Mature games

[Thrapster]

What does the society think of the "mature" games? For instance Grand Theft Auto and the recent BMXXX. Where will the people stop? And should they stop? Can society handle the new surge of mature games. Or will they fall into the grasps of adolescent teenagers looking for a cheap thrill? Personally I think that is exactly what will happen.

But that's just my opinion.

[JayMan]

And "mature" video's, pictures, etc don't fall into the grasps of adolescent teenagers? Alcohol? Cigarettes? Cars? Guns? Drugs?

Personally i don't see a problem with "mature" content, i am old enuff to play what i want to play, why should someone have the right to stop me from doing otherwise?

For a game (or movie etc...) to "cause" violent behavour, the person would already have to be pretty messed up. Im sure 99% of everyone out there knows the difference between reality & make-believe. I personally think games like GTA are good stress releif, same with many other games, "hey what a crap day at work, wish i could kill my boss, oh well, lets go have some fun causing havoc on GTA instead"..... (or would you prefer me kill my boss?)

Why should us 99% (sane people) miss out on the wonderfull therapy of "mature" video games just because of the 1% of messed up people....

Anyways, that just some of my thoughts on the matter.

But i do agree that the games (and everything else) with this content should be kept away from young kids, but in the end its up to parents, shops, friends & the kids themself to all be responsible.

JayMan

[goldenbuddha]

IMO, Grand Theft Auto and the recent BMXXX are not mature games, they are more like "rated stupid" games, who probably figured that having the M rating will help sales.

[U-96]

Well if you are happy watching Barbie movies and Pokemon then we should get rid of 18 rated films too.

The games-buying demographic is heavily weighted towards the 18-35 age group, and there is good financial sense to make mature (as opposed to explicit) games for those people (e.g. me ).
Recently there has been a great advance in the production of quality games with sophisticated storyline and gameplay that has content that is either unsuitable for or not understood by children.
There are many games like GTA, Silent Hill, the Getaway, the Final Fantasy series, and numerous wargames and simulators that explore mature themes. It's only the more visually brutal or tittilating that seem to attract kids, if only because they are told they can't have them. I can carpet-bomb downtown Seoul in Falcon4, but I don't see people getting worried if kids do that...

Like most people, I was watching 18-rated video nasties with my friends when I was a kid Today's kids are pretty much the same. There's no more reason to ban mature-themed games than there is mature-themed books.

I'll wager that few shops will stop kids buying erotic or violent novels. Would you let a 10 year old read "American Psycho"? Truth is, most kids wouldn't be faintly interested Yet somehow playing Grand Theft Auto is more detrimental to their mental health? Killers tend to own copies of "Catcher in the Rye" and "Mein Kampf", rather than "BMXXX" and "Resident Evil"*


*IIRC, Resident Evil and GTA were the first games to come out with an 18 rating in Europe

[win2kuser]

Who can remember when 'Strip Poker' came out on the PC. This was STRICLY an adult only game.

I was only about 14 at the time, but left my pc on all night downloading a rip of the game just to see the naked women in glorious 16 colours!

Bit silly really as I knew where the old man hid his porno videos and could 'toss myself silly' if he wasn't about!

Just goes to show - if you can't have it, it makes you want it even more!

[originel]

ahhh....those were the days win2kuser. i remember them fondly

but in all seriousness, i think that what's causeing a lot of the commotion isn't so much that games aren't explicet, but rather the fact that they recently didn't used to be. the public percieves this as games becoming more and more violent, a trend many think will continue. i don't really think that is the case and, in fact, i think i know why games have become more adult oriented. It's because the original group of gamers that started out on those "kids games" a decade ago are now grown up. our parents don't really play games cause they didn't have them as kids themselves. So when video games started becoming popular they marketed them to the easiest to market audience...kids. but now we've grown up and aren't satisfied with kids games anymore and want something more on our level. therefore games have matured with their audience. it's not like we are going to mature anymore or anything...so i don't think games will either. i still think that movies are much more explicit than games...it's jsut that movies have been that way for a while and so the public is used to it. in time games will be the same way.

my 2 cents

[goldenbuddha]

I have a kid, and I think, I'd much rather my kid see nudie bodies than violence, if I have to make a choice.

[couch potato]

oh great, look what you started. Personally, its just a preference. I, myself, play a lot of M games. But I choose them not because they are M, but because they are good. I like T games too GTA3 was pretty "over-the-top" for its time, but now nobody cares. Why, because Vice City is out. Im not gona get Vice City, even if it comes out for PC. BMX XXX does just look like a cheap thrill, I will agree there. Also, your probobly right, Vice City is causing a stirr up, but so is BMX XXX> I Think BMX XXX is just crap, but Vice City and GTA 3 actually made a big step in the gaming world. Walk around a huge city, interacting with people, stealing a lot of DIFFERENT cars, no game had really done that. Im not saying everything in that game was a big step, but a lot of it was.

now, i dont mind keeping M games away from 3 year olds, but to keep strict games on a 15 year old? thats just lame. its like sheltering your child! Some M games, like Metal Gear Solid, arent bad at all. sure, keep BMX XXX away from your teen, go ahead but....its JUST STUPID to keep games away that your kid sees all the time in R Rated movies. Let kids do the thinking. i have certian rules of what not to buy, mostly because Im catholic. I say, at 13, let your kid decide for him self/her self. If the child knows whats in his/her best interest, he/she will stay away from certian things. If not, then.......THEN take away M games. My opinion Oh, and its not just the kid's fault he/she is not restricted. I, 14 years of age, could walk into the local EB and buy a R-Rated movie, and a couple M-games, WITH NO ADULT Its kind of funny, though

[joker_927]

I see a lot of people's 2 cents, here is mine!

