Violent video games

[Madeline]

I was at a friends house the other day and he was playing this violent and bloody video game called God of War 2 where the main character is totally evil. He goes around killing heroes of greek mythology and the battles are bloody. He had told me that his nephew (9 yrs old) let him borrow the game. How are kids able to get a hold of these games? and should kids play these type of games? and what impact does it have on them?

Here's an example of the game where the main character kills Perseus and Perseus dies violently, which I found very disturbing.

YouTube - God of War II - Perseus

Love,
Madeline

[Tycoon]

You think that that's a violent video game? Lol.
YouTube - Gears of War Chainsaw Massacre

[Halofan48]

Ya, there out there. Yet, in order to buy mature games, you need to be 18 or have your parent with you.

Another game you might not like is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
You play Darth Vaders secret apprentice. You go around killing storm troopers, jedi, etc. You have amazing fore powers. Since you're a sith, you are technically evil. Looks like a fun game with a great plot though. I Can't wait for it to come out

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Madeline I was at a friends house the other day and he was playing this violent and bloody video game called God of War 2 where the main character is totally evil. He goes around killing heroes of greek mythology and the battles are bloody. He had told me that his nephew (9 yrs old) let him borrow the game. How are kids able to get a hold of these games? and should kids play these type of games? and what impact does it have on them? Here's an example of the game where the main character kills Perseus and Perseus dies violently, which I found very disturbing. YouTube - God of War II - Perseus Love, Madeline

First, God of War 2 is rated M for mature. The parents should look at why their 9 year old is playing a game that is rated for 18 year olds and up.

Second, Kratos is not "evil." He was a plaything of Zeus and Athena and was not happy about it. He seeks revenge by siding with the Titans in an attempt to regain their power by taking down Mt. Olympus. The story is really quite good and so is the game.

Third, if you think that game violence is bad then you better brace yourself for Grand Theft Auto IV, which comes out next month.

I think many people see the term "video game" and think it is for kids. It's not. All of us Atari, Nintendo, and Commodore 64 gamers grew up and we still play video games as adults. We want adult games and, although reluctantly, the publishers put some out for us. A kid getting his hands on a M rated game is no different than getting his hands on a porno magazine or a porno movie and, quite frankly, I am a bit annoyed that my game choices are so severely limited due to the public perception that "games are for kids."

That perception is the sole reason that none of the gaming consoles will license X-rated games, which means that all my video game violence and sex is forever limited to the M-rated offerings. There is a big audience for adult games, as is proven by the GTA franchise. I just wish the game console makers would get off their high horses and allow us adults to indulge in adult entertainment and stop catering solely to rugrats and their lazy parents.

Hopefully the anticipated, record-breaking sales of GTAIV will help push the genre of adult video games to the next level.

[Halofan48]

There are a few games that have a Very large rating. Like the original Man Hunt 2. I've also seen a playboy mansion game (not in gameplay, just the case at a game store) and of course there is no way a minor could get that.

Also, go onto any MMO, you'll find people in their 60's !!!! No joke, i've run into a few.

[JaneDoe321]

I don't like kids having access to violent video games (I'm less worried, but still unthrilled, about inappropriate sexual content, but my younger kids all think the opposite gender has cooties, whereas they have no qualms about pretending to kill people in their imaginary games so my worries skew to the violence side a bit more).

"Should" they? Not in my opinion. I think we absolutely desensitize kids to violence at an early age. I also don't let them watch about 99.975% of the shows even on "children's" stations.

Should games like that be *available*, yes. Adults should be able to choose their own recreation. The real problem is too many damned lazy parents throwing whatever their kids want at them so they don't actually have to parent, IMO.

[Compugasm]

I've always wondered how the violent games issue played out in Star Trek. I've seen the kids on the show in the holodecks. Being in a holographic world, is so far past manipulating an avatar in EverQuest.

Quote by: Muckraker I am a bit annoyed that my game choices are so severely limited due to the public perception that "games are for kids." That perception is the sole reason that none of the gaming consoles will license X-rated games, which means that all my video game violence and sex is forever limited to the M-rated offerings.

