BioWare: Games Without Violence Possible

[KBKarma]

I posit Black Isle's (RIP) Planescape Torment, where maybe two battles are mandatory. The first RPG that allowed you to think or charm your way out of a fight. I'm fairly sure Bioware know something about it, since they and Black Isle collaborated on so many RPGs.

 

[Avaholic03]

Um... The Sims doesn't "technically" have violence in it...

I'm sure sealing them in four doorless walls and witholding any kind of basic necessity could "technically" be considered violence.

Technically, so could breaking blocks with other blocks, like in Tetris. But the "violence" in the Sims wasn't central to the gameplay. The idea behind the game was to make your sims happy and healthy...quite the opposite of violence actually.

 

[bodyklok]

Wii fit? Wii plus? Tetris? I hate to point this out, but non violent games have and still do sell incredibly well. Many of them have also been historical classics.

 

[crazy-j]

lol wut?

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

Okay, you can make games without violence, but why would you want to?

 

[Player 2]

Somebody obviously hasn't heard of racing games, or sports games, or the Wii, or casual games of any description.

 

[Magnumopai]

what was implied in the article is that an adventure game (specifically) could virtually be without violence in the gameplay at-all.

that doesn't mean conflict has to be removed, just that resolutions alternative to violence will set in place as the center of gameplay.

some people can talk about enemy evasion as one of those alternatives. (chieftly in games about thievery or spying or METAL GEAR!?!?)


but a fun and successful game (with a quality story line) where you can bring a foe to his/her/its knees without

"a single punch thrown or drop of blood sown"

 

[thom_cat_]

We are talking about real games people! Not casual!

 

[DM.]

Oh so violence is in gran turismo?


That's one more reason to get it.

 

[yeah_so_no]

We are talking about real games people! Not casual!

You do know that a lot of the classic games, the ones that got people into gaming, would be considered "casual" games by today's ridiculous standards? And why are "casual" games not "real" games? Because you don't like them?

 

[Playbahnosh]

Since the real world is full of violence every day, it's the most basic concept any gamer can relate to. You see it on TV, on the streets, on the internet, violence is everywhere.

Sure, you can make games completely without any kind of danger or violence, but that is why its harder to relate to and create immersion in these games. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's a much needed component. In Portal, you were in danger of falling to your death, get crushed or shot...etc. In Mirror's Edge, the same. Even the old adventure games, where you cannot technically die, had some sense of danger incorporated, just think back a little.

It's a basic concept, that's all.

 

[scotth266]

Um... The Sims doesn't "technically" have violence in it...

You can make your Sim fight/hit people. That's pretty violent.

A non-violent game... Asteroids! Unless you think that destroying rocks is violent.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

How about all the casual games like Peggle? Or games like the Sims? None of those are centered around violence, and they make insane amounts of money. Sounds like Bioware just hasn't got the memo yet.

See peggle has no storyline what so ever. It's basically a board game, like battleship. The sims is just fucking boring. I'm guessing many people hate their lives but instead of killing themselves, they play the sims.

 

[thom_cat_]

We are talking about real games people! Not casual!

You do know that a lot of the classic games, the ones that got people into gaming, would be considered "casual" games by today's ridiculous standards? And why are "casual" games not "real" games? Because you don't like them?

What classic games :/
I mean casual games like the sims, or almost all the stuff on wii.
I could burn so much...

I agree that games without violence are possible... because they have been done before. but I also agree that violence makes more money

 

[OneBig Man]

I was about to say,"How about an mmo that lets you hang with your buddies and let you walk around the big city having fun and doing stuff?" Then I realized that what the real world is for. I mean I am not going to join the army just so I can kill some people because I tend to die often in war games. But if I am going to play a videogame of a person playing a videogame, then I need to sort out my priorities in life.

 

[Nu-Hir]

People need to quit it with the term casual games. There is no such thing. I could classify any game as casual by the standards people put on those games. But anyway, back to the topic on hand.

Bioware was talking about story-driven games, which is why they used the examples of Super Mario Galaxy and Gears of War. Like others have pointed out before, violence is a great tool to get people motivated. What fun would a Mario game be if he wasn't out saving the Princess? Grand Theft Auto would be a really crappy Gran Turismo clone if you couldn't carjack people. Metroid would be a really horrible game if Samus was a negotiator and not a bounty hunter.

Some games just need the violence. Others, such as the Trauma and Professor Layton games, don't need the violence. They're both great games and have engaging stories. Harvest moon, another great example of a series without violence. There is a viable market out there for non-violent games, it's just nowhere near as profitable as the violent one.

 

[Nu-Hir]

I think there will be games without violence,but not shooters or rpg's

Two games come to mind, Super Noah's Ark and Maniac Mansion (if you want to call it an RPG). For those who may have never heard of it, Super Noah's Ark was pretty much a reskin of Wolfenstein 3d in which you fed animals till they fell asleep so you can get them on the Ark.

I don't remember there being any violence in Maniac Mansion, unless you count draining the pool and letting the house's nuclear reactor explode.

 

[Kazturkey]

It was possible to beat fallout 1 without killing anything. You can talk the last boss into blowing himself up with a nuke.