Game Violence and Morals

[Nate]

GTA pushes my buttons since you can't really choose to do good if you wanted

That's not entirely true. The story missions force you to do questionable things, sure, but there's plenty of other stuff to do. I know III for example, you can get an ambulance and do rescue missions to help injured people, you can get a police car and chase down criminals, you can get a fire truck and put out burning buildings, or you can get a taxi and ferry people around. I know in Vice City you could also deliver pizzas.

I also don't think that a game where you killed people and then explored what jail is *really* like would sell well.

Someone didn't play NFL Crunchtime! I'd link the video here but there's no way I'd be able to.

[MomentOfInertia]

I tend to avoid games with a lot of sexual content or over the top gore. It just depends when it comes to violence. I have no issue at all being a soldier shooting down baddies that are invading your country. I do have more of an issue with killing hookers to get my money back.

This.

I don't play games with overly gory or overly violent content (there are a few exceptions though). I just find them to be boring or too try-hard - "Look at me! I'm a Mature game! Can't you tell?" I don't play games with strong sexual content or pro-occult practices. Things like throwing fireballs etc. no problems but summoning demons or the like? No thanks. I also don't play games where you're given free reign to do whatever you want (the Grand Theft Auto games etc.) I mean they let you do some pretty horrible stuff to characters and it seems too dark and pointless for my liking.

Have you looked at either of the Mercenaries games?

[Song_of_Storms]

[font="Garamond"][SIZE="2"]In Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana one of your party members has the ability to turn monsters into sweets. (candy, cakes, etc.) This attack also works on human bad guys (such as thieves and crossbow toting cowgirls). I draw the line at turning people into tasty edibles. D8<

That aside, I don't like seeing people get hurt. I don't care if they are evil and you are supposed to "hate" them, it's not normal to enjoy seeing someone suffer. That's just disgusting.

To semi-quote Pogo, sexual content "is RAMpant". Many the times I've played an enjoyable game only to have the entire series cheapened when a character comments on a characters bust. (really? I'm suppose to somehow find that humorous?) -or has a bath seen. (the intent is not innocent and makes me feel like a dirty old man... and I'm a 18 year old girl! Magic!) I love fighters, but DOA's infamous bouncing busts make me queasy every time. -and lets not forget Muramasa's huge-chested, bouncing busted kitsune. -.-* It seems like if a girl doesn't have a huge chest in a video-game, EVERYONE in game comments on it! DX [/SIZE][/font]

[TopazRaven]

I think you're playing the wrong video games them. xD Not all games have those issues. Then again I suppose I play games mostly meant for kids. Like Kingdom Hearts, Pokemon and Spyro. Though I also enjoy Okami, the Final Fantasy series and the Jak & Daxter series and all three of those do kind of have their moments, though I consider them quite minor.

[Yoshi]

Out of curiosity, how is watching someone play the game different from you playing it yourself?

It's probably more dangerous if something affects you when you aren't noticing it affecting you, than when you are paying attention to it!

In any case, ABlipinTime has my FULL respect...

In the end, the question has to be, what separates us from the world?

Of course, E-rated games like Pokemon, etc., aren't a problem as I see it--I hope you didn't get your concerns from something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo3vC1QP6Vo

Ha ha, just kidding!

Yoshi

[Nate]

In the end, the question has to be, what separates us from the world?

According to Jesus, loving others, which I don't see what that has to do with content of entertainment. ;D

[Yamamaya]

[quote="Nate (post: 1497635)"]According to Jesus, loving others, which I don't see what that has to do with content of entertainment. ]

And if you take Paul into account, not hiring prostitutes, having orgies, or generally being a greedy, envious, or taking advantage of others.

But that's for theology.

I don't judge people on their choices in video games as long as they don't try to claim that I'm as bad as a mass murderer for playing M rated games.

[blkmage]

Yeah, mass murdering is something that's even easier to do in various E rated games.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Yeah, mass murdering is something that's even easier to do in various E rated games.

Hey, Gandhi nuked me first!