Good point.

[prejudged_Fire]

Grand Theft Auto.

A previous thread that I gave my opinion in. I'm not starting this all over again! (Even though I'll probably get sucked in eventually..)

[Compugasm]

Games are to this generation, as jazz was to our grandparents and television to our parents. I find it wildly humorous (and perhaps a little sad) that I am far more interested in the economy of a virtual world than I am in the economy in the real world. Maybe it’s the subject matter or presentation. If Econ 101 in college had been presented as a game, maybe it would have caught my interest and I would have graduated.

World of Warcraft, EverQuest, etc... are violent games, but they have real economics behind them. For example, Eve-Online has a full time economist, like Alan Greenspan. The press release says it best:

EVE Online may be set in the future, but the skills needed to play are rooted in the real world of today. Players operate vast corporations whose shares are traded in-game among players so economic strength and agility is key to their success. Just as entrepreneurs and executives rely on real-world economic indicators, EVE Online players need timely information and analysis of the in-game economy." - Hilmar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games.

I just saw a Chinese commercial about World of Warcraft. There was a tie-in between a the female band S.H.E, Coca-Cola, Apple Computer, and you were supposed to vote on three possible endings to the commercial with your mobile phone. In America, it seems to be a frequent occurance that games in general are mocked and the pastime of nerds. But in China it's the cool thing to do. To expand on what muckraker was saying, perceptions about what games are, who plays them, and how they are played needs to change.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Compugasm If Econ 101 in college had been presented as a game, maybe it would have caught my interest and I would have graduated. World of Warcraft, EverQuest, etc... are violent games, but they have real economics behind them. For example, Eve-Online has a full time economist, like Alan Greenspan.

I hear that. I made over $10,000 in 2001/2002 by "playing" Ultima Online in my spare time.

Unfortunately, the Bush ban on internet gambling has bled over to video games too. I suspect this is because they see the in-game currency as "chips" and since you can convert your dollars to in-game currency and back out then it is no different than online gambling.

This really annoys me but it isn't completely unfounded. I got a random Ultima Online bulk order deed one day. I crafted the items to fill the deed, turned it in at the local blacksmith, and was awarded a Verite Hammer, which I promptly posted on Ebay, where it sold for over $300.

Too bad our US government doesn't like young entrepreneurs...

[Compugasm]

Hopefully that will change. Unfortunately, the "gold farmers" in China are definately a setback which give the whole virtual to real economy a shady proposition. Heck, I'd love to get paid to play WoW all day. But I couldn't do it for $3.87 a day, for 12hrs/7days a week like they do in China.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Compugasm Hopefully that will change. Unfortunately, the "gold farmers" in China are definately a setback which give the whole virtual to real economy a shady proposition. Heck, I'd love to get paid to play WoW all day. But I couldn't do it for $3.87 a day, for 12hrs/7days a week like they do in China.

I wish the online games would just realize that, no matter how much they dislike it, the ingame economies always bleed over into real world economy. Wherever you have a "grind," or a rare item, you have people with money that don't want to do the grind or find the rare item. It is no different than the real world economy.

They should embrace it like Ultima Online did back in the day instead of banning it so that only the gold farmers in other countries profit.

A bit off-topic but I suppose it could spawn an interesting, violence-related topic in that sometimes the ingame economy will spur real live violence or revenge since the ingame economy has real world value. I would bet there are some people that have been punched, or worse, in real life for something they did in a MMORPG game. I know people have committed suicide over game issues before.

Here's an interesting one:
Couple's online gaming causes infant's death - News at GameSpot

Of course, I would argue that cases like this have to do with real life issues like addiction, mental illness, property loss, broken heart, more than they have to do with the fact that a video game was involved.

[JaneDoe321]

Yet another way Americans can subsidize and endorse Chinese work conditions.

