In almost every video game, we are killing, beating or destroying something.

[Rakewell]

I think some of us kill on our PCs so we don't in real life.

 

[computron]

What can't you do IRL? Generally speaking, all the crazy shit we do in video games.

This is why I don't enjoy the Sims, I can watch myself take a piss or shower every day.

I agree. Life's necessary daily activities are cumbersome and boring enough. Why would anyone wanna do it twice

 

[pontifex]

i'm trying to see what the problem is?

 

[jhansman]

Ditto Portal 2. Unless you consider blowing blue/orange holes in walls and such "destruction." Oh, and by the way, every day (in one way or the other) you help contribute to the destruction of the planet, animals, plants, and yourself. Perhaps this is reason enough to not want to do it digitally, but there it is.

 

[Transfusion]

I think some of us kill on our PCs so we don't in real life.

Geez.
I feel like we've gotten so used to it that we don't notice how violent games actually are.

What can't you do IRL? Generally speaking, all the crazy shit we do in video games.

GTA and hot coffee and... Eek... Really, most of the people who play GTA don't go around with a shotgun blowing bar owners' brains out every day. Self control.

Video game without violence? Pokemon. Gotta catch'em all!

 

[paperfist]

Just looking at my Steam list, here are games that have no objective to kill, destroy or beat something up:


RollerCoaster Tycoon 3


There are others that are iffy, like Civ 4 and Civ 5 (assuming game settings are right and you get lucky no one ever attacks you).

You need to edit that one out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQrC_C6SexI

 

[gorcorps]

Well, you discount the few genres that fit your bill so you're kind of limiting yourself here.

Minecraft can be played without any enemies, and is how I prefer it.

Rythm games like Rock Band have been wildly popular and are non-violent.

There are a number of indie platformers that are non-violent. I know you said "major release" but Steam is making these easier to get and more popular.

There are non-violent games out there still, but they're definitely not as popular. Thing is video games are a way to do things virtually that you can't do in the real world. I can't think of many non-violent things I'd want to do that I can't also do in the real world. I don't like playing golf on the TV when I can easily play it outside. I won't boot up Wii bowling when I can just go bowling. Why play with a plastic guitar when I have a real one? Now I know not everybody can do this, but try to follow my point.

You know what I can't do? Stab a dragon in the face with a sword. Or shoot lightning out of my palms to fry somebody that's trying to kill me. Or bash a zombie's head in with a sledge hammer. That IMO is more why video games are the way they are. They're a way to do things that are impossible to do elsewhere.

 

[Nebor]

This is why I don't enjoy the Sims, I can watch myself take a piss or shower every day.

.... can I?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Well, you discount the few genres that fit your bill so you're kind of limiting yourself here.

Minecraft can be played without any enemies, and is how I prefer it.

Rythm games like Rock Band have been wildly popular and are non-violent.

There are a number of indie platformers that are non-violent. I know you said "major release" but Steam is making these easier to get and more popular.

There are non-violent games out there still, but they're definitely not as popular. Thing is video games are a way to do things virtually that you can't do in the real world. I can't think of many non-violent things I'd want to do that I can't also do in the real world. I don't like playing golf on the TV when I can easily play it outside. I won't boot up Wii bowling when I can just go bowling. Why play with a plastic guitar when I have a real one? Now I know not everybody can do this, but try to follow my point.

You know what I can't do? Stab a dragon in the face with a sword. Or shoot lightning out of my palms to fry somebody that's trying to kill me. Or bash a zombie's head in with a sledge hammer. That IMO is more why video games are the way they are. They're a way to do things that are impossible to do elsewhere.

That reminds me of when I started playing Just Cause 2. Climbing to the top of the two towers and free falling off the top of them, last minute parachute opens and guns fire killing everyone below. Time to try that for real....

 

[Cheesetogo]

GTA and hot coffee and... Eek... Really, most of the people who play GTA don't go around with a shotgun blowing bar owners' brains out every day. Self control.

Video game without violence? Pokemon. Gotta catch'em all!

Pokemon is quite possibly the greatest game ever made.

