Gears 2 To Bring Language, Blood Filters

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Anuban

Your reward is that you are still alive
Apr 4, 2005
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I didn't say it was the word of God ... I just said its a very complex issue that really needs to be examined further. Again we always enjoyed gaming before it became ultra violent and mega bloody and realistic in some sense (of course games are super removed from reality but these new photorealistic textures do add a layer of reality never before experienced and I do wonder if these have some psychological effects) and so I just wonder can we go back to those times are is it just an accepted thing that we have to make and play super violent games? But again this raises the issue of well wasn't Pac-Man violent on some level or even Dig Dug ... its not an easy thing to wrestle with. Anyway just some food for thought more than anything else. You want some smiles ... here ya go. :) :D ;) :lol:
 

Capt.Toilet

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Feb 16, 2004
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Epic realizes that little kiddies will buy the game regardless of the rating, so they put in the filter just to make the soccer moms happy.
 

Grobut

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Oct 27, 2004
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Gameing is not the cause, nor is popular music, or TV, thease are just conveniant scapegoats for society's ills, the truth is, the issue is much simpler than that, much more fundamental, our society itself is sick, our very way of life is creating monsters, and truth be told, humanity is not as progressive nor as evolved as we'd like to think we are.
 

KaiserWarrior

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There was a time when we all played games and loved them and you never heard of any murder being caused because someone got the notion from playing games.

This is because there was a time when murders and other crimes were blamed on books, and then plays, and then radio, and then television, and then board games (Dungeons and Dragons) instead.

Popular media formats have always been blamed for crimes by criminals in their defense. In an attempt to shirk responsibility for their actions, they blame a convenient, poorly-understood facet of society (usually new technology) and write it off. "The devil made me do it!"

Video games do not cause violence. Conscious human choices cause violence, which has nothing to do with videogames. An individual unstable and suggestible enough to have been swayed to violence by a videogame would have been swayed by any number of other triggers had it not been the videogame. A ticking bomb will go off, and nothing can stop it. Trying to assign blame on whatever happened to be closest at the time doesn't solve anything.

For every kid that shoots somebody and says "Grand Theft Auto made me do it!", there are thousands, millions more people who didn't shoot anybody. The statistic these agenda-toting groups like to tout is the number of crimes commited because of video games. The statistic they should be touting is the number of crimes commited because of video games as a percentage of number of cases of video games played, in total. That number, the one the matters, is preposterously low, and no legitimate institution would accept it as significant.

Calling for an end to all violence in video games is, to put it mildly, an over-reaction. It is the stifling of artistic expression. It cannot be permitted because people say it will keep that one-in-several-million whackjob from pulling the trigger just a little bit longer.

I'm not saying games need violence to be good, they certainly don't. And adding violence to a mediocre game (Mortal Kombat) doesn't make it any better. But games can be violent and good at the same time, and realism can enhance the experience that the artists responsible for the game are trying to give the player.

Crazies need to be locked up, not video game developers.


All that being said? These filters, while welcome in a sense because they'll keep the soccer moms that don't care enough about their children to pay attention to ratings quiet, are an ironic reflection of our current society. It's alright to shoot someone in the face with a shotgun, as long as they don't bleed. It's alright to talk about the horrors of war and tell someone, very forcefully and angrily, to die -- as long as you don't drop the f-bomb when you do it. It's a farce of the highest level, a depressing parade of hypocrisy as we remove little details and then claim things are fine.

If I yell "F--- You!", it sends a particular message. If I yell "Eff You!" or "*beep* You!", the exact same message is implied, and any non-imbecile will understand it's the exact same message. Censoring the one word doesn't change the message, it's a superficial change that makes absolutely zero difference to the content. Words are offensive because we are told they are, not because of any intrinsic offensive value.
 
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Anuban

Your reward is that you are still alive
Apr 4, 2005
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I don't think it is an over reaction at all. If even one death can be pinned on a violent game then it isn't worth it plain and simple. Anyone who can't see that the value of a human life ... even one is immeasurable especially compared to a game is really missing the big picture imho. And why is no one addressing my biggest point ... games DO NOT have to be ULTRA violent at all for them to be fun ... again let me use PORTAL as a great example of this and SCIV as well (this kind of T rated non bloody non gory cartoon violence is fine but as I pointed out it becomes a matter of degrees).