At least WOW has a margin of "disconnection from reality" in that although mostly humanoid, the "enemy" are not all HUMAN, so some part of your brain should overlay the conditioning with "this is fantasy" ("Note to self: I will never really ride down the highway on my mechanical ostrich in search of a mythical talking waterspout while keeping an eye out for sentient cow-men on epic flying mounts..."). A lot of the first person shooters (I think that's what they're called?) strive for as much reality as possible (I suppose to kick in natural addiction-cementing endorphin rushes or something... heh). That is a tad more worrisome to me.

[Domino]

Personally, I think we should embrace martial skill in all its forms. I believe a society of trained killers will be a very peaceful society.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Domino Personally, I think we should embrace martial skill in all its forms. I believe a society of trained killers will be a very peaceful society.

<Gets out the tire pump and prepares to inflate some dragons>


Bubble Bobble reference for you youngsters.

Suggesting that video games can train one in this manner opens some very scary doors. Please don't do that. I like my video games and would prefer to not lose the debate stating that they are harmful.

[Domino]

Not only have video games been proven to train excellently (especially when combined with lifelike equipment), we are now designing deadly machines to be operated through a video game interface.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: Muckraker ... sometimes the ingame economy will spur real live violence or revenge since the ingame economy has real world value...

I just watched a presentation on virtual worlds, and the speaker talked about in-game rasism against female dwarfs. The reason, that dwarfs have a bonus for mining, and that is the preferred race of the Chinese gold farmers. So they're hunted.

Well, I just spent today rattling off a 3 page summary about a game proposal, asking for seed money. Lets hope it gets green lighted.

[Kite]

Quote by: JaneDoe321 Yet another way Americans can subsidize and endorse Chinese work conditions. At least WOW has a margin of "disconnection from reality" in that although mostly humanoid, the "enemy" are not all HUMAN, so some part of your brain should overlay the conditioning with "this is fantasy" ("Note to self: I will never really ride down the highway on my mechanical ostrich in search of a mythical talking waterspout while keeping an eye out for sentient cow-men on epic flying mounts..."). A lot of the first person shooters (I think that's what they're called?) strive for as much reality as possible (I suppose to kick in natural addiction-cementing endorphin rushes or something... heh). That is a tad more worrisome to me.

I am always a bit put-off when I am in the middle of shooting some guy in Counter-Strike and I hear some 12 year olds voice say 'what the f*ck you stole my kill'. However I remind myself that its not my problem, its the parents problem. If a parent cant bother themselves to tear their eyes away from a 10 year old rerun of 'Frasier' to see that their child is blowing some guys head off with an AWP, then they shouldn't be allowed to complain or blame the games whenever a kid does something violent.

[JaneDoe321]

I keep waffling on this one. On the one hand, I completely agree that "video games don't shoot people, kids shoot people" (paraphrasing...) On the other hand, it's been seen over and over that at least in America it is apparently *way* too much to ask that parents actually take some responsibility in supervising the creatures they spawn, and so the gov't has stepped in over and over again (car seat laws, helmet laws, warning stickers on music/movies, etc etc ad nauseum) and while the intent is (I think...) usually good, it never addresses the core issue- lazy mo-fo's reproducing

And I believe there is a *wide* chasm between apathetic parents and parents who have duly considered all sides of an issue and have made an informed decision to embrace a perhaps unpopular stance. The catch is, you can't really tell the difference on the face of it. And therein lies the problem I think...

[Piscean]

Hey I know lets go ahead and skip all the small talk along the way and just outlaw evry freedom we have left, were already atleast 50% there and every day new laws are made while one sheep points the finger at another and says, "outlaw what he's doing or someone will get hurt" 99% of society is begging to be even more controlled and held down hands tied and decicions taken away, it's awesome how fast we are approaching a 100% complacent helpless race of weaklings who live exactly how the government dictates and exactly as long as the govt. decides. I'm so excited to be a part of a planet full of weak pointless hopeless people begging for their own lives to be controlled by someone else. "Ohh wonderful greedy powermongers, please make us safe and sound, controll us, keep us stupid and take advantage of our existance in every way you like because we choose to be cattle instead of men" SWEET!!