Video & PC Game Discussion

Epignosis wrote: I have a question for you gamers (particularly GTA players)- something I was thinking about for a while: Video games- no matter what kind- appeal to our sense of fantasy, whether we play the role of a WW2 soldier or an Italian plumber.  Games like GTA provide the fantasy of criminality.  It is just a game, however, and no one is really getting murdered.  Sure you ran over 12 civilians and shot 11 policemen, but it's just a game, and these sprites don't really have grieving families to mourn their loss.  Yet you get the satisfaction of being a bloodthirsty murderer. I have not played GTA (after 2) but I've watched my brother play them.  Yes, I think getting more health by banging a hooker is bizarre, but no more bizarre, I suppose, as gathering hearts.  But if I recall, there are no (obvious) children in the game.  And if there were children, would they be invincible from your hail of gunfire?  Why should they be?  Would it be acceptable for a company to release a game where the object is to go to your high school and kill as many students and staff members as possible? Or, since this was mentioned in the news a few months back, what do you think about games that simulate rape?  Legally, murder is a worse crime than rape, but it would seem most folk frown upon such a game more than one that allows you to take the lives of bystanders.  Something must be "sick" or "wrong" with people who play rape video games, but nothing is "sick" or "wrong" with people who play games that simulate mass murder. Is this an absurd double standard in the video game industry, or is there some reason it is the way it is? I know JLocke and I talked about this once before.  So, your thoughts?

Good thinking dear Robert.

I am quite calm person in real life. I however enjoy killing in various GTA (3-VC-SA). I was driving my chopper once around the block, roaming streets, side shooting (with uzi) everyone I saw. I was doing this for hours and must have killed thousands of people.

Yeah, I like virtual blood. I enjoyed Postal 2 a lot. I know, controversial game, but I used to like it. I haven't played it for few years now, so I don't know how I like it now, but ... it was great game. Pushing boundaries of virtual brutality.

Simulate rape ? I saw this game Rapelay in Top Most Controversial games once. It's maybe the one you mention. It's considered as more sick than killing. After all, when you're playing as WW2 soldier, you are soldier. When you're playing Painkiller, you're killing hell spawn demons and monsters. When you're playing Warhammer 40k - Dawn of War, you destroy chaos mutants and other aliens.

When you're real life soldier, you maybe sometimes kill people, because it's your order. As you have orders in majority of games (only small number of them are sandbox, open world as GTA's are). 

But you don't rape, that's it. Killing seems like natural part of games, most of them are more or less brutal.