Its not a topic that will ever be solved on some forum boards where people have such disparate views about gaming but it does make me wonder about the nature of us humans if we can't part with violent games for whatever reason ... especially when we start using the old artist and his/her creative expressions as some sort of defense. And I don't care about other mediums atm. They are not my passion. I am passionate about games and I look at what can be done by us gamers to make things less chaotic in society. Why add to it is my point. You are right when you say there will always be violence and it will be caused to a certain extent by some medium but why add to it. If we can prevent one death by taking a very violent game off the market why not do so.

I consider myself an artist ... a writer and I used to do readings and I've this discussion with so many different types of artists over the years. Where does the responsibility of an artist begin? It is ridiculous for any artist to say they exist outside of society rules and so there is no responsibility and should be no boundaries. While that sounds great in theory it is not practical if people are dying. It constantly surprises me how undervalued a human life is ... there is no doubt that as a civilization we are more callous about death and the value of life than at any other time.

Given our knowledge there are things that we should be willing to eradicate but as humans we always think we can have our cake and eat it to. But if someone you loved got killed by some nut who was influenced by a vid game I am sure you would feel differently ... not talking to anyone in particular here, just making a general statement. But again I am torn ... I admit it. I love violent games and a part of me would hate it if they were no longer made ... but then another part of me is fine with that because I also have great faith in the creativity of human beings and based on what I have seen in the past and now (portal) there is no reason to think that having great games that are a blast to play but are not extremely realistically violent is an impossibility.

Its our blood lust as consumers that may prohibit it though and artists these days are so greedy and materialistic they will do what they know deep down is really not beneficial but for the sake of the almighty dollar they will not rock the boat. Epic is a perfect example of this and how can I complain when I own so many of their games ... its a real dilemma I admit.
 

Sir_Brizz

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I'm okay with this personally. If it was forced, that would suck, but having it as an option is nice.
 
U

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Our difference of opinion stems from the fact that we share different beliefs about whether a person actually can be influenced by a video game to end a human life. I don't consider it devaluing a human life to accept the fact that if it wasn't a video game that pushed a nutjob over the edge, it would be something else. That life would end regardless, it is only a question of when.

You're preventing nothing by removing the game from the market. You are, at best, delaying it, anyone that crazy will by pushed by something and commit the act. I, and many millions of people like me, have been chopping enemies into bloody pulps since doom, and we don't kill people. It is not the video game that is the cause.

Essentially, what I'm saying is that if you take away the hamburger, the glutton will simply eat a candy bar instead. Unless you can remove absolutely every single piece of edible material, he will still consume. Nobody ever said the food has to be a hamburger to be delicious, only that removing the hamburger serves no function, so why do it?

In the same vein, games certainly do not need to be violent to be fun. But arbitrarily removing them won't solve the problem. The problem, the root cause, is not the video game, it's the unstable individual who has no qualms about taking a human life. Video games don't take away the guilt of ending another life -- being a sociopath does.
 

KaiserWarrior

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Our difference of opinion stems from the fact that we share different beliefs about whether a person actually can be influenced by a video game to end a human life. I don't consider it devaluing a human life to accept the fact that if it wasn't a video game that pushed a nutjob over the edge, it would be something else. That life would end regardless, it is only a question of when.

You're preventing nothing by removing the game from the market. You are, at best, delaying it, anyone that crazy will by pushed by something and commit the act. I, and many millions of people like me, have been chopping enemies into bloody pulps since doom, and we don't kill people. It is not the video game that is the cause.

Essentially, what I'm saying is that if you take away the hamburger, the glutton will simply eat a candy bar instead. Unless you can remove absolutely every single piece of edible material, he will still consume. Nobody ever said the food has to be a hamburger to be delicious, only that removing the hamburger serves no function, so why do it?

In the same vein, games certainly do not need to be violent to be fun. But arbitrarily removing them won't solve the problem. The problem, the root cause, is not the video game, it's the unstable individual who has no qualms about taking a human life. Video games don't take away the guilt of ending another life -- being a sociopath does.
 

Grobut

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Oct 27, 2004
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Because Anuban, it has yet to be proven that any game has ever caused a single violent death, there is zero evidence that people go snooker-loopy and kill eachother after having seen pretend violence on a screen, be it movie or game, infact the opposite seems more likely, that it provides a non-violent release for peoples frustrations and anger, nor is there any proven correlation between games and mental illness, what we know about insanity is that games do not even come near what it takes to damage the brain or phyche enough to crate this kind of lasting disorder (they can create short lived peaks of adrenaline and stress hormone, but so can drinking coffee).

