So what ISN'T allowed in video games now?

[Lieju]

"Please send DC Comics (Warner Bros. Entertainment Company) and Marvel (Disney) an email urging them to change and cancel all plans of homosexual superhero characters immediately. Ask them to do the right thing and reverse their decision to have sexual orientation displayed to readers."

So...
They are against people being portrayed as heterosexual as well, right?
Because being hetero was a sexual orientation the last time I checked.

You can always find silly/crazy people to complain about anything.

But you need to differentiate between complains for portraying something, and complainst for how it's portrayed.
I have nothing against sexuality being in video-games, quite the opposite, but most of the time it's just silly or immature.

 

[bafrali]

Camp is no longer accepted in videogames. Everything has to be grimdark and every early icon should be rebooted to have atleast one drug addiction and cut themselves because that is relatable. Oh and One man armies because it brings us closer to the much-touted realism with two guns.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Can't kill kids... then the modders wouldn't have anything to do. On that note you can't have full frontal nudity (not unless massive censors). But sex has had the bar risen as well, using Mass Effect as the example, I'd been playing the Mass Effect series on my PS3 so I hadn't seen this sex scene that got Fox in a tizzy, but the one from Mass Effect 3 with Liara is really... visceral.

So by the time I got to play through Mass Effect I expect something Hardcore. Nope. Im surprised Fox didn't explode after Mass Effect 3.

 

[ultrabiome]

there are always mods.

i was surprised at the shear number of mods of FO3 that allow for more realistic depictions of the human body, and then i realized it was the internet.

and you can also make kids killable, like they were in FO1.

you probably could turn FO3 into a rape fantasy as well, if someone else hasn't already.

officially, there are boundaries, but if you search enough, you could find the adult situations in games you're looking for, or make them yourself.

 

[viranimus]

what ISN'T allowed in video games now?

Anything that results in a group of people taking offense at its existence. To which once word of it surfaces, the developers must promptly offer apology and remove it so as no one gets their insignificant feelings hurt not because actual offense but simply because they are being hyper sensitive.

Was this always this bad? Or am I losing by ability to tolerate peoples over inflated sense of self importance?

 

[Jamash]

Under-age sex/romance isn't allowed in video games, like in games that allow you to romance NPCs, children are just as immune to love as they are to war.

You can see this in Skyrim with the NPC Hroki in Markarth, who, despite being one of the more striking women in the game and an obvious choice for a romance option, is flagged as belonging to the child class, so won't respond to the Amulet of Mara and your interaction and conversation options with her are severely limited. I'd like to think this was intentional trolling by Bethesda rather than just a bug or database error, because she certainly doesn't appear to be an child and for many players, she is one of the most striking and noticeable NPCs you see when you enter Markarth.

I think the Fable series flirts with that taboo quite a funny way, like if you use a flirty expression on a child NPC, or even if a child gets caught in the crossfire of a flirty expression that is directed at an adult, the child will say something like "I don't like you any more", "But... but you're supposed to be a good person" or "That's just wrong".

Fable's recognition of that taboo, it's NPC's direct response to an attempt at romance on a child, combined with the way NPC's will follow you around town once your renown gets high enough, can lead to some unintentional and darkly humorous moments if you don't pay attention to your surroundings before engaging in sex with someone. Once I took a prostitute to bed with me and after the screen darkened and the sex scene played, when the image came back again, there was a crying child stood next to my bed, another child saying "You're a bad man" and an enraged parent admonishing me for my interactions with their child.

With all that being said, this is one taboo that I'm happy to have remain in videogames, as I can't imagine how it would be good or healthy for the industry to give the player that choice, even in the name of freedom and unparalleled interaction with the world.

 

[Keymik]

Under-age sex/romance isn't allowed in video games, like in games that allow you to romance NPCs, children are just as immune to love as they are to war.

