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Bulletstorm violent: stupid people offended

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While the media is definitely overstating the case and overreacting, I do have to ask the question: Is this extreme violence and sexual content really necessary to make a good game, or is it just a substitute for lazy game design and an attempt to get publicity for the game??

And also, it is inaccurate to say that the only way for children to get an M rated game is for parents to buy it for them. Younger people can also get it from an older friend or sibling, play it at a friends house, or if it is for the computer, they can pirate it.

So I guess I feel that although there is no definite link between such games and real world behavior, I think that game designers should sometimes not put so much violence and sexual content (in a violent context) in their games.
 
frozentundra123456 said:
While the media is definitely overstating the case and overreacting, I do have to ask the question: Is this extreme violence and sexual content really necessary to make a good game, or is it just a substitute for lazy game design and an attempt to get publicity for the game??

And also, it is inaccurate to say that the only way for children to get an M rated game is for parents to buy it for them. Younger people can also get it from an older friend or sibling, play it at a friends house, or if it is for the computer, they can pirate it.

So I guess I feel that although there is no definite link between such games and real world behavior, I think that game designers should sometimes not put so much violence and sexual content (in a violent context) in their games.
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Necessary? Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No! But it's sterile and I like the taste!

On a serious note, this has nothing to do with what's necessary to make a good game. It's the designers prerogative to decide what they do, and do not want to put into and game. It's up to the consumer to decide whether or not they want to purchase it. Moreover it's up to the parents to decide whether or not their children should be allowed to play such games.

As for your second point; sure a kid could get video game from an older friend or sibling, but the same could be said of many things. Kids can get their hands on R rated movies, porno mags, or alcohol the same way. Does that mean that the entire video game industry should be censored? I don't think so.
 
dpodblood said:
Necessary? Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No! But it's sterile and I like the taste!

On a serious note, this has nothing to do with what's necessary to make a good game. It's the designers prerogative to decide what they do, and do not want to put into and game. It's up to the consumer to decide whether or not they want to purchase it. Moreover it's up to the parents to decide whether or not their children should be allowed to play such games.

As for your second point; sure a kid could get video game from an older friend or sibling, but the same could be said of many things. Kids can get their hands on R rated movies, porno mags, or alcohol the same way. Does that mean that the entire video game industry should be censored? I don't think so.
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If you read my post carefully, no where did it say that I favored censorship. I am just saying that plenty of great games have been made without so much violence. For instance probably my favorite game, KOTOR, was a great game with a great story and had no profanity, sexual content, or excessive violence. In fact it was rated teen.
Again, if you read my post carefully, you will see that I was simply saying that I think the game designers could design great games without so much violence, profanity, and violent sexual innuendo. I never said the government should control what they are allowed to design.
 
Hey; I agree with you there! Sexuality and violence in video games does not make a game inherently good or bad. In this case I think Bulletstorm will be a quality title due to the parties involved in creating it. I don't believe in this case they will be relying on over the top violence to cover up poor design. Of course I won't truly know until the game is released, but I have high hopes.
 
LessThanDan said:
When you say "enforced like liquor", I had to double-check to make sure you weren't actually talking about making it illegal. I don't think that's what you meant though. (It would be against the first amendment anyway.)
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The first amendment doesn't spell out what it protects with specificity and certain categories, i.e. pornography, have been limited in some respects. Can't sell porn mags to kids. While I disagree with the sentiment, it's not a legislative canyon to leap to get from "can't sell kids nudie mags" to "can't sell kids games with naked characters featuring sex and graphically violent dismemberment reenactments". We'll see where this goes when the SC rules but even after they do we'll not have heard the final word on this.
 
now... let me guess something. The game is rated M, right? So, what's the problem?

Parents shouldn't be letting their kids play it if they don't approve of it. And if they're not around to know what their kids are playing.. .they must not be parenting good enough, right?

Or was that too logical?
 
jonks said:
The first amendment doesn't spell out what it protects with specificity and certain categories, i.e. pornography, have been limited in some respects. Can't sell porn mags to kids. While I disagree with the sentiment, it's not a legislative canyon to leap to get from "can't sell kids nudie mags" to "can't sell kids games with naked characters featuring sex and graphically violent dismemberment reenactments". We'll see where this goes when the SC rules but even after they do we'll not have heard the final word on this.
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Good point. Someone else was explaining to me that video games as an entertainment medium are also considered a form of free speech, so in limiting their sales to certain people by law you're also breaking the first amendment. But I'm not sure where the red tape is.
 
LessThanDan said:
Good point. Someone else was explaining to me that video games as an entertainment medium are also considered a form of free speech, so in limiting their sales to certain people by law you're also breaking the first amendment. But I'm not sure where the red tape is.
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I think this will ultimately be decided by the courts. "Free speech" does not mean the right to say or produce absolutely anything you may want. Not to denigrate the constitution, but the amendments were written many, many years ago and must be interpreted in the context of today's environment and technology. To carry this to its extreme, would writing a virus be considered "free speech"?? Obviously not. The same for child porn or racially inflammatory or terrorist threats. And what about cyber bullying?

I am not saying that this game should be censored. I do not even really know the content of the game. I am just saying that it is not a simple case of black and white---that "freedom of speech" is not absolute.
 
“The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games,” she said.

[citation needed]
 
BladeVenom said:
It has been, over and over again, and the courts have ruled that freedom of speech applies to video games. Yet stupid politicians still make stupid laws trying to place unconstitutional restrictions on video games.
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You missed or ignored my point. Yes, video games are protected, but even in a protected medium, there ultimately can be some kind of limit applied by the courts.
 
i'm pretty sure that violence amongst kids has been around since humans could walk. Some poor countries have kids walking around with machine guns and they can't even afford a tv to have a game system to play them on.
 
frozentundra123456 said:
You missed or ignored my point. Yes, video games are protected, but even in a protected medium, there ultimately can be some kind of limit applied by the courts.
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But how far you can go with freedom of speech has already been ruled on before, and the courts aren't allowing special restrictions for video games. So the limits have already been decided.

So there's no honest reason for politicians to make new anti-video game laws, the courts will continue to overturn them as they have before.
 
not this shit again..

The problem is when parents are too stupid to decide what their kids can watch/play...

The law says you have to 18 to buy M rated games.. not to play them... it is a fact that many pre-teen kids play M rated games and watch R rated movies. the issue is not whether such games/movies should be made, it's whether the parents are enforcing their rules (if any) for the kids..

This is also why FPS on consoles suck balls.... kids playing "Call of Dooty"
 
The only thing that should be in the news with respect to these violent video games is that parents need to start becoming GOOD parents!

Good parents that are paying attention to their kids wouldnt let them play these types of games.
 
Am I really the only kid on the world who was able to do things that i wasnt supposed to without their parents finding out? I thought that was part of being a kid. Now we grow older and forget that kids are way more devious than they get credit for?
 
airdata said:
now... let me guess something. The game is rated M, right? So, what's the problem?

Parents shouldn't be letting their kids play it if they don't approve of it. And if they're not around to know what their kids are playing.. .they must not be parenting good enough, right?

Or was that too logical?
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Well just because it's rated M and called "Bulletstorm", how am I suppose to know it's violent? :colbert:
 
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