making and/or marketing the game see their audience. It's like, someone in charge has decided that the way to get me interested in their game is to shove blood tits and swearing at me, as opposed to... say... I dunno... interesting gameplay systems or refined mechanics.

It's pandering to the lowest common denominator, and then making the general assumption that said group represents the whole of gaming. I can't help but feel insulted by it.

[/my$0.02]

[Owozifa]

I kind of feel that way about movie trailers as well. I often find myself turned off of going to see movies just because the trailer marketing department everywhere these days seems to pattern them after Transformers half the time. Here, come see this movie like Transformers with our bass rumble! Problem is I don't want to see that, so I ignore it and then find out later that the trailer was just making it out to be something it's not anyway.

[Jave]

Probably my favorite example of that was there was this movie called "Nothing," which the trailer seriously went out of it's way to make seem like a sci-fi horror film, and a mediocre one at that, which I then reluctantly watched and realized it was actually a comedy, and a really funny one at that.

Edited by Jave, 08 June 2012 - 05:00 PM.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

"...the violent videogame World of Warcraft...."

jesus christ what is wrong with the media.