You can see this in Skyrim with the NPC Hroki in Markarth, who, despite being one of the more striking women in the game and an obvious choice for a romance option, is flagged as belonging to the child class, so won't respond to the Amulet of Mara and your interaction and conversation options with her are severely limited. I'd like to think this was intentional trolling by Bethesda rather than just a bug or database error, because she certainly doesn't appear to be an child and for many players, she is one of the most striking and noticeable NPCs you see when you enter Markarth.

I think the Fable series flirts with that taboo quite a funny way, like if you use a flirty expression on a child NPC, or even if a child gets caught in the crossfire of a flirty expression that is directed at an adult, the child will say something like "I don't like you any more", "But... but you're supposed to be a good person" or "That's just wrong".

Fable's recognition of that taboo, it's NPC's direct response to an attempt at romance on a child, combined with the way NPC's will follow you around town once your renown gets high enough, can lead to some unintentional and darkly humorous moments if you don't pay attention to your surroundings before engaging in sex with someone. Once I took a prostitute to bed with me and after the screen darkened and the sex scene played, when the image came back again, there was a crying child stood next to my bed, another child saying "You're a bad man" and an enraged parent admonishing me for my interactions with their child.

With all that being said, this is one taboo that I'm happy to have remain in videogames, as I can't imagine how it would be good or healthy for the industry to give the player that choice, even in the name of freedom and unparalleled interaction with the world.

Oh yes, I remember fondly how the whole villiage wouldn't leave my house when I was attempting to make love to my wife in Fable ''I know I'm awesome and saved the world.. But can't I atleast have sex in peace?''

Also we already had full frontal nudity.. In GTA4, can't remember if it was one of the DLCs or not but there is a scene where you're in a room with a naked guy and the camera is placed so you can't see his crotch throughout the cutscene and at the end they just show the whole thing.

 

[BlackStar42]

I would guess child porn and snuff video's are not allowed in games

In Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, there's a snuff tape of a woman being torn apart by fleshcrafted monsters. You get to take revenge on the bastard that did it. That game explored some pretty dark themes, but it *is* set in the World of Darkness.

 

[Hypno-Sheep]

It does seem strange that people can be offended by something like sex. if it wasn't for humans having sex we would have died out a long time ago. Even looking back to the trailer that was released for hitman absolution where the assassins dressed as nuns drive to the motel and try to eliminate agent 47. people were up in arms about the whole dressed as nuns thing which seemed odd to me because of the tone for hitman games in general.

 

[Xarathox]

It all depends on the rating. I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet, but do those scenes show full on mother effing hardcore penetration?

No, she dry humps the PC. With clothes still on.

Edit: Also, the "you can't have full frontal nudity" statement is bullshit. The lost and Damned DLC for GTA4, anyone? That had full frontal male nudity.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

I assume that you mean 'depicted it positively'? In which case... yeah, I suppose I'd agree with that. I'm pretty sure WWII in general has been in a lot of games, though...

Oh, not positively of course. What I mean by 'respectful and serious' is something in the style of the The Pianist, Schindler's List etc. Not necessarily Schindler's List: The Game (that wouldn't really suit the gaming medium at all), but something that may include, even as a minor part, the Holocaust or another real-world atrocity.

I'm thinking in the wider public view,or the view of a publisher green-lighting things for that matter, if somebody announced/pitched that a game would feature the Holocaust/another real-world atrocity in any way, there would be a ridiculous amount of backlash. It would be stupid, ignorant backlash, but backlash nonetheless. Games still aren't viewed as a "serious" artistic medium by a fairly large segment of the population and publishers would be weary of giving such a game money.

Even getting away from the Holocaust, there have been plenty of WWII games, but none that come close to dealing with the various atrocities committed during the conflict. 'Video game WWII', 'video game Vietnam' and other such historical wars portrayed in games are heavily, heavily sanitized. Even though there are plenty of film, TV shows/miniseries and books that deal with the darker sides of those conflicts. I can't think of a WWII game that has even mentioned something like the Holocaust or other human tragedies during the conflict. Hell, I don't think I have seen a game where a soldier breaks down as a result of battle exhaustion (think Buck Compton in Band of Brothers for example).

