Doitpow said:
So here's an old question phrased slightly differently.
Given that 99% of us agree that actions depicted and acted out in videos games won't influence what we do in real life (Murdering, stealing, mushroom taking)...is there a line that shouldn't be crossed and as such, topics that should remain taboo? examples: Murder of innocents, murder of children, rape, paedophilia, animal cruelty, genocide, I'm sure there are others that come to mind.
To keep it a little focused I'd like to say that these acts would have to be performed by the player, not by an antagonist.
Oh and what games do you think have crossed this line?
um... Well obviously paedophile. Kinda depends what you consider animal cruelty, since any action you take that sends your pet into harm (Dead to Rights: Redemption) can be considered that. I know for a fact in most games like Gun, or RDR you can kill animals in them. Like, just flat up walk up to one, put a shot gun at the back of its head and blow its brains out across the dusty street (though how killing a mutt gets me in trouble with the law I'll never understand).
They already crossed the rape line with rape lay or whatever it was called. From what I've heard about Prototype, the only hting that seperates you from the bad guys is the fact that you're not intentionally fucking shit up for the world, so he murders innocents. Kratos killed his daughter (I know, not in game gameplay, but be quiet) OH! Custer's Revenge definitely included Rape (pretty much was built on it, that crazy Swedish Erotica).
And honestly, any RTS like Civilization is really genocide at its core. Though I have to say... It would be awesome to play a genocide based game. The story would be hugely complex, giving you a sense of reason to why you're murdering the man in front of you (but that just might be me. I like to see games that push the boundaries of "conventional").
Other then that, I dont know if there is too far that we havent crossed as gamers. I think some of the japanese games that we gamers like to sweep under the rug (rape lay) so its never seen again could probably be pedophilic in some small way. And with games like Persona pretty much saying, "he, high schoolers, if you shoot yourself in the head, a monster will pop and take you on great heroic adventures" (yes, thats not what it says, and yes, I'm an advocate of everyone playing Persona 3 Fes at least once in their life), there isnt much more line to cross. I mean... yeah... You could make a game where you're a Himler and conduct the most twisted and sick experiments on Death Camp prisoners to realistic detail, or have an openly pedophilic game where thats the main point thats like a dating sim of sorts. Or... wel... I think I'll stop.
Point is, we already crossed too many bridges and bruned them behind us to say we're not pushing those issues or putting them in games.
OH! I remember a game where you kill children. Bioshock. If you kill the little sisters (yes, they're still children, technically).
