Poll: Can videogames make you feel ashamed

[Veldt Falsetto]

So, lurking Destructoid has become my new hobby and I came across this article by Associate Editor Johnathan Holmes http://www.destructoid.com/the-question-can-videogames-make-you-feel-ashamed--230453.phtml

Can games make you feel ashamed is based upon reactions to the new trailer for Code of Princess which can be seen here

Spoiler: Code of Princess

While Holmes is confused as to why this game would be embarrassing to buy from stores or shops, I kind of understand, though I don't get too embarrassed anymore I have had weird looks buying both Catherine and Lollipop Chainsaw...for similar reasons

Now Catherine was one of my favourite games of last year and I'm yet to play Lollipop Chainsaw but they aren't embarrassing games but they look very...erotic but they aren't the only games to be embarrassed about are they?

What about games like Viva Pinata or Little Big Planet, two games I've also had weird looks when buying

Now these are good games too, infact Little Big Planet 2 was my personal GOTY last year yet still gave me some weird looks when I bought it.

So in conjunction with this here article and my testimony, my question is, are you Escapists embarrassed to purchase any games with sexy, violent or child-like box art, have you ever had any strange looks from other buyers with said game in hand? Tell me all about your wonderfully embarrassing experiences

 

[Goofguy]

Out of those games you listed, I'd only ever play LittleBigPlanet 2 and I wouldn't be embarrassed to buy it. I haven't played it yet but I have played through the original. It was a fun game and I don't give a crap if I got sideways glances when I bought it.

The majority of my games are bought online but even then, the ones bought in store are not a source of shame for me. I play video games and I like what I like, doesn't bother me if some strangers think me weird.

 

[Ryotknife]

hmm, i would imagine that people who bought games like dead or alive beach volleyball or rumble roses would fit that bill. possibly wrestling games too.

i would probably feel ashamed if i bought a pokemon game.

 

[Razentsu]

Well, I used to get a little nervous of bringing some games up to a counter at a retailer, but I've never ducked out of a purchase due to embarrassment. Nowadays, I feel pretty much nothing. I picked up Bayonetta without a problem; I bought Animal Crossing: City Folk without a problem; and I've bought Pokemon games without any hitches as well.

I play visual novels, and talk about them without a problem; I recommend Katawa Shoujo to everybody. Everyone that knows me knows I ****ing love Pokemon, they know that I'm into competitive Pokemon. I play and preach Melty Blood without fear, despite its undeserved stigma. And Skullgirls. Skullgirls is a good game, people should go play it.

I would play Arcana Heart 3, and Vanguard Princess if I had people to play. If I saw Catherine for cheap at a retailer, I would snatch it up right away; no second thoughts. Dead or Alive 5, I will be sure to pick up at some point, shame be damned.

All I can say is a minute or two of uneasiness is a tiny price to pay for hours of enjoyment.

 

[OpticalJunction]

I have not felt embarrassed to buy a video game, but then my choices haven't been controversial. If I wanted to buy something like an anime preteen dressup game, I would feel a little weird about it.

 

[Kimarous]

Ashamed as in "embarrassing to buy"? Never experienced anything like that.

Ashamed as in "I did something in-game that makes me feel like a total dick", totally been there.

 

[TehCookie]

I've been embarrassed to buy a few but it's never stopped me and most of the time I've had cashiers that know about the game. I've gotten more funny looks buying normal JRPGs (usually followed by comments like how I should play a real game like CoD).

 

[dimensional]

Ive never been ashamed to buy a game or by anything I have done in a game I did get a lot of strange looks and quite loud whispers behind my back when I bought Guitar Hero when it first came out "look at that idiot hes got a plastic guitar hahaha trololol etc" then it seems a lot of them followed suit and bought it themselves but I doubt they were ashamed either although maybe they should have been.

