I remember hearing people say that cars running over people looked too realistic in GTA V and that it wasnt fun because of that.
Will gamers become disgusted with video game violence as graphics move closer to photo realism?
- Thread starter Ronald Nand
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I fully expect that I may well be dead long before we ever see actual photo-realistic games that don't sit firmly in the uncanny valley. And the existence of the uncanny valley actually makes me think it's less likely people will become disgusted as we move closer to photo-realism.
And honestly, no matter how real it ends up looking, people will still know it's not real. Just like with all kinds of horror movies and stuff. There will always be the squeamish who can't stand it, but will there be anything about the level of realism itself that makes people who otherwise don't mind suddenly become disgusted? Almost certainly not.
And honestly, no matter how real it ends up looking, people will still know it's not real. Just like with all kinds of horror movies and stuff. There will always be the squeamish who can't stand it, but will there be anything about the level of realism itself that makes people who otherwise don't mind suddenly become disgusted? Almost certainly not.
Nope, not at all.
Game violence isn't realistic at all (it can't be, or everyone would die in one or two hits), so the impact of death is already marginal at best. Plus, even if we look at realistic depictions of violence in games, well, ever heard of Saw and its six sequels?
Game violence isn't realistic at all (it can't be, or everyone would die in one or two hits), so the impact of death is already marginal at best. Plus, even if we look at realistic depictions of violence in games, well, ever heard of Saw and its six sequels?
I'll preface this by saying I don't want photorealism in games. At least, not as an industry-wide standard or anything. I think some games could benefit from it, but I think with a lot of games there's little reward for a lot of graphical power and a lot of resources spent.
But honestly, if realism doesn't put people off violence in movies, I don't see why it would here. And I don't think we'll see more realism in games (again, overall) because games are generally about being fun and cool and AWSUM!!!!!!!!! rather than realistically portraying the way someone dies. But as far as photorealism? I think it will turn off some, turn on others, and not impact most of us. What really makes the difference is...Well, it's reality.
I'm far more disturbed watching the news than the bloodiest movie. And honestly? I think if the latest superhero flick actually came with a disclaimer that "350,000 real people died to make this scene. I hope you're happy," then people would enjoy it less. It's the same with games. I think most gamers are intelligent enough, stable enough, and otherwise well-adjusted enough to know that they're not real people on the screen. And that's the ultimate difference.
In short, for the most part, no. And until Bob and Dot come out of Mainframe and plead for their lives, I don't think it'll be that kind of an issue.
But I think we'll also stray away from true realism.
But honestly, if realism doesn't put people off violence in movies, I don't see why it would here. And I don't think we'll see more realism in games (again, overall) because games are generally about being fun and cool and AWSUM!!!!!!!!! rather than realistically portraying the way someone dies. But as far as photorealism? I think it will turn off some, turn on others, and not impact most of us. What really makes the difference is...Well, it's reality.
I'm far more disturbed watching the news than the bloodiest movie. And honestly? I think if the latest superhero flick actually came with a disclaimer that "350,000 real people died to make this scene. I hope you're happy," then people would enjoy it less. It's the same with games. I think most gamers are intelligent enough, stable enough, and otherwise well-adjusted enough to know that they're not real people on the screen. And that's the ultimate difference.
In short, for the most part, no. And until Bob and Dot come out of Mainframe and plead for their lives, I don't think it'll be that kind of an issue.
But I think we'll also stray away from true realism.
I already cringe at some things, but it's less to do with guts and gore but presentation.
I distinctly remember a scene in Heavy Rain where you cut off a piece of your finger. I cringed and looked away when I did that part. I was disgusted and uncomfortable. It didn't help that I couldn't find something quick, I think it was like a steak knife.
However, I'd be happy to break limbs and kneecaps and make compound fractures if it's an action thriller and I'm kicking ass, versus having to break a child's neck in a stealth game to get away from the bad guys or something.
I distinctly remember a scene in Heavy Rain where you cut off a piece of your finger. I cringed and looked away when I did that part. I was disgusted and uncomfortable. It didn't help that I couldn't find something quick, I think it was like a steak knife.
However, I'd be happy to break limbs and kneecaps and make compound fractures if it's an action thriller and I'm kicking ass, versus having to break a child's neck in a stealth game to get away from the bad guys or something.
If a game really wants to go towards hyper-real, unnerving violence, then it will. But in general it won't be that bad. Most games depiction of violence is well, stylized, where a lot of the time it's very 'clean'. There's blood, yeah, but you often don't see the effect of whatever dastardly thing you did asides another down bad guy.
Take Sniper Elite for example, that game revels in it's violence, and that x-ray shot thing can be cringe inducing depending on who you are, but Mass Effect, Splinter Cell, Call of Duty don't have such severe representations of violence as that's generally not what they're about.
Take Sniper Elite for example, that game revels in it's violence, and that x-ray shot thing can be cringe inducing depending on who you are, but Mass Effect, Splinter Cell, Call of Duty don't have such severe representations of violence as that's generally not what they're about.
Both point of views ("gamers will be more disgusted" and "gamers will be more desensitized", especially the latter because it's fucking stupid) are wrong. Nothing will change. Because it's not about the graphics, it's about how it all is presented. There's a Jimquisition episode on the matter, do take a watch.
I'm not disgusted by it, but I'm just sort of bored with it. I don't really care to have uber violent games if I can avoid it, mostly just because I'm not a big fan of violence IRL, and thus find indulging in it whole sale in games less appealing. This is a change I've noticed as I've aged, compared to when I was younger.