That all being said, Call of Duty: World at War is probably the least sanitized WWII game I have ever played. I have also heard good things about Spec Ops: The Line as well (I haven't played it), so perhaps the industry is starting to take baby steps toward these kinds of heavy themes.

I'm not really demanding that all war games deal with these issues, but this thread is about themes/features/concepts etc. that aren't 'allowed' in games at this time. Since I can't really see a publisher green-lighting a game dealing with these historical issues, I would say that this kind of stuff fits that criteria.

 

[Requia]

Americans seem to be easily offended. Some of them threw a hissy fit when EA said that you could be playing as Taliban shooting americans.
I guess russians just don't give a fuck.

Just make a game where you fly a Plane into the World Trade Center and you'll have your desired Shitstorm.

You used to be able to do that in flight sims, they took it away after 9/11. I'm guessing that's still a big no in flight sims too.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

Right now it seems hardcore porn is the only thing I have not seen in a game.

Shoot up an airport in Modern Warfare 2
Play as the Taliban in C&C3
Do some pretty fucked up killing in Darkness 2
Fair share of hellish baby killing and nudity in the game Dante's Inferno, even babies crawling out of Lust's nipples
Nudity in the Witcher games
You can kill the little sisters in Bioshock 1 and 2 (does not show it, but the intention is there)

Stuff that would get you into Gitmo they most likely will not put in games.

EDIT: You can still do flight sims with your choice of a small plane or a F-22 raptor on Google Earth.

 

[SuperSamio64]

Playing as Nazis or Al-Queda. God forbid people play a game from an opposing point of view...

Day of Defeat and Resistance and Liberation are both games where you can play as the Wermacht, but it's true that there's no campaign or anything. The way I see it it's just two sides of a war so I don't see the problem. So long as you weren't playing like a concentration camp officer(or to use your Al Qaeda example, a suicide bomber) it'd probably be fine.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm fairly certain that there would be an uproar if a game depicted something like the Holocaust. Even if it was done in a respectful and serious way. I can't recall any game that even really mentions those kinds of atrocities openly. I could be wrong though.

Considering we can't get a Six Days in Fallujah? Yeah.

 

[Rossmallo]

Most games still don't allow for children dying, RE: Skyrim controversy.

I'm sorry, but if no one is 'off limits' in movies (or even TV shows), I don't think it should be the same for games to have this extra boundary. I know people argue:

"Why would you want to shoot a kid, are you a sicko?"

And to that I say "Why would you want to shoot anyone?". Doing something in a video game isn't evidence of approval for said action, and if it was, well, then you're still a fucking murder, considering the digital body count the average CoD produces.

I don't want to kill digital kids, but it is very jarring that you can kill most/all NPCs in the game but them, and it makes it stand out. It also kind of bothered me in Dead Rising you were at a shopping mall with playgrounds and toy stores everywhere, but there were no child zombies. That would have been a cool variation of enemy.

The first AAA that allows for the children to be as vulnerable as all other NPCs will receive a mental award from me for just having balls, if nothing else.

The sad thing is, yes, I can completely agree. The whole "Infant Immortality" thing really gets to me, because it can make some things in story extremely predictable and or infuriating. And I'm not a hater of children! Just...Ok, this isn't a game example because I can't think of any better than this right now, but I might come back and edit this later if I can think of a gaming one.

Anyone here seen Harper's Island? It's a series that ends up with people getting killed off, one per episode.
However, as soon as I saw that one of the characters was a little kid, and another was her mother, a lot of my interest in anyone involving them dropped right off. I immediately thought - "Okay, this is something that's supposed to be on HBO or something in America, so let's see...Nothing bad can possibly happen to the kid, so...She'll live, and so will her mother, because god forbid the kid has any sort of negative lasting effect from this whole ordeal."

