Videogame Violence Finally Acceptable Form Of Entertainment?

Posted November 15, 2009 by Benjamin Blank in News.

That’s what Dan Houser of Rockstar fame reckons, as Modern Warfare 2 recently hit the headlines (aside from a whole number of other reasons) with the “No Russian” level, the outcry wasn’t as loud as you’d imagine. Given that a few publications even tried spark outrage over the level, aside from a few raised eyebrows and talks of “brave steps in the name of art”, nothing was really said.

With that you can’t help but feel Dan may just be right, when speaking to Gamedaily recently he had this to say on the matter.

It feels at last like we’re moving on from that debate… The audience is getting past 30 so it all becomes a bit silly. That’s not to say that all games are for all people; we’ve never said that. GTA has always been rated 18 and we’ve always been very happy with that. Nevertheless, we do get frustrated when video games are singled out and movies are given a free pass.

Manhunt 2 was banned in the same week that Saw was released. The arguments become quite ludicrous quite quickly when people argue that games are somehow more dangerous than full-motion video. Within Rockstar, sometimes we feel that some of our games get singled out and held up as pariahs. All we want to do is tell a story with rounded characters. Like GoodFellas, which is a key film for us, our rounded characters happen to be criminals.

It’s an interesting thought, and research has shown that every new medium has been the bait for angry parents and congressmen to blame the wrongs of the world on, (before video games there was rock music, and before that comic books had it). As the generations that grew up with these titles are becoming parents and congressmen themselves are we finally seeing an acceptance? Here’s hoping.

Source: Gamedaily

Tagged as Grand Theft Auto, Modern Warfare 2, No Russian, Rockstar, Violence