Embarrassed to buy a game no I never have, although some store owners seem to want me to feel embarrassed huh Catherine whats that oh yeah the GIRLFRIEND SIMULATOR, I also got told how childish Gitaroo man was both these happened in Game (game store not in a game) by the same nobhead manager after I told him I did not want to preorder MW3 or GOW or whatever else they were trying to flog at the time.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I guess I'm too main stream to be embarrassed. The most "Far out" game that I DIDN'T buy digitally was Traitors Gate.

A damn good puzzle adventure game. Perhaps I got some weird looks because I was 15 at the time and I wasn't buying the latest death dealing kill machine game.

 

[Dandark]

I can't think of any game that I have been ashamed to buy but I imagine I could be if I brought something like Catherine or Lolipop chainsaw to the counter since some people would give me weird looks after seeing the front covers.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Nope, never. Beside ain't these days most people if not all pretty much buy their games online therefore elimate the whole experience of the store employee scan and look at the game you're buying unless you're paranoid that someone from that site you're ordering from is looking at your order?

 

[lunavixen]

i've never been embarassed to buy a game, not even bayonetta or the like

 

[Nouw]

Ashamed as in "embarrassing to buy"? Never experienced anything like that.

Ashamed as in "I did something in-game that makes me feel like a total dick", totally been there.

+1.

If I'm going to be buying a game, I'm going to be buying it with no shame. The game deserves that much.

 

[Nadia Gezichtboek]

I am never ashamed, sometimes I buy a shooter and sometimes a "cute" game. I buy most games at a gamestore and they recommended LBP to me

 

[Palademon]

I bought Lollipop Chainsaw with no problem. It's having to awkwardly deal with employees at the register I can't handle.

I was recently embarassed to be buying Modern Warfare 1 and 2, since I never actually owned them and they are my favourite singleplayer and multiplayer respectively of the series, and I don't particularly like the others. I also went in the buy a new headset for my computer, and it being a microsoft one coupled with me buying two Call of Duty games at once, I was afraid someone was going to look at me thinking I'm an idiot one of those people that plays nothing but them and got a new headset to scream profanities at people.

Embarrassed to buy a game no I never have, although some store owners seem to want me to feel embarrassed huh Catherine whats that oh yeah the GIRLFRIEND SIMULATOR, I also got told how childish Gitaroo man was both these happened in Game (game store not in a game) by the same nobhead manager after I told him I did not want to preorder MW3 or GOW or whatever else they were trying to flog at the time.

Wow, what a dick.
I hope that manager has fun playing his GIRLFRIEND NEGLECTION SIMULATORS.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Never even once.
Like bosses me and my brother walked into the game shop playing pokemon, got our new preordered pokemon games get the guides and walking out while playing.
We were 16 and 20.

 

[Jamash]

No, but I don't like Animé and Japanese games anyway, so I wouldn't ever be in the position of buying a game that would make me feel ashamed.

With the exception of BMX XXX (which wouldn't interest me anyway as I don't like BMX) all the games that have the potential to cause embarrassment due to their blatant sexual content (e.g. Catherine, Lollipop Chainsaw, Bayonetta, Rumble Roses, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball) are in genres and made by developers I have absolutely no interest in.

In theory, if there was a overtly sexual game that was part of a genre and made by a developer I liked, then I still wouldn't feel ashamed buying it because I'm of an age now that I've racked up a fair few instances of regretful actions and "shameful" purchases in my life, so much so that buying a titillating game that I wanted to play for other reasons is insignificant.

Perhaps this is also a bit of a cultural difference too, as growing up and going through puberty in a country where a kid can freely buy soft-core pornography in a daily newspaper has probably made me immune from any kind of risqué artwork related shame.

 

[Starik20X6]

Back when I gave more of a crap what people thought of my choice in games I was a little embarrassed to be picking a couple of titles up. Now I couldn't care less. Yeah I'm nearly 22 and infinitely more excited for the Kirby 20th Anniversary collection than any game I "should" be buying like COD or Gears, what are you going to do about it?