Poll: So do you actually like "violent video games"?

[Duck Sandwich]

My favourite games mainly involve robots being blown up, alien rectums twitching and exploding (no blood, just fire), and white-haired guys getting impaled by oversized swords. Nothing quite on the calibur of say, Mortal Kombat. The most violent game I own (I took a while to remember what it was when I saw this thread) is Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, complete with first-person, close-up views of zombies' heads exploding into a gushing fountain of red.

 

[Dyme]

Violence completely doesn't matter. I feel absolutely no emotion for my marines in Starcraft when they die.

If a game is violent and it doesn't disrupt gameplay, I don't care.
If a game stops everything that is going on to show you how someone is being killed in the most creative violent way, that game sucks.

I don't mind if there is violence in a game, but I hate it when the whole point of a game is violence.

 

[SoranMBane]

I don't have much of a preference either way. A little over-the-top gore here and there can be fun, but it's not a selling point for me and I can play anything from Dead Space to Flower in terms of violence levels and have an equally enjoyable experience.

 

[badgersprite]

It doesn't matter how much violence or even if the game has violence at all as long as it's fun.

Yeah, pretty much this. I've never bought a game on the basis that it's violent. It's never the sole or even the determining factor in why I buy a game. It's because I hear it's fun, or the action is good, or because it's scary as shit, or the story is brilliant, or some other thing. If they happen to be violent, then I'm fine with that, but, yeah, it's usually an incidental factor in a game that I don't think about.

 

[Saulkar]

Quite Frankly my dear I do not give a Damn.

 

[Locko96]

I do own the newest MK but I actually do think it was my worst purchase. I just didn't find it fun for too long. Gore isn't an attraction to me. I'm more of a fan of the visceral combat but more in terms of up close combat or just good sound and animations.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

I voted the top one. However, a better poll might have been "is the violence in your games actually important to you?" I like a lot of games that just happen to be violent and gory. It's not necessarily the blood and gore that i like, it's just that the things i do like tend to be, but don't have to be, accompanied by violence.

 

[Lilani]

So, as we all know, there are lots of people who like to harp on about violent video games and their terrible influences. But whenever I see this, I can't help but think about by own favorite games - games like Minecraft, Civilization, Mass Effect, Portal, TES... of those, only Mass Effect and The Elder Scrolls are meaningfully violent, and even they barely feature any gore or totally senseless killing in the spirit of what Fox News seems to think video games are about.

I was wondering about the rest of you - we all know games like Postal or Mortal Kombat exist, but are those really representative of what we actually enjoy? How violent are your favorite games? Did you ever go through a phase where you enjoyed more violent games than you do now? What changed?

See, the people who really push the "video games are horrible, violent, corrupted tools of the devil" nonsense refuse to believe those games matter. They believe that because the violent ones exist, that nullifies any and all good any others could do. Trying to argue that there are "good" video games to them like trying to argue there are "good" kinds of birth control to the Pope. In their eyes, they are bad by their very nature. There is no middle ground. There is nothing to argue.

Video games are the rock n roll of our generation. They're a big, fat scapegoat. It's the thing that the old and scared blame when they can't find any other way to give reason to the bad things that are happening in the world. If it's not Elvis causing promiscuity, it's Hendrix causing hippies. If it's not 80s rock causing anarchy, it's Marilyn Manson causing school shootings. If it's not rap causing kids to join gangs, it's Grand Theft Auto causing the Norway bombing.

When people can't find a cause for the chaotic things going on around them, they find whatever they can and say it's a cause. Finding a cause gives them a feeling of control over the problem. Because the only other alternative is accepting there is nothing they can do, and for some people that is just too scary to admit.

As for your poll, I really wish there were just an "I don't care as long as the game is good" option. Violence and gore are not deciding factors for me. It's quality and entertainment. If it's fun and peaceful, that's fine. But if it's fun and bloody, that's just fine too. I really don't care either way.

 

[Lullabye]

Um, Im going to go ahead and say that the realistic violence is the best. If executed well, it gives a great sense and experience to the game/player. Excessive blood and gore is okay but it has the same effect as the cartoony violence honestly.
Stylized violence is better for most games( see DMC3) but for games like heavy rain the more realistic is better.

 

[Hides His Eyes]

Totally agree with Lilani. Also, I think the most important thing to realise is that the vast, vast majority of violence in games is altruistic. Games like GTA where you even have the option, let alone are encouraged, to commit violence against helpless people for no particular reason, are extremely rare. It's all about wish fulfillment: saving the world from evil forces, taking on the role of a total badass and enjoying it.

Nowadays I just try to ignore the ignoramuses who say violent games cause real life violence.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

It largely depends upon the game I suppose. Most video game genres I like deal with violence by their very nature. Sure, there are RPGs out there where I never have to end the life of another thing but they never catch my attention for myriad reasons. RTS games almost elusively deal with large scale murder and mayhem. FPS games are, with rare exception, games built around the application of violent force. Sure, I play some games that have no violence to them, but these are largely simulation and even then violence is often implied. Fate of the World lets me play cards that imply violence and repression for example. Racing games generally involve wrecks, and I am not above pulling incredibly cheap maneuvers in an attempt to force other vehicles into a situation I hope leads to their crashing.