Have you ever realized that you have become completely oblivious to something, and then realized that it is really fucked up that you have. I am talking about gratuitous violence in videogames. Today I realized that I have become completely oblvious to graphic violence in games. I am ashamed to say that I am utterly without recognition that it is even there. I came to this conclusion reading another thread, but instead of hijacking that thread I thought this was a topic worthy of its own thread. When did the graphic violence stop registering for me, or if you are like me when did it happen for you.

A couple days ago I was playing Prototype 2, and it didn't even register. That I was ripping hundreds of people apart, engaging in premeditated murder, or that I had become an outright terrorist. It really should have, because at the end of the battles the streets were literally carpeted with blood and gore.  It didn't even occur to me that eating pedestrians to change my characters style may be perverse. I literally found targets I thought looked nice stalked them, and ate them. That is straight up serial predator right there. Had the game given me the option to eat children I would have probably done that too. My only thought was that the pedestrians looked too grungy. I wanted nicer looking people to eat.

Look I am not saying I am an evil person. This in game behavior doesn't reflect how I behave, or think in real life. In game though I have no conscience whatever, and I probably should recognize the behavior as truly heinous. I just don't feel, or see it that way. I have completely accepted the truth of the game. I walk right through scenes of obscene carnage that would have me spewing in real life, and I am just not seeing it there at all. Ironically I suppose the carnage could be completely absent, and I wouldn't notice its absense.

I am completely indifferent to it now. The entire concept is been there done that. I don't want it or need it, but completely accept that it is there. The shock value is completely gone, and so is any emotional resonance it may have once had. Like Kyle and Stan in Southpark. They have seen Kenny get ripped to shreds so many times they don't even get emotional when he dies. They are just going through the motions. I guess the real joke of it all is that developers probably think the gratuitous violence helps to sell their games. When in reality it probably doesn't sell anyone on their games. Hell even twelve year old kids playing on Halo don't seem to be enthused about graphic violence in a game they ought not be playing. It has become truly meaningless.

For me I think I lost my perspective on Turok for the 64. That has to be the last time I was dazzled by gratuitous violence. I thought blood spurts, and cerebral bores were the shit back then. Since then however nothing has captured my attention. It means so little now that in Halo Reach players think that confetti, and stinking gas death scenes are the things to have. Anyway what are your guys thoughts. Has graphic violence just become a background element that you hold no real affection for.

Not really. Games like Prototype and God of War don't do anything for me regardless of how violent they get because they're just boring and violence is all they have to offer. (Okay, the GOW: Ascension footage of the cyclops getting its eye ripped out did make me cringe.) It's only natural to become inured to it when it's so monotonous and uninspired. But the Metal Gear Rising footage can still make me say, "Holy shit!", and Mortal Kombat still makes me laugh like a maniac. So I think it's about the presentation, not the violence itself.

I find that the exaggeration of violence in some games actually dampen the effect.

I still find a game like GTA where you can just punch anyone walking in the street to be the most violent. But I like that >:D

Pshh, I rip people apart and throw grenades and race through the cities in Lamborghinis every day.

And then I played Dante's Inferno. F*** that game was messed up

It does have more imaginative violence than most games, I guess, but it's gotten tiresome nonetheless and the series feels completely played out to me. I mean, I really couldn't believe how awful Sony's Wonderbook demo was, and it just seemed to go on and on for fucking ever. But a couple of minutes into the God of Snore demo, I would have given my left nut to see more of Wonderbook. Probably my right nut, too.

Come to the light side! Just like Jesus, we have the cure for blindness.

These games will reinvigorate you and give you back your sense of shock

Just don't look too much at those pics. They can cure blindness by awesomeness, but can cause it too due to extreme exposure to color

I do not! Don't believe d21lewis' lies!

If you didn't masturbate so much, maybe you wouldn't have gone blind.

Bet you wish you had listened, huh?

I agree with this. My first time struggling to play a videogame was Warcraft III, where I had to lead Arthas to the dark side and lead legions of undead to scour the world. I just didn't want to play it anymore, I felt forced to do something I didn't want to do :( It was heart-wrenching because the game was awesome, and one of my favorite games of all time.

The funny thing about our desensitization is that, the purpose of video games is to evoke emotions. Not only have our violence sense been dumbed to not sense anything anymore, but it's not even selling games.

My cure to this is playing games with less violence. I consider Uncharted, Zelda and Metroid to be my level of tolerance for violence. Anything beyond that I'm against.

What annoys me more is that games like Prototype 2 gets a shrug of the shoulders but the moment "rape" is even HINTED at in Tomb Raider, the whole media throws a hissy fit. Why is that okay?