[raider~joseph]

As for occult things I honestly don't care.I do have a line in what I will and will not do in a game however they are not what you would expect.Honestly to me it's just a game and parents should just do their jobs restrict games with content they do not approve of.Games don't corrupt me personally.In fact(don't judge me ITS A GAME)I have an unholy spec undead warlock on Warcraft just because I like pkking and find myself good at pkking with that set!IT IS JUST A GAME!IT DOES NOT DEFINE ME!Some people tend to take games WAAAY to far.I kinda just play.Hope it's a good game.And stay away from movie games that don't have the words star wars in them.Like a good gamer. Now if you will excuse me my Worgan Rogue and I have a date with a raid.

[Jingo Jaden]

Yeah, mass murdering is something that's even easier to do in various E rated games.

Galactic Civilization II. Man, I got trillions of death on my conscience in the videogame world.

To think of it all..... worlds DEVASTATED by my simple tactical oversight, literal Armageddons ensuring just to scale the odds. Famines, slaughters, extreme sanctions and undeniably hard labor.......

*Launches the next GCII campaign*

[Nate]

Yeah, mass murdering is something that's even easier to do in various E rated games.

You are now aware that in the original story for Super Mario Bros., Koopa transformed the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom into bricks, stones, and mushrooms...and that every block you shatter and mushroom you grab, you are killing a Mushroom Kingdom resident.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Looks like most people are generally agreeing here, though I should add that it's probably a good idea to stop playing a game if your conscience is nagging at you, like with anything else.

Personally, I mostly just draw the line at sexual content. I'm very wary about that and poke around endlessly with reviews whenever I have a suspicion it's present, but I'm okay with most other things. I'm not spiritually bothered by heavily anti-God stories like Xenogears or the severed, bloody tongue lying on a table in Penumbra. I've backed away from a couple games because they seemed to be just a bit too creepily occult, just to be on the safe side, but language and violence are usually fine with me as long as there's a good enough story to make it worthwhile. And I don't really like games like Grand Theft Auto where the focus is on crime, but that's mostly because I find such games boring. (Interestingly enough, Jak II and 3 have similar parts where you can run around a city, steal people's vehicles, and go on a killing spree of civilians that gets the police on your tail, but I don't mind that in Jak at all. Maybe it's because the art style is cartoony, or maybe it's because the focus is on a story of saving the world instead.)

[Yamamaya]

This has happened to me in Rome Total War. Generally, the farther away the settlement you conquered is from your capital, the more unhappy the residents. The only way to FORCE them not to revolt and to be happy for their lives is to exterminate most of the populace.

Thus, I exterminated the populace of all of North Africa and the Middle East.

Man.

[raider~joseph]

This has happened to me in Rome Total War. Generally, the farther away the settlement you conquered is from your capital, the more unhappy the residents. The only way to FORCE them not to revolt and to be happy for their lives is to exterminate most of the populace.

Thus, I exterminated the populace of all of North Africa and the Middle East.

Man.

Yeesh.Glad I didn't play that game.

[Edward]

This has happened to me in Rome Total War. Generally, the farther away the settlement you conquered is from your capital, the more unhappy the residents. The only way to FORCE them not to revolt and to be happy for their lives is to exterminate most of the populace.

Thus, I exterminated the populace of all of North Africa and the Middle East.

Man.

This is what I hate about conqeust games and RTS games in general. You have to micromanage every little thing, so by the time you get to the higher levels or whatever, the game becomes impossibly difficult. Which is why half the fun of Sim City is destroying everything once things start to get out of hand.

[FllMtl Novelist]

It's probably more dangerous if something affects you when you aren't noticing it affecting you, than when you are paying attention to it!

In any case, ABlipinTime has my FULL respect...

In the end, the question has to be, what separates us from the world?

I just thought that if you were distracted from something (in a work of fiction, at least), you'd think about it less, and it would affect you less. If you saw a really offensive image on Google, for example, I'd expect you to be more bothered by it if you kept dwelling on how offensive the image was or looked at related images on the page than if you switched tabs and started watching some anime instead. Eh, maybe that's just me.

ABlipinTime has mine, as well. I think differently from he, but I meant no disrespect to him and I certainly did not intend to come off that way. I was simply curious about why watching what he found harmful to play was acceptable to him. It was intended as a question about his beliefs, not an attack.

The appropriate verse is rattling around in my brain somewhere, but like Nate, I don't know what that has to do with video games.



