Sex, Violence, and the Wii

[murder_of_raven]

Hmm, Shamus it seems that you are arguing against the "nothing can be done" assumption with "nothing needs to be done". The Wii will continue to sell with or without the approval of the hardcore gaming crowd (clearly, it would've died shortly after the release of Brawl otherwise), so this Experienced Point seems to have a lot less editorial in it than normal.

I wonder, how could we as "serious gamers" help the public make the connection between casual "toy" gaming and our "hobby"? Are they connected?

 

[GonzoGamer]

Or it might just turn them into nintendo fanboys, saying things like: you don't see murder simulators like this on the wii.

Won't happen. The Wii's got its fair share of violent games: MadWorld, The Conduit, Fire Emblem, Dead Space: Extraction, Pikmin, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros., Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, No More Heroes...

This is a good thing, though. Since there will undoubtedly be people saying that (like those who protested MadWorld for the Wii because it was on the Wii), all that's needed will be to show them these games.

Well there you go, what I thought I was predicting apparently already started. I don't remember outrage over Madworld.

 

[Pjmcnally]

I wonder, how could we as "serious gamers" help the public make the connection between casual "toy" gaming and our "hobby"? Are they connected?

I think that is the essential question here. However, I think we need to look at this from both ends. We not only need to convince the non-gaming public to see that connection we also need to convince the "Hardcore/Haxor" gamers to see it too. How can moderate yet serious gamers work to convince "Hardcore/Haxor" gamers that they want to be part of a larger group? How can both sides of this puzzle be brought together?

 

[Graustein]

Or it might just turn them into nintendo fanboys, saying things like: you don't see murder simulators like this on the wii.

Won't happen. The Wii's got its fair share of violent games: MadWorld, The Conduit, Fire Emblem, Dead Space: Extraction, Pikmin, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros., Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, No More Heroes...

This is a good thing, though. Since there will undoubtedly be people saying that (like those who protested MadWorld for the Wii because it was on the Wii), all that's needed will be to show them these games.

Well there you go, what I thought I was predicting apparently already started. I don't remember outrage over Madworld.

Wasn't much, was just some group protesting against MadWorld because they thought the Wii was supposed to be 100% family-friendly. Nintendo's (awesome) response was that teens who like ultraviolence have families too.

 

[the1ultimate]

It's a standard tactic: if you can't beat them, convert them to your side.
The more people we turn into gamers the better. Even casual gamers will do.

I also think we need more games that stand out in different ways, which could get gaming some publicity for being unique, thus increasing the positive publicity that gaming gets. Viewed from this perspective, that new heart monitor peripheral Nintendo was developing could be a very good idea.
I imagine a game that you have to fool into believing you are telling the truth when you are in fact lying would be worth at least a mention in the general press, and would probably induce some people to look into gaming.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Plus the way the Wii handles online capability means that they likely won't be exposed to the dark side of gaming culture.

 

[WayOutThere]

"They have no idea what the hobby is all about"

not to disagree with you but what is the hobby all about?

 

[Doug]

Now, the cynical answer we get from young people (and from me, when I'm grouchy) is that there's nothing to be done about this. We just have to wait for those people to retire or die.

Grab your guns, we're going to 'speed the process along'....wait...damnit, then they are telling the truth. Curse you logic.

EDIT: You make the comparsion between people who want dramas and so forth, and them not demanding 'something to be done about voilent movies'... I don't know, I've heard plenty of them complaining about voilence and sex on TV.

 

[ThisNewGuy]

Here's the difference between No Russian and every scene described in the article.

In No Russian, you are required to participate in civilian massacre. In all the other games, you are not.

It's like the difference between turning on the TV and switch to the history channel about World War 2 versus being locked in a room and strapped to a chair with repeating footage of hostage beheading in Iraq force fed to you.

Surely the World War 2 footage has more killing, but the beheading footage that's forced is much much more "controversial".

Edit: obviously, you could skip No Russian, but since the warning does not specify what is to come, it could easily have been mistaken to ask "do you want to turn off all blood and gore and bullets and explosion in this game" as a parental thing, which is like playing God of War 3 demo blind-folded.

Also, Fox News have welcomed Wii, Obama plays the Wii, but neither of them will approve No Russian. Wii is NOT the gateway drug to understanding hardcore culture. Wii is the pretense of playing games that older people can use to sound "up to date." It's like some white guy who voted for a black guy just to say "hey, I'm not racist."

 

[madman485]

"They have no idea what the hobby is all about"

not to disagree with you but what is the hobby all about?