Guess what, I was completely right. And yes, I deliberately didn't spoiler it, because it was that bloody obvious.

Also, even with the Infant Immortality being strictly enforced in games...It really won't stop people. Just look at Fallout - People came up with the idea of letting kids pickpocket live grenades off them to get around the limitation, and don't get me started in Fallout 3. They deliberately make Mayor Mcraedy (Spelling?) the most annoying little twit in the entire world just because he's immortal, and you know what that achieves? That Child Immortality Removal mod getting a crapload of hits just to "Deal" with him.

Sorry for the tirade, this is just something that gets to me a lot in games. My point is, you can't give people the freedom to be an absoloute monster, but them limit it when they want to indulge in acts that are "too" monstrous.

 

[Jamash]

Also we already had full frontal nudity.. In GTA4, can't remember if it was one of the DLCs or not but there is a scene where you're in a room with a naked guy and the camera is placed so you can't see his crotch throughout the cutscene and at the end they just show the whole thing.

I think that showing of full-frontal male nudity in The Lost and Damned was a good use of non-sexualised nudity as a narrative tool.

While it can be argued that it was gratuitous and just used for cheap shock value, I believe it succinctly told us a lot about the personality of Thomas Stubbs (and some of Johnny Klebitz's by his reaction) and highlighted the power dynamic between the two contrasting characters from two vastly different backgrounds and walks of life.

The action of Stubbs unabashedly showing his penis to Johnny Klebitz showed us a lot about the Senator's attitude towards other people (especially someone of a lower class, a hired underling from a lower social strata and criminal class) and hinted at his sense of equality, trust and comradely shown towards Johnny Klebitz a lot more efficiently than could have been achieved through dialogue alone. It can also be perceived as Stubbs caring so little about Johnny and his view of him that he didn't give a shit about being naked, or that Stubbs has so little morals and social consciousness that the taboo of nudity and making others feel uncomfortable didn't even occur to him.

Either way, I think it was a good use of something that is taboo as more than just shock value.

 

[Schadrach]

I was thinking about this earlier: 5 years ago, there were certain things that, generally, were NOT accepted into the mainstream. 10 years ago, Halo was controversial for the FPS factor. 5 years ago (actually, more like 7 now... christ) Gears of War was controversial for the giant amount of gore. Now you can see games like Dead Rising and not bat an eye. The FPS has become a standard, and our culture is... pretty accepting of it. Meanwhile, Dead Space has you blasting away schoolhouses of undead children and Modern Warfare's latest "controversial" scene was, a child dying. Boo hoo.

Err, lolwut?

FPSs had been around a long time before Halo -- Halo wasn't even the first *console* FPS, just the first really wildly popular console FPS (if you didn't count Goldeneye for N64). There had been a massive assortment of PC ones before that (including my personal favorite, Blood).

Gears of War? Again lolwut? Soldier of Fortune got controversy for it's amount of gore long before that (2000).

Hell, the media hasn't even blamed any major acts of violence on Halo or Gears of War, they used DOOM as a whipping boy for Columbine.

It's like you weren't around until the XBox, and none of the stuff before the XBox happened.

And to that I say "Why would you want to shoot anyone?".

To reference Far Cry 3 again, because it feels like winning?

The first AAA that allows for the children to be as vulnerable as all other NPCs will receive a mental award from me for just having balls, if nothing else.

Old at this point, but does Fallout count? Of course, you got a perk called "Child Killer" if you *did* kill a kid, and it dramatically ramped up the game difficulty because of the bounty hunters.

 

[Exterminas]

I am still waiting for that Holocaust-Survival-RPG.

Could be heavily centered around luck, taking your survival ultimately out of your control, while still giving you the illusion of it. I really think games would be a great medium to transport some of the dread that was felt by the poor souls in those camp.

But, well, there you have it. Nobody would ever spend money on something like that, since the Backlash would be insane.