And as long as we're sharing stories of killing people in kids' games, my brother and I accidentally killed several innocent people in Roller Coaster Tycoon (a computer game). We cranked the speed up on a ride, opened it without testing it first, a full load of people got on, and a few seconds later--blam--the car exploded. I was maybe eight, and horrified. XD It's kinda funny now, of course.

Also when I played Harvest Moon: Magical Melody I would hit my livestock with a hammer or whatever tool was handy if I got mad at them for whatever reason. Because my younger siblings thought it was funny. XD

[Tarnish]

And as long as we're sharing stories of killing people in kids' games, my brother and I accidentally killed several innocent people in Roller Coaster Tycoon (a computer game). We cranked the speed up on a ride, opened it without testing it first, a full load of people got on, and a few seconds later--blam--the car exploded. I was maybe eight, and horrified. XD It's kinda funny now, of course.

That part is fun, but the best thing ever is drowning mascots. XD There was just something about watching a big cartoon animal flail and think "HELP. I AM DROWNING."

[raider~joseph]

I am not sure this counts but in Limbo(Genius game all the way.)The kid you play as dies...a lot.And there is no real way to play and not have him die.(Except a walkthrough)

[Atria35]

When it comes to people dying, I'm a Sims girl all the way. The best feeling ever is taking out my frustrations by creating sims just to die in the most interesting or sad ways possible.

Of course, then there's the cases where they are so dumb they kill themselves- a few times my Sims will get into the pool and swim until they drown, no matter how many times I tell them to get out!

[GrubbTheFragger]

I really play anything. I have yet to play something that made me go "eh i am gonna go ahead and just stop here"

[FllMtl Novelist]

That part is fun, but the best thing ever is drowning mascots. XD There was just something about watching a big cartoon animal flail and think "HELP. I AM DROWNING."

Is it sad I kind of want to try that now? XD I never thought to do that, but I would pick up all the cranky people and drop them on tiny islands, or custom-made holes in the ground, or within a Colosseum. Because I thought hiding the angry people from everyone else would keep more people happy, or something. XD

Also, it was fun to charge outrageous amounts of cash for the bathrooms.

[Wallachia]

Roller Coaster Tycoon (a computer game).

I don't even need to quote the rest of this post.

This video explains why that game was so amusing. Granted, it's of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, though I believe it captures the essence of the first game perfectly.

[Okami]

I don't even need to quote the rest of this post.

This video explains why that game was so amusing. Granted, it's of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, though I believe it captures the essence of the first game perfectly.

Rofl. Was that crying or people shouting "YAY!" at the end of this?

[Wallachia]

It was definitely an exclamation of joy, yes.

[Yamamaya]

It was definitely an exclamation of joy, yes.

That was absolutely amazing. I've got to get my hands on this game.

I used to do something similar to this in Zoo Tycoon. I would fire all my zoo keepers, trap the guests and unleash every single deadly animal upon the guests.

[Wallachia]

I absolutely loved Zoo Tycoon.

I had the expansion pack, "Zoo Tycoon: Dinosaur Digs" which came in the Complete Collection. With that wonderful pack, I'd set up a zoo consisting of T-Rex cages and a long, long pathway leading to a single toilet which tempted guests to travel across the map. Once I had enough guests, I'd make sure nobody could leave the zoo. What followed was a game of survival.

Of course, so other people don't get me wrong, I did play both Zoo Tycoon and Roller Coaster Tycoon quite normally 80% of the time. Once I got bored, I'd just use the sandbox mode to fool around and see what interesting scenarios or park designs I could come up with.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

The thing with RC3 (I recently acquired it to uh... check it out haha) is that people don't actually die! Like in RC1 you could literally KILL people on bad coaster tracks and drown them! You can't do that in RC3! I was kind of sad. =( Not that I'm totally into morbid things or anything, but it just took away some of the shock and awe of it.

[ST. Attidude]

What bothers me more is that the gamer demographic in the U.S. seems more obsessed with guns rather than general violence.

Though this American could be wrong...

[Nate]

"Gun culture" has always been extremely prevalent in the US for a lot of reasons, but to fully get into it would probably take this thread in a political direction, so it's probably best not to go down that road.