IMO, i think its mostly a combination between being able to relax and take a load off by escaping from our reality, while still being able to have a competitive nature if you really want.

what they think it is, is an outlet for our social aggression and that because we enjoy playing the games in this way, we are compelled to mimic these outside of the game world.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

*blink blink* I don't think of them as casual gamers, as causal gamers are the trendy and posh frat boys and wanna be's who play a few hours a day of their favorite brand of generic swill gaming, those are our casual gamers. The people you describe are non gamers just as people who go to the movies once a year can not be called movie goers or film fans. I am not saying that there is anything bad with being a casual gamer or a non gamer or a fan boy..er elitist bastards(raises hand)...er hard core gamers.. its just we all have our roles.

The zombies mindlessly consume supporting the industry the bastards cry foul for the lack of gameplay,control,qaulity,options,standards and a slew of over issues degrading the industry all the while moaning over the little things and being bemoaned and outcasted while the non gamers rise in numbers dumber and more gullible than any gamer before. Where am I going with my rant....I dunno I am tried, pissed and gaming is growing dumber by the minute in order to play nice with the kids with the soft helmets and drool pans..... *sigh*well I guess that's where the money is.... but its not making me happy...not one bit....


And yes I would rather the industry be 3 times as small, 3 times as costly and be 10 times better in qaulity than what we have not which is 5 times wore in qaulity(albeit graphics are alot better and so are physics when used.....) at 2 or 3 times the cost and it being 5 or 8 times bigger than it was...... were is the progress? the CEOs can cash out millions while we get 1 game every 5 years thats worth while?
Oh fuck it......

 

[randommaster]

article

Someone, maybe you, said something about video games being this century's most important form of entertainment. That being true, it is important to look at how adults looked at past forms of popular entertainment. (Which you also wrote an article on) Video games are getting the heat because they are still considered "kid's toys." Also, older people use the internet, so they know that not everything on there is violence, porn, or violent porn.

We're just going to have to live with this nonsense until video games stop being the cool thing to hate. Even if there are a million studies that show that video games don't promote violence, people won't listen because they want to put the blame somewhere other than their own shoulders.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

I won't admit that wii is bad for a hardcore gamer, but it does feel like it's a little harder to grasp that feel. As only a handful of games are really for the hardcore market. It's worth a try before you write if off as a kiddie system.

 

[Vierran]

I have never thought of it this way before, this is something to think on.

 

[SantoUno]

That is an interesting philosophy about the Wii, that would be awesome if it went down that way.

 

[sunpop]

I have always been shocked that the baby boomers get so pissed about gaming and call it evil when they went through the same crap with there rock and roll devil music. One would think they would sympathize with us and realize they don't understand gaming but much like rock and roll it's not evil and doesn't cause people to be stupid/homicidal.

Hell music introduced more people to drugs even with the whole hippie phase and it actually got record amounts of people smoking pot and doing acid, but gaming doesn't cause people to do drugs in fact it might even keep them away. It's true there's a lot of gamers who are druggies or at least claim to be because it's so damn cool. I used to smoke pot but never got into anything harder and even quit smoking all together because I preferred gaming and decided to hang out with other gamers instead of potheads all the time.

There have been a fair amount of crime based around video games and I don't mean kids shooting up a school saying gta made them, but instead I mean arguments about consoles and such ending in violence. That has more to do with the population is increasing but the average IQ is dropping and most parents are busy with work and the stay home mom/dad is a rarity.

But in the end each generation prosecutes the one after it for something and sadly enough our generation will find something to hate about the next. My theory is robot girlfriends will be the next hot topic. Not robot boyfriends tho because I can't think of fathers hating a machine they can program to not have sex with there daughter and can't get them pregnant ^^.

 

[HentMas]

YAY!!! now there will come an age where people will see a kid killing his parents and say "damn, that king is fu&%ing wako" instead of "MW2 made him do it"

 

[saejox]

Games are for kids, thats why.

well, 60-70 y.olds think that way.

 

[malestrithe]

The game was chosen because it sold something in the neighborhood of 6 million units in its first day. The anti-video game groups do not care about a game like Eat Lead, that currently sits in the "please steal me" section of my local gamestop. They are not going to waste their time on those games because they are not worth it. This is why Peta went after Ringling Bros game and the Cooking Mama franchise.

Anti gaming groups are not going to waste time on something relatively obscure like the Tron 2.0, Rumble Roses XX or whatever when they are better targets for them to go after.

 

[oppp7]

I hate people who look down on casual gamers. When did video games become serious? Most of the same people who use casual gamer as an insult are the same who rage at noobs.