What we do know about the human psyche is that it takes A LOT for us to kill eachother, it is not an action that any healthy person can just do, healthy people don't kill unless they are pushed into the extremes (survival, and protecting their loved ones, or livelyhood and home), most people wont even kill for greed, it takes a very emotionally damaged person to do that.


Quite frankly, if any teen plays a game like Manhunt, and decides to go try that stuff out in the real world, its not because of the game, its because he was allready messed up, either he has a long history of ongoing emotional and/or physical abuse behind him, or he suffers from a serious mental illness, and anything could have set him off, if it wasen't a vid-game it would just have been something else, even good old fashioned boredom would be plenty! a kid like that needed serious professional help long before it ever got to that point, but western society really blows when it comes to helping such people, we fail so utterly and misserably at it it's embarrasing..


I recommend you educate yourself on thease matters, trust me, the human psyche is a very interesting subject, it's worth the read, and a better understanding of psychology can quickly become a valuable tool in life.
On this subject in particular, i can recommend the book "He who hunts monsters", an excellent read you can probably grab at your local library.
 

Anuban

Your reward is that you are still alive
Apr 4, 2005
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Meh ... I don't need to study any more books. I am a college educated person and have studied my share of philosophy and psychology and the bottom line is we just disagree and see things totally different. And this may have to do with a lot of socioeconomic reasons. Perhaps even the fact that I am black and grew up on the South Side of Chicago during the 70's even taints my views. I have also lived in Bern, CH for a year and had plenty of contact with Europeans, Africans, Indians, and some other nationalities so I am not just talking from lack of real world experience. Anyway its fine if you feel the way you do. Its not like anything is going to change anyway. The world is pretty much on a set course ... guided by powerful people who actually shape the way the rest of act (and we don't even know it usually). I just remember the good days of gaming when there was no way a game could ever be blamed for any sort of trauma and I just wonder what the world would be like absent this new generation of ultra violent super realistic shooters and violent RPGs. I can wonder can't I?
 

soyrico

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One of things you need to get by in life is apathy. If a cared soooo much, I'd be drunken mess hanging off a bridge right now. Somebody had to say it. I'm depressed enough about society as is.
Most people should admit they see horrible tragedies on TV and Don't care.

EDIT: Put that **** on a signature!!!
 
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JaFO

bugs are features too ...
Nov 5, 2000
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Because Anuban, it has yet to be proven that any game has ever caused a single violent death, ...

I guess you haven't seen what football-fans(*) do to each other then ;)


There's more people out there killing each other because someone told them a lie then there's people out there killing each other because of what happens in games.


(*) although football-hooligans is more appropiate description as I would not dare to call them fans of the game

(and if you're american then replace 'footbal' with 'soccer' ... )
 

WaitForTheRain

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Feb 26, 2008
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On the topic that violent games cause people to become violent:

Look at games like GTA. This is one of the worst games to provoke violent behavior because of the way its made to make the person playing it feel all pumped up and testosteroney. It is set in this world, not some unrealistic world like Unreal ect. The fact that its in a realistic world just leads people to believe that if they can get away with agression and violence in the game it means that they can get away with it in real life. I'm not saying that everyone who plays violent games like this is going to be violent but some people are just like that.

Does Unreal Tournament make you feel like going out and attacking someone? not really. Its not realistic which makes a large difference on the impact of the violence on a real person.

- Other this theory I could quite easily fight an argument from either side, so don't what i've said the the extremes.



On the topic of Gears of War 2's violence filter:

Would having sparks comming out of someone when you shoot them really make that much difference? When you chainsaw someone, I think that its still about what the action represents to a large extent.
 

GG-Xtreme

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Mar 12, 2008
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Becoming 'violent' and becoming 'desensitized' are two different things. A gory movie/game can desensitize you, a violent movie/game cannot make you violent. If people imitate a movie, is it the movie's fault? So why should it be the game's fault if someone imitates a game? It's knowing where to draw the line that's the real problem. If a person cannot draw the line between a game/movie and reality, there is a problem with that person that was not caused by the game/movie. A parent should not let their child play a game if they know the child is too young or immature to draw that line.
 
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Renegade Retard

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I, for one, support the option to filter the mature content (as long as it is an option to filter or not to filter).

I enjoy playing mature rated games, but I don't like risking my young children hearing the mature language while I play. There were many, many times that I wanted to play games like Gears or BioShock but didn't because my kids were in the next room.
 

-Jes-

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