I asked my dad this question one time. He said, he would much rather have my child going around in a video game blowing people up then in real life. He also said that boys need guns and women, and people to blow up, ways to get there anger out.

One of the things he said that I really liked was when he said that all his buddies and him always got together and played "cops and robbers" or "shoot the bandit" or other games with caps guns and throwing stones at each other, and the more real it was, the better. Nowadays that would be considered "wrong" or "immoral" or "teaching your child hatred". I think we are living in a society based way to much on....politcal correctness and sensitivity.

I'm only 16, but personally, I would rather have my son playing "cops and robbers" and "shoot-em-up" games than playing "house" with barbies. Oh wait, that isn't being "sensitive". Bite me.

[cunokyle]

um, so, if violent games casue people to kill, what was Jack The Ripper playing? How about Hitler? Yeah, let's blame it on games. Freaking communists.

[Master Chief]

Well BMX XXX is such a horrific game it needs to be unmade. If its an adult game or mature game then only those people should be able to get it. Simple as that.

[kurst]

Originally posted by Thrapster
Where will the people stop?

People will not stop, they will push the envelope then they will go over it, thats what people do.

Originally posted by Thrapster

And should they stop?

No.

Originally posted by Thrapster

Can society handle the new surge of mature games.

Yes.

Originally posted by Thrapster

Or will they fall into the grasps of adolescent teenagers looking for a cheap thrill? Personally I think that is exactly what will happen.

No, I promise society will not fall into the graps of adolescent teens looking for cheap thrills. If you take a step back you will realize that something as petty as a video game with explicit content isnt gonna do a damn thing. Nuclear war maybe. video games? no. The key word is game and not reality.

Nowadays people seem to have forgotten that some people are extremely intelligent, while some are talented musicians, and still some who are violent screw- ups no matter what you teach them.

Originally posted by Thrapster

But that's just my opinion.

This is just mine.

[shawshank62]

If watching computer animated porn floats ur boat, tickels ur fancy, or whatever......then go for it.....but as for me, seeing naked computer women riding bikes doesnt really interest me.

[LilMsGreenEyes]

Hmmm...I'd be a little more okay with the M games if they weren't mostly geared toward men. I could handle watching some nekkid males in a game , but it just isn't good marketing, I suppose. Most of these games do insult my feminist side a little. We are not all 6 foot tall blonde bimbos and most of us don't want to be. (I feel the same way about barbie dolls, though, so go figure.)

[Maelstrom]

It is unreasonable to believe that a gaming experience or a book or a magazine or a movie is going to convert a normal person to a killer. These statements are from people who are unable to realize that some kids were raised wrong and didnt learn on their own to distinguish right from wrong, or dont care anyways. Media formats will always be popular scapegoats for societys ills, and there is nothing that can be done about that. I think that people are actually starting to get the picture that there is no more logic in blaming games. i saw a news report on the popularity and anticipation for GTA3:VC and found the reporters mentioning how easy it is to put the blame on a game, just like has been done so many times before.

I still laugh my @ss off when people talk about killers like the Columbine boys who "were known to play violent games like Doom". Doom? Are they kidding me? If thats as up-to-date as they are on gaming, then they shouldn't even have the balls to mention it at all.

[EndobioticChaos]

You mean there's other games out there too??

[zgf2022]

there are more violent games out there nowdays because thats what sells, nobody wants to buy yet another chess simulator. we want to sink ships, bomb buildings, hit people shaped things with baseball bats

and video game violence doesnt cause any more violence in the people who play them than a watching a good football game, for example, the colombine kids supposedly played doom, and got their ideas from it. The game had sold how many million copies by that point without incident? The politically correct people just want to take our stuff away cause they want the world to be a fluffy pink cloud for everybody.

and that is my 1.5 cents

[cracked]

Do you think the ratings will allow things like hentai games on playstation 2 or the next generation consoles? how far do you think it will go? The violence has gotten almost as much as it can be, now the sex is becoming pretty big.

EDIT: uh...this post was not made by me(cracked), it was made by Thrapster, he accidentally used my logon name

[Creatures]

you know Quake Arena 3 is not allowed to sell in germany! (they are crazy) so i think there are some problems with mature content in germany and here in switzerland every game is censored (stupid!!! always have to download bloodpatch ) and they are dubbed (also stupid because it sounds stupid!!! also needed a english patch )

but here in switzerland you can buy these games without a problem

theres always a age limit on the game but that's just for germany
i got UT2K3 (18) i just told them that the blood is not red and they gave it me! but i had problem to get MaxPayne (also 18)

Creatures

[ocit]

I don't think violence in video games/ movies breeds new violence. i remember the first time i saw rocky, i was like 6 and after the movie i proceeded to give a good beat down to a pillow on a chair. i was just getting riled up but i didn't go to school and beat down some kids. Imo its the parenting and hows kids handle school that determines if they become violent in society. If a boy is raised by an abusive father who beats on his mother and him. there is a good chance if no-one else intervenes that he will grow up to be a violent. If no-one teaches a kid right from wrong how can they be expected to do right.

2¢