GRcade

So, RPS have an article up on E3:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06 ... omes-vile/

One of the most striking scenes of yesterday’s E3 press conference gauntlet didn’t take place on a stage or a screen. It wasn’t rehearsed or pre-planned, and it most certainly wasn’t expected. I sat in a jam-packed arena-sized auditorium and watched a game demo unfold... This one, though, came to a rather abrupt halt when – mere inches away from the camera – a man’s head erupted into a volcano of hyper-detailed gore after a point-blank shotgun blast. And then: deafening applause from hundreds of people.

He's talking about this:


(Skip to 7 minutes to see the exact scene)

Now, I must admit when I watched that video the final shot wasn't the scene that stood out, but I wasn't watching it live with thousands of people applauding. It's become more than obvious though that almost all of the (non-Nintendo) AAA games on display featured some horrific violence. Splinter Cell was all about breaking necks and taking names, Dishonored had more throat slashings than the Victorian London it was aping and Watch Dogs featured an unarmed and injured man being executed point blank. All of these acts were perpetrated by the "heroes" of their respective games.

Am I the only one getting a bit sick/concerned about all this? I love me a bit of the old Ultraviolence in a game, but when it stops being window-dressing and starts becoming voyeuristic I start feeling a bit quesy. Is this really what we want from core games? Does a closeup of blood spilling from a dude's throat really make the game any better?

Do you think the violence on display at E3 was a little too much?

Do you?

They were applauding a great demo not a point blank shotgun blast to the face

Also I'm writing a blog post about this at the mo, dammit RPS

Tafdolphin wrote:Do you think the violence on display at E3 was a little too much?

No.

Skippy wrote:They were applauding a great demo not a point blank shotgun blast to the face

Also I'm writing a blog post about this at the mo, dammit RPS

No need. Just copy paste the OP and watch your views soar.

Soar.

It's not just about the applause though. Do games really need this stuff? Why do the Avatar and Dark Knight equivalents of gaming feature more violence than straight to DVD video-nasties?

I was quite uncomfortable with the cheering of graphic violence I must say. It happens in the AC3 ship video as well.

Maybe I'm just finding things to offend me but it doesn't make our hobby look great.

Violence is most media is getting too much. Just because you can do it now doesn't mean you should. It's not stylish, it's not mature, it just give 12 year olds another thing to brag to their friends about doing in video games leading to the Daily Mail doing their thang.

I don't think the violence is too much, I just think they're shovelling in cover shooter mechanics to games that would be better without them.

Balls to the wall Splinter cell is not how I want the series to be, same goes for Tomb Raider and that the last of us didn't look tense at all. :/

I was actually shocked at the level of violence in GOW: Ascension. That chained up, Cyclops being ripped to shreads was actually disgusting.

First time I felt genuinely uncomfortable watching a game video was GOW too: Kratos ripping Helios' head off was strawberry floating horrible. Not "eeeewww cool!" horrible either, just "for strawberry float's sake..." horrible.

Have to say, I'm intruiged you've started this topic after you were shocked that I disapproved of the unnecessary graphic violence in Drive.

Floex wrote:I was actually shocked at the level of violence in GOW: Ascension. That chained up, Cyclops being ripped to shreads was actually disgusting.

I thought that too

1up have a piece on this too: http://www.1up.com/features/violent-games-lack-creativity-conviction Jeremy Parish also wrote this about more traditional gaming http://www.1up.com/features/gaming-classic-spirit-finds-outlet

One of the things with Uncharted that always bothered me, was that we are given this cheeky lead character who is extremely well written for cutscenes, yet as you play he becomes a homicidal maniac It really breaks the illusion being built by the gaming narrative, when you get control as the player and the only way to proceed the story is kill everyone in the room.

My Commander Shepard wasn't meant to be a killer, yet to advance the story of my heroic character, I had to commit mass murder.

Frank wrote:Have to say, I'm intruiged you've started this topic after you were shocked that I disapproved of the unnecessary graphic violence in Drive.

My OP isn't decrying violence though is it? It's asking a question as to whether other people think violence in games to too prevalent these days.

Your OP certainly isn't, but the rest of your posts in this thread suggest you're someone against excessive violence:

Do games really need this stuff? Why do the Avatar and Dark Knight equivalents of gaming feature more violence than straight to DVD video-nasties?

I mean this:

Does a closeup of blood spilling from a dude's throat really make the game any better?

Could directly describe a scene from most films these days. I can already think of two (Drive and Law Abiding Citizen) and I hardly watch violent films.

Also, what's with all the bows this year in games?

Frank wrote:Your OP certainly isn't, but the rest of your posts in this thread suggest you're someone against excessive violence:

Do games really need this stuff? Why do the Avatar and Dark Knight equivalents of gaming feature more violence than straight to DVD video-nasties?

I mean this:

Does a closeup of blood spilling from a dude's throat really make the game any better?

Could directly describe a scene from most films these days. I can already think of two (Drive and Law Abiding Citizen) and I hardly watch violent films.

Bringing films into it doesn't make sense. Those aren't AAA, blockbusting films. The Halos and Call of Dutys of the world are basically the Batman and Harry Potters. There's only so far film and game comparisons go however.

Neither Batman nor Harry Potter is an 18, so that comparison doesn't work either.

I'm not sure I saw any one thing that was too violent. However the sheer amount of violence did bore me to tears. If you did a quick over view of the first day of games at the conferences then for the most part its violence and sports. I know its always been a bit like this and I dont have a problem with either but it just seems to be saturated in it. Possibly the realism we have now is actually just adding to that feeling. Even Watch Dogs, which has some great new ideas in it, ends with a gun fight and explosions. I think it would have been rather good had that actually ended with the car crash.

Frank wrote:Your OP certainly isn't, but the rest of your posts in this thread suggest you're someone against excessive violence:

Do games really need this stuff? Why do the Avatar and Dark Knight equivalents of gaming feature more violence than straight to DVD video-nasties?

I mean this:

Does a closeup of blood spilling from a dude's throat really make the game any better?

Could directly describe a scene from most films these days. I can already think of two (Drive and Law Abiding Citizen) and I hardly watch violent films.

Well, those are both questions too, but since you asked...

I don't have a problem with violence in games in general, it's the constant march towards realism and viscerality that worries me. There's a whole load of difference between shooting a Combine in Half Life 2 and shooting the face off a man on his knees begging for his life as in the LoU clip, or slashing some poor dude's throat in Dishonored. I don't know who it's appealing to. It's quickly becoming the norm to show horribly cruel acts of violence being inflicted on your foes, and I don't know what this is adding.

Bringing up the argument about Drive is irrelevant as the mediums are so vastly different. Drive is a niche film, something like The Last of Us is not: it's a blockbuster. As skippy says, if Batman had been rated 18 and depicted throats being sliced out every which way they're be a huge outcry. Now, I understand that games and film have a different set of rules based on their growth and evolution. I just think games need to grow up a bit and stop associating violence with awesomeness.

Tafdolphin wrote:I just think games need to grow up a bit and stop associating violence with awesomeness.

Oui. It isn't doing the medium any favours.

Also, why on earth would Batman be slashing throats? That not how batman works.