“This is the year where there were two things that stood out for me. One was: The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it. I just don’t believe in the effects argument at all, but I do believe that we are fetishizing violence, and now in some cases actually combining it with an adolescent approach to sexuality. I just think it’s in bad taste. Ultimately I think it will cause us trouble.”

“I left Eidos in 2004 because I looked around at E3 and saw the new Hitman game where you get to kill with a meat hook, and 25 to Life, the game about kids killing cops, and Crash & Burn the racing game where the idea is to create the fieriest, most amazing explosions, not to win the race… I looked around my own booth and realized I just had one of those ‘which thing is not like the other’ moments. I thought it was bad then, and now I think it’s just beyond bad.”

“We’ve gone too far. The slow-motion blood spurts, the impalement by deadly assassins, the knives, shoulders, elbows to the throat. You know, Deus Ex had its moments of violence, but they were designed – whether they succeeded or not I can’t say – but they were designed to make you uncomfortable, and I don’t see that happening now. I think we’re just appealing to an adolescent mindset and calling it mature. It’s time to stop. I’m just glad I work for a company like Disney, where not only is that not something that’s encouraged, you can’t even do it, and I’m fine with it.”

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Some things are just becoming sick - "herp herp... look the elephant man brain! Guts are so last game, pulsating brains FTW" - why?

+ respect for Warren.

BTW, not every violent game is despicable to me, not at all - but the ones that glorify it, yes, they are. The best thing he says is that this is labeled as mature when in reality is just some dog in heat behavior, blood-porn.

What about you?

 

I agree and its kinda why Nintendo is my favorite company. (Disney a close 2nd)

While I don't mind a little violence and gore, I don't thrive or require it either.

I play the occasional FPS for the human vs human competition, not the super realistic head blowing off visuals.

Don't like em? Don't buy em. Don't try to take away from other people's enjoyment!

The problem is that it's turning entire audiences off of games. There are too few companies making mass-appeal games, so gaming is stuck with the violence stigma.

Companies need to be more adventurous than another hack and slash or shooting game with graphic detail. It's actually easy and uncreative to do make one of those.

" I think we’re just appealing to an adolescent mindset and calling it mature. "

The truth of this comment is crystal clear.

That's funny coming from the guy who made Deus Ex, the game about killing kids (at least when I play it)!

I'm not criticizing the people who makes them. If someone is buying, someone will make it.

But the demand. I don't know, why gamers need that level of violence - especially the so called hardcore.

I applaud Warren, a somewhat major player in the industry, for trying to be successful without having to take this route - this is becoming very rare when we look at the "big" games only.

I agree with the man, all this blood and gore is a bit excessive for me, but then again thats why I mostly don't buy games that have too much of that stuff in it.

I do like to play shooters though like Call of Duty and stuff, but I don't think that has a crazy amount of gory violence online at least. I thought WaW was funny online at times when a sniper would shoot me in the head and I would be like OHHHH, he just blew my head clean off. But yea I'm glad that is no longer in MP, because I play it for the competition, not to see violence.

I think developers nowadays think that extreme violence is a way to deliver emotion, and I don't think thats true. Some of the best games with good storyline are ones that have no such thing, like the Persona series to name just one.

I think games mimic reality. Do not tell me violence is not common place in many African countries, China, India South America you name it. Even the streets of the US. I see violence in the UFC (a modern day gladiator fight), boxing, football, rugby, hockey and many other sports. I see violence as a reality of human kind. It is not something that needs to be hidden from and to avoid it would be denial. Creations of humans mimic what humans create in life.

Basically, it is going to be there and many companies focus on other forms of escapism that are less violent. I really do not see it effecting violence in culture because violence has always been here. Warren does not want to participate and that is fine. He will create what he likes and there is vast room for variety. Play what you like, watch what your children play. Nothing more to say.

I agree, not so much with the severity but more so with the frequency and casualness. It would be nice not to always have to play a psychopath serial killer.
Movies have graphic violence too, but to much better effect. I don't know of any movie where the hero single handedly kills over a 1000 bad guys up close and some innocent bystanders without showing any emotion.