 

[Kristijonas]

Pacific games currently installed on my HDD :
Amnesia - The dark descent
Europa Universalis (depends on gaming style)
Eve Online (clones die rarely)
Mirrors Edge
Sim City 4
Supreme Ruler 2020 (depends on gaming style)
Thief 2
Thief 3
Victoria 2

Nevertheless I love beating people up on Deus Ex: Human Revolution ;D

 

[nenforcer]

Portal 2

 

[Redshirt 24]

One word: Peggle.

 

[GundamW]

Have you tried this game yet? It's fun.

 

[greenhawk]

I feel like we've gotten so used to it that we don't notice how violent games actually are.


I'd like to see a major release that doesn't involve such things. Someone needs to come up with a game that isn't a sports or racing game and doesn't involve killing.

On the first, I think the OP has been living under a rock. Voilent games have been around for a long time. Some of the games from when I was a kid include things like Doom, Quake, Rise Of The Triad, Wolfenstien and dozens of text based tank games.



As to the second, Major release generally aim at the mass market, and I suspect a good number of them are younger males that can not get enough blood in their games. Some I suspect would play "My little Pony" if their was blood in it.

As to major realises, Minecraft is the first to mind, but I am not a fan of games that consist of "ponies and flowers".

 

[CPA]

You need to edit that one out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQrC_C6SexI

LOL, however everyone got back up, so no one was killed.

 

[greenhawk]

Sim City 4

To far, some of the eariler versions (not sure if the current allows it), you can call down natural events that include fire/flood/storms ect. your "people" die in those events, so not a 100% death free game.

 

[Stringjam]

Mirrors Edge

You have to directly/indirectly kill a few folks in Mirror's Edge....no matter how you play the game.

I really wish DICE would roll out another one.....some of the best art direction I've ever seen in a video game.

 

[sandorski]

Minecraft

Beat me too it.


Minecraft is beautiful.

These.

 

[Northern Lawn]

Geez.

I feel like we've gotten so used to it that we don't notice how violent games actually are.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - killing / beating people
Skyrim - tons of killing
The Witcher 2 - tons of killing
Batman: Arkham City - tons of beating up
BF3 - tons of killing
Rage - tons of killing
Dead Island - tons of killing

--------

I'd like to see a major release that doesn't involve such things. Someone needs to come up with a game that isn't a sports or racing game and doesn't involve killing.

It could be a subconscious thing, where we actually like to kill things, and video games gives us that satisfaction...

During WWI they would recruit thousands and thousands of farm boys into the army but they wouldn't shoot the enemy, they would aim high or shoot the ground. So they changed the way they train soldiers in boot camp by making them shoot man-like objects over and over and over till they didn't think twice.

Fast forward almost a hundred years and the Army sponsors video game tournaments and only lends their (publically paid for) equipment likeness to pro fighting games and movies. In the Video game Americas Army, american players would actually get emails from recruiters.

 

[Jaskalas]

In almost every video game, we are killing, beating or destroying something.

Ape begets ape. Never forget the animals we truly are.

PS, never had to kill things to play Ultima Online.

 

[Nirreln]

GTA and hot coffee and... Eek... Really, most of the people who play GTA don't go around with a shotgun blowing bar owners' brains out every day. Self control.

Video game without violence? Pokemon. Gotta catch'em all!

Clearly imprisoning wild animals and making them fight each other for profit is totally non-violent.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Does it really come as a surprise that games tend to involve some sort of conflict? There are plenty of puzzle, simulation and racing games out there that do not, but for the genres that depend on a story the presence of conflict can make things more interesting. It's why most dramas and novels have some form of violence, even G rated kids shows have sword fights and bad guys.

Let's say you are in charge of making a futuristic RPG set in a nuclear wasteland. Expected sales do not matter and you can design it however you would like. Would you really design it without including any conflicts at all?

 

[drizek]

 

[Sulaco]

It's called CONFLICT

It has driven entertainment, story-telling, and (sadly) human existence for ages.

Read The Illiad. Read The Odyssey. They didn't sit in a circle-jerk around a campfire singing Kumbaya.
Some games take it over the top, just like all forms of entertainment. But there are plenty that don't.