For me, the low point was when a man begged for his life during the The Last of Us trailer, then got shotgunned in the face while a little girl looked on.
Then there's the Tomb Raider reboot that I might actually be interested in playing if it weren't so focused on being a woman-beating simulator. I hope Abbie Heppe is paying attention to the ludicrous and unnecessary suffering Lara endures in what we've seen from the game so far. Those clever kids over at Penny Arcade know I'm talkin' about...
In any case, I was very happy to see many others take objection to this trend. Please frequent their sites and heap praise upon them:
- When Game Violence Becomes Vile by Nathan Grayson
- Was E3 2012 the grisliest games show ever? by Fred Dutton
- Why E3's Constant Stream of Identikit Brutality Saw Me Embarrassed by This Industry for the First Time by David Houghton
Lastly, let me leave you with this video that I thought hilariously captured the sentiment I'm talking about ...
I think we can do better than this. Your move, games industry.
3 comments:
Violence seldom bothers me in entertainment media, that includes games. I am still able to differentiate between real world violence and staged violence, real world disturbs me, staged/video game violence doesn't bother me. With that said, I am disturbed by the Game Industry's focus on constantly trying to top itself in regards to violence, while sacrificing creativity.
It is like the industry now thinks the more realistic, bang bang, kill things a game is the better. It is depressing, and why games like Pikmin, Mario, Zelda, heck even Metroid are such a breath of fresh air.
This trend of over the top brutality is very disturbing. While I do play and enjoy some military FPS they have mainly been the type of engaging the enemy with the needed force to succeed.
What I've seen a lot lately though is pure cruelty and brutality. Many developers seem to trying to outdo their competitors in a race to the bottom.
I worry for our society when this kind of imagery is constantly before the eyes of our youth. Heck not just in front of them - they are actively participating in most of it. At least those whose parents are not monitoring their kids.
I remember, back as a little Nintendo 64 owner, how Goldeneye was getting negative media attention due to its violence. In hindsight, the game is violent but not too violent. Resident Evil REmake, RE4 and Perfect Dark were violent games, but never did they disgust me. The former two were survival horror games, the last one was an expansion on sci-fi spy thriller stories.
The stuff at E3 2012? HOLY. CRAP. Where the hell are you headed industry?
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