When is it no longer "just a game?"

[Meg]

I've been thinking. There have been some games lately that have pushed moral limits. For instances, in ACII you kill the pope, in Medal of Honor there was the whole play as the Taliban controversy, "No Russian" in Modern Warfare 2, and now the up coming game Homefront is about North Korea taking over America. Yes yes yes I understand that games have freedom of speech, but my question is this; do games have an ethical/moral limit? If so where is it? Have we crossed it yet? Basically, when is a game no longer "just a game?"

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

I suppose when a game starts to do things like you said, it is more than a game. It's like a message or something.

 

[Meg]

A message for what?

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

Arrogance. That's the vibe I get.

 

[Richtofen]

All games are bases off a inkling of truth, so to speak. But I have noticed that with war games, they are spreading more so into a place where we haven't seen something like that happen yet, as if it takes place in the near feature. (I'm not getting at Killzone or anything, I'm talking about the world here and now.)

What I'm getting at is...all the current war games are based off of real-life events that are happening or that did happen in the past, you just change them a bit. By bringing in something we haven't seen before, makes me wonder if it really is just a game. We all heard about North Korea and their nueclear weapons. Which brings me to believe that with the games they make for entertainment, aren't really much for entertainment anymore...

 

[aka958]

A message for what?

Final Fantasy VII. Think of the things that happens in a certain way and you'll see a really strong connection between the humans draining the life of the planet and how we humans kind of drain the life of the planet. That is an example of a message.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

no, there really isn't. books and movies don't get jumped on for that sort of thing. it's still just a movie or a book, even if a highly controversial one.

it stops being a game when you put down the controller. if you get too worked up over it, then you should just stick to playing pajama sam (which is AWESOME by the way).

 

[Richtofen]

no, there really isn't. books and movies don't get jumped on for that sort of thing. it's still just a movie or a book, even if a highly controversial one.

And yet games get critizied and blamed for causing more 'violence' and yet movies that have just as bad of themes don't really get an eyelash batted at them. (Unless their documentaries or very bad reviews. :lol: )

 

[Meg]

Actually I think the same thing can be applied to books and movies. When's a book more than a book, or a movie more than a movie? Its just that this is a game forum, so I only asked about games.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

it's not. a movie can be about anything, just like a game can. that's why we have rating systems in place. it's irresponsible parents who like to blame the industry that make all of this a question at all. books, thankfully, tend to bore people who are not mature enough to read them.

 

[Meg]

For the sake of having a discussion I'm gonna play devil's advocate.

But shouldn't media have some sort of respect for people? Like how the movie Independence Day was delayed after 9/11. Yes its all just a game/book/movie, but is that really a valid excuse to portray terrible things? What does that say about us as a society that we buy up these kind of things?

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

The Advocatus Diaboli right there has a point. As we should have the sense to avoid things, shouldn't the people who make the game/book/movie have the common sense to not put things in movies that could be portrayed in the wrong context by pure accident?

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

For the sake of having a discussion I'm gonna play devil's advocate.

if you have to.

But shouldn't media have some sort of respect for people? Like how the movie Independence Day was delayed after 9/11. Yes its all just a game/book/movie, but is that really a valid excuse to portray terrible things? What does that say about us as a society that we buy up these kind of things?

no, that's censorship. i'm personally against censorship in every form. if the information isn't appropriate, people can choose to not see it for themselves.
it says that we're entertained by the gruesome, but we always have been. since before the ancient romans we have. the entertainment industry does whatever it can to entertain and therefore generate income, blaming them for that is like blaming a dog for being a dog.

 

[Meg]

Cheez, you know I think you're a levelheaded and respectable guy, and so for that reason I'm gonna get in your face.

You make a very good point. I'm not proposing censorship, just having respect. Like my example with killing the pope in ACII. I'm Catholic. I had no idea that was going to be in there, so when it came to that I felt sick like I was doing something wrong. Each culture has mores and taboos. If every day people can't do those things without being punished in some way, either formally or informally, then why should the media be able to? Just because it isn't real doesn't mean it isn't happening in some form. Imagine a game that allows incest and rape. If a person does those things in real life they are thrown in prison, but if they do it in a game then its ok? Why? Whether or not is real isn't the point. The point is that they are choosing to do an unspeakable act because they think its fun/funny.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

Come to think of it, I think there's a rape scene in Silent Hill 2. Caught me totally unaware and left me feeling sick afterwards.

 

[Meg]

Come to think of it, I think there's a rape scene in Silent Hill 2. Caught me totally unaware and left me feeling sick afterwards.

Does the player choose to do it, or does another character do it as the player watches? Huge difference.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

Someone else does it, but it's unavoidable either way.

 

[Meg]

Someone else does it, but it's unavoidable either way.

Exactly. I'm talking about a getting letting the player choose to do it.

 

[Ronan]

Imagine a game that allows incest and rape. If a person does those things in real life they are thrown in prison, but if they do it in a game then its ok? Why? Whether or not is real isn't the point. The point is that they are choosing to do an unspeakable act because they think its fun/funny.

Not exactly sure about incest, but I have heard of a game where the player can rape young innocent girls on a subway or something. I understand where you're coming from, Meg. The media seems to be pushing the envelope when it comes to game content lately.

What I've drawn from this is that you can't force people to stop what they're doing. You have to draw the line yourself. A game shows brutal killing/rape/general nastiness, but it's just that. A game. Understandably, there are people who get drawn into these things but if a person feels that the game has rather unsavory content they have to make the choice to prevent the content from interfering with their lives instead of trying to force people to conform.

>.<
-prepares for assault of carrot pelters-

 

[Meg]

*throws muffins at Tonks instead* XD

I see what you mean. Let me ask you all this. If a game, as a story mission you must complete to continue the game, tells you to kill your mother. Not the character's mother. Your mother. Assuming games develop the technology to make you, the player, the main character you control and your family the NPCs. Would you do it? Would you kill your mother? Tell me, is that "just a game?"