Now I do still have some games that I enjoy for the violence in them. Or if it's a game where you have no choice but to engage in violence, God of War; Sniper Elite 3 for example, I'll be fine with enjoying it, but if I've got a choice in a game, I'll pick the non-lethal route. Because I've never bothered to solve my problems with violence, so I like games that acknowledge that the majority of human interactions are of a non-violent nature.
Again, I don't have an issue with violent games, they just hold less of an appeal for me these days as they used to. So I don't really care what happens with video game violence fidelity over the years, it's sort of a non-issue to me.
Now I do still have some games that I enjoy for the violence in them. Or if it's a game where you have no choice but to engage in violence, God of War; Sniper Elite 3 for example, I'll be fine with enjoying it, but if I've got a choice in a game, I'll pick the non-lethal route. Because I've never bothered to solve my problems with violence, so I like games that acknowledge that the majority of human interactions are of a non-violent nature.
Again, I don't have an issue with violent games, they just hold less of an appeal for me these days as they used to. So I don't really care what happens with video game violence fidelity over the years, it's sort of a non-issue to me.
I will.
I can't handle watching broken bones in t.v and movies. It's just one of those things to me. I can handle horror and even torture porn trash like Hostel but not broken bones. (Sorry The Raid 1 & 2...I really want to watch you but I can't)
I already have a hard time dealing with it in the Arkham series and eventually it'll get to the point where I simply can't experience that content.
Also...Batman constantly breaking lackeys bones.... Is that a common thing in the comics?
Or is this only like a Frank Miller version of the Dark Knight?
Or is this limited to Arkham games?
I can't handle watching broken bones in t.v and movies. It's just one of those things to me. I can handle horror and even torture porn trash like Hostel but not broken bones. (Sorry The Raid 1 & 2...I really want to watch you but I can't)
I already have a hard time dealing with it in the Arkham series and eventually it'll get to the point where I simply can't experience that content.
Also...Batman constantly breaking lackeys bones.... Is that a common thing in the comics?
Or is this only like a Frank Miller version of the Dark Knight?
Or is this limited to Arkham games?
Nope. As people have mentioned, the violence will still be rather silly. Unless I shoot someone once in the shoulder, smash all his bones and leave him to die in slow agony, it won't be realistic even if it's in a photorealistic virtual reality console.
Watch the Desensitised to Violence episode of the Jimquisition. It's pretty good.
Watch the Desensitised to Violence episode of the Jimquisition. It's pretty good.
I can only speak to myself, but no. Because it's not real. I've been watching people get ripped apart, tortured, eaten, beaten, skeeten (I...I just wanted to rhyme), vaporized, decayed and everything else that has happened in TV and movies which try to make everything look as realistic as ever. And it doesn't do anything to me (And half the time, doesn't do anything for me, either). And yet, I find it extremely hard to view mad injuries on people, be it war footage of people with blown limbs off, or even a skater who grazed off half the skin on his arm.
I remember Jim Sterling did a video on this about a year back arguing the same thing as me. When it's not real, we don't really care. We can usually watch all this violent shit happen and not give a flying fuck. And then he showed a video of a dude topping himself and that was disturbing as all hell. I have no problem admitting that I had nightmares about that for a while and probably shouldn't have watched in the first place (There were also a bunch of warnings I ignored).
So like I said, I can only speak for myself....but realistic looking will never, ever trump real.
I remember Jim Sterling did a video on this about a year back arguing the same thing as me. When it's not real, we don't really care. We can usually watch all this violent shit happen and not give a flying fuck. And then he showed a video of a dude topping himself and that was disturbing as all hell. I have no problem admitting that I had nightmares about that for a while and probably shouldn't have watched in the first place (There were also a bunch of warnings I ignored).
So like I said, I can only speak for myself....but realistic looking will never, ever trump real.
I doubt it.
Remember Saving Private Ryan? You know, the opening beach scene with soldiers getting chopped apart by machinegun fire, lying in the sand screaming for their mothers while their intestines poured out of their bellies? The radioman's face getting caved in by a near-hit from explosives?
Some moviegoers called that "awesome".
Remember Saving Private Ryan? You know, the opening beach scene with soldiers getting chopped apart by machinegun fire, lying in the sand screaming for their mothers while their intestines poured out of their bellies? The radioman's face getting caved in by a near-hit from explosives?
Some moviegoers called that "awesome".
I think, for me, it's not so much that it will make me stop playing games or anything like that, but it will become more important for me that the violence to have a meaning and a purpose. Watching the trailers for the upcoming Mortal Kombat X, for instance, really turned me off of the game. The graphic violence is becoming more and more realistic (maybe not in the actual actions, but just in the visual portrayal) and yet the game itself still treats it as a silly/stupid joke. At least for me, there comes a point where some guy having his eyeballs drilled out individually in extreme close up just isn't slapstick funny anymore.
In my opinion the scenes don't need to look photo-realistic to be disgusting. It's more of a personal taste (what do you dislike more? Gunfire? Gore? Decapitation? Impalement? Dismemberment? People burning alive? Melting flesh? People being devoured?) and your personal limit with graphic violence. The question isn't if the gamers will be disgusted with photo-realistic graphics. It's if the developers will use the graphics for making the games disgusting.
I even watched that in my history class a few years after it released, and about half the class said it wasn't really anything too bad because of how much better movie graphics were recently. I don't, however, think we are completely immune to being disgusted at violence, just many of us are not disgusted when we don't know the victim of violence too well, at least that is the case for me. I can feel for a "person", but not an NPC with no personality.The Rogue Wolf said: