"no russian"

[Octopod]

I'm not offended that this is allowed to be made. In fact, I would have a big problem if some law or regulation prevented it from being made. Nor am I "offended" that it has been made. I do, however, think that developers need to grow up. They (and some in the gaming community) complain about not being taken seriously, and if this is an attempt to gain respect as an "art form" then things have a very long way to go.

I could understand this as a scene in a movie (albeit probably a lot shorter) but in the context of an interactive piece of entertainment it just seems gratuitous and immature. So no, this does not offend me as a person but it makes me cringe as a gamer.

Also let me note that I don't think games need to be "mature" to be taken seriously. They are GAMES after all. I think something like Littlebigplanet is serious stuff (artistically). This is sophomoric hyper-violence masquerading as compelling, mature storytelling. Give me a break.

Agree 100%

"mature" games hardly ever are.


Man, people need to grow the fuck up. For real. That is just stupid. I am not sicked or offended, I am insulted. This shit is made for people not actually old enough to buy the game and wrapped up as mature content.

[Inazuma]

I wouldn't enjoy to play this game but I would hate to see it banned. Killing people in a video game isn't as bad as censorship imo.

[Octopod]

I dont mind killing people in video games. Hell, that is what you do in video games. Shit is excessive and unnecessary.

[equalsign]

I could understand this as a scene in a movie (albeit probably a lot shorter) but in the context of an interactive piece of entertainment it just seems gratuitous and immature. So no, this does not offend me as a person but it makes me cringe as a gamer.

Also let me note that I don't think games need to be "mature" to be taken seriously. They are GAMES after all. I think something like Littlebigplanet is serious stuff (artistically). This is sophomoric hyper-violence masquerading as compelling, mature storytelling. Give me a break.

Agree 100%

"mature" games hardly ever are.

Games don't have to be mature, but can be if they damn well please. I disagree entirely that this is sophomoric hyper violence. In the end though, I don't give two shits for what most gamers have to say about the medium.

It's a mature game that deals with mature subject matter. It would have been much more out of place for them to not attempt compelling, mature storytelling. I sincerely doubt that ANY movie that had a scene like this would have made it shorter. It was only a few minutes. Would it have really made sense for this scene to be 30 seconds of gameplay? Movies can cut and skip around. Games haven't found a good way to do this yet except through the use of cut scenes and movies. I'm not saying it was executed perfectly, but I think it was a pretty darn good attempt. I'm happy to see something a little more ambitious getting to the hands of the masses.

LittleBigPlanet is a palette. It's artistic in the same way that a bin of legos or a blank canvas is artistic. Very little in its gameplay or subject matter was artistic, or even especially interesting for that matter.

Sorry for the rant. I know I said the thread should die. I'm too easily provoked.

[Reverend]

I went to Toys R Us today to pick up the Arceus mystery gift.

THERE WAS A HUGE DISPLAY FOR THIS GAME AS SOON AS YOU WALKED IN.

I was cracking up and a bit disappointed.

[Dakinggamer87]

I just finished Call of Duty: MW 2 last night. I knew this thread was gonna get started eventually it is on every other gaming forum and FOX News already is talking about it.

I like how David Cage talks about MW 2 controversy:

http://www.vg247.com/2009/11/13/heavy-r ... ntroversy/

[General Chaos]

LittleBigPlanet is a palette. It's artistic in the same way that a bin of legos or a blank canvas is artistic. Very little in its gameplay or subject matter was artistic, or even especially interesting for that matter.

We can disagree about the artistic merit of Littlebigplanet and for the sake of argument I'll even go along and concede it's a set of tools rather than an original work, but my larger point was that games as a form of entertainment to be taken seriously do not require maturity in the form of adult themes or other violence. Games like Mario can (and I think are) taken seriously, but they are certainly not "mature" in the way most would interpret the term.

As for whether or not the depicted scene is sophomoric hyper-violence, I suppose it's largely a matter of interpretation but I really do feel like this definition of "sophomoric" fits the portrayal of violence in this scene:

"conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature"

...and if this isn't hyper-violent then I don't know what is. The victims in this scene might as well be pieces of meat thrown in front of a firing squad, then drug bleeding across the ground. That's about how much connection to the narrative they're given.

[Gamerforlife]

This doesn't surprise me. I didn't play the first game because I didn't really want to play a game that is trivializing the real life conflicts going on. I mean the last game really seemed to me like the video game version of our war on terror and seemed like a game that wanted to stir up a bit of controversy to get some sales. What was referred to as great narrative moments in Call of Duty 4 just seemed like shock value moments to me. I never expected they'd go this far though with the sequel. Actually making the player a terrorist...wow.

I'm not angry or personally offended by it, but I do consider it distasteful. Kind of like watching South Park make fun of Steve Irwin a week after his death. Seems to be the way a lot people in entertainment are these days. No respect for anything.

Now to be fair, both games seem to have great gameplay, graphics, sound, etc. The guys at Infinity Ward can make some quality games, but their choice of subject matter doesn't agree with me. When all is said and done though, does it matter? They sold like almost 5 million copies. They couldn't care less who is offended.

[PGchris]

I usually don't care at all about stuff like that but I won't lie watching that really did bother me and left me feeling weird and kinda creeped out. I know everyone here is of able mind and none of us buy that bullshit about video games being about fulfilling some kind of sick fantasy, but I can't help but sit here and think that if the wrong person is having fun playing that level they might be fucked up enough to want to make it a reality. Ahhh I really can't believe I'm saying that maybe I'm turning into an old grump.

Edit: I just really don't understand the need to have a level like this actually there are so many other creative ways to make a game fun and entertaining instead of just making it overtly violent.

[Gamerforlife]

I usually don't care at all about stuff like that but I won't lie watching that really did bother me and left me feeling weird and kinda creeped out. I know everyone here is of able mind and none of us buy that bullshit about video games being about fulfilling some kind of sick fantasy, but I can't help but sit here and think that if the wrong person is having fun playing that level they might be fucked up enough to want to make it a reality. Ahhh I really can't believe I'm saying that maybe I'm turning into an old grump.

Edit: I just really don't understand the need to have a level like this actually there are so many other creative ways to make a game fun and entertaining instead of just making it overtly violent.

The real issue I have with this stage is the fact that they made it playable. That's the disturbing part, if it was a cut scene, it would be different. You'd understand the disturbing nature or what you had just seen and its narrative importance. However, the fact that they wanted you PLAY this disturbs me more than the scene itself. And let's fact it, they know how sensitive, not to mention frightened, may people are about terrorism these days. They created this knowing damn well how negatively many people would react to it. Certainly not the most sensitive guys out there that's for sure

I don't know, it's just my opinion, and obviously many people are not bothered by it and love the game, but I certainly can't say that I will have any interest in any Infinity Ward games after seeing this. I do agree with one thing that has been said though. I don't believe in censorship or banning, no matter how distasteful I may personally consider something to be.