Warren Spector: "The ultraviolence has to stop"

[Psychotic]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2 ... as-to-stop

My only opinion on the article: What a load of shit.

Just because video games are becoming more realistic does not mean we "love" the idea of a guy's head being cut off. His definition of "ultra-violence" is something that's always been in video games, the only difference is our capabilities of showing it have improved so it looks more detailed.

I don't believe in violence for the sake of violence (such as Man Hunt) but most games I've played don't promote the idea that it's fun to shoot someone in the head. It's not one of their main marketing points, in my opinion.

[James]

I've read this article previously. I agree with him, gore and Hollywood plague action games. Have you ever sat down and wondered about Uncharted?, Drake is a mass murderer as a result of the main entertainment hook given to you. I feel the industry is stagnating and uses violence as an easy way out.

Look at DayZ and Thieflikes (DX, Dishonoured etc) these are action games with a ton of other mechanics that do not force you to kill anyone and still delivers the entertainment. I audibly frowned when they showed shooting in Watch_Dogs and wonder how its full product will be.

[Psychotic]

I haven't played these games, which is why I say "most games I've played".

I agree that some games are excessively violent and that the "Hollywood way" is to over-dramatize everything, but I refuse to believe that we're made to love it, I refuse to believe that the majority of gamers "love" violence. I think games have desensitized us to the idea of violence but I think the media has done this more-so, not only that but being desensitized to violence does not mean we love it.

I'm not saying there doesn't need to be less violent games, just that the majority aren't "ultra-violent" and I do not believe that the majority of people "love" violence. I also think it's not up to the game industry to teach people the difference between right and wrong and that, despite the ever-increasing violent nature in games, I still find such acts in real life horrendously disgusting. That, I think, is what should be the primary difference between real-life and fantasy.

There's a huge difference between watching somebodies guts get ripped out in a video game and then seeing the same thing happen in real life. I believe video games desensitize people on the same field as a movie because of the fact they're not real. They're not 100% immersive and so you can "break away" from them at any time, but to see and do the same acts in real-life is non-comparable. I've known people who have thought the prospect of war and killing another man was "fun" until they actually did it.

I've always liked the idea of games having "realistic" graphics but at the end of the day, a method to break from the fantasy will always be needed because yes, once you can no longer tell the difference between what is real and what is not, then there is a problem. I don't think that pinnacle has been reached, however.

I also find it really hard to listen to this from a guy who helped create plenty of violent games. He argues that the violence in Deus Ex was designed to "shock" but at the end of the day, you didn't need to have people become mutilated into gibs when you cut them or shot them with explosives. It wasn't necessary and it didn't really add any amount of "shock" value, as far as I'm concerned.

[e] I wish I could condense half of this post.

[Siva]

dgaf

Spector is a p.cool guy but I have no idea what he is talking about

People enjoy the fantasy of killing other people, not because we are all psychopaths, because it is incredibly difficult to get away with killing other people in reality (or guilt or morals or something idk)

That said I only play 2 videogames atm and neither of them are anywhere near reality anyway

[James]

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1I4AgX/ww ... ce-on-guns

[Psychotic]

I'm going to use Protocol as my go-to guy for stating my point in the too long; didn't read formats since he sums up my opinions quite nicely.

Miiyamoto's opinions are quite valid, in my opinion. I do believe there are many games that rely on violence for their marketing, their gameplay, their storyline, their theme, etc. I don't necessarily think that the "ultraviolence" in these games is causing bad effects overall, but I do believe that more variety might be in order.

[Psychotic]

If you want a truly grand example of Hollywood glorifying death and violence, look no further than The Final Destination series, or any other recent "horror" movie.

These horrible excuses for movies are nothing but glory violence and death. Their plot is poor and they have no real emotion utter than violence. There's no point in them, the only thing they really show is people dying in gruesome ways but for no real reason why.

Horror movies are great, and violence can add to the plot, but when it has no point and is merely used as the selling point for the entire movie (as opposed to some actual storyline) then yeah, that's taking it a bit too far.