You sir, are my hero for this.

ckmlb, yes I believe the majority of GTA owners are younger than 18.  Halo, no, I think it's got an average age of around 20.  GTA I would guess has an average age of 16 or 17.

i dont get what all the commotion is about.

Miyamoto doesnt like the style of violence in Haze. so what? the violence in his games doesnt compare to the amount in Haze. why are people calling him a hypocrite?

and why are people saying the mushrooms in Mario represent drugs? as far as i can tell getting high on mushrooms doesnt change a persons physical size. how about mushrooms are a decent source of protien which helps muscle growth?

why do people care that Nintendo arent making 'mature' games? they've been making quality games for such a long time with out having to use 'mature' themes. there is no reason for them to change that. if you want that on Nintendo console then there are enough 3rd party devs who are willing to supply.

Miyamoto's stance on violent video games (and we'll define that as realistic blood and gore) is well documented, so his reaction to a game like Haze isn't too surprising. To each their own. (shrugs)

"And the bashing of violent games continues."

Pity the poor violent game designers, having to put up with perceived criticism of Miyamoto.

What is with this newfound focus on Miyamoto anyway? 2 years ago you couldn't get people to care about what Miyamoto thought as they milled around, announcing his irrelevance unless he starts to make violent games that resonated with a niche-gamer reporting corps. 2 years, 15 million Nintendogs, 10.5 million New Super Mario Bros, 8 million Wii Sports, and 3.5 million Twilight Princess's later and suddenly he's a major figure whose opinion matters on everything. And it's pretty obvious Miyamoto didn't change.

This fake-outrage "assault on violent games" sensationalism stems from a core flaw in all of the "hardcore gamer" niche in that they expect Miyamoto to somehow make violent games for them as if he is obligated to do so. This is what every game site and even a few mainstream reporters said he should do in 2003 to 2005. At no point has anyone ever said to John Carmack or Cliffy B or anybody "Please make non-violent games." What you usually hear are people just not liking violent games in general, and you mostly hear adults saying this. Somehow this general dissatisfaction is morphed into criticism of particular devs and a request to "not make violent games" is fabricated out of thin air. This is logically flawed.

Some of you fellas may not care for Miyamoto, but it is much easier for those who do to admire him as he has had to endure much much more criticism of the games he makes than Cliffy B and David Doak and those types combined.

EDIT: Besides, what was he supposed to do?  Pretend to like it, even if he doesn't? 

Yes, I do believe that. Again:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2007/07/03/new-survey-shows-that-kids-like-games-rated-m-for-mature
http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=070507_8
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=16691

There is substantial evidence to support such a claim, as well. Especially noteworthy is the second article I linked, entitled: "Kids like violent games (and have access to them)."

I don't think any hardcore gamers want or expect Miyamoto to make violent videogames, it's just not in him and he probably wouldn't make a good one (don't get me wrong he's a good videogame designer it's just that people who don't love what they're making likely won't make something extraordinary).

I think the problem is that many people put down violent videogames and claim they all use violence as a crutch when that isn't always the case.  There are many very well designed videogames that just happen to take place in a violent setting because that's what the World in the game requires.  It would be just like people complaining about violence in movies but would the Godfather or Scarface be the same movies if they had absolutely no violence?  Are those movies less creative because they had violence in them?

As for Cliffy B not taking criticism, I see many people in these forums and elsewhere bashing first person shooters even though the ones he's created like Unreal Tournament are extremely well done and are creative in their own ways.

Its true that male teenagers in general like violence more than anyone else, not only that but its obvious.

Its probably something to do with the flood of testosterone that the body provides during puberty that causes it.

I largely agree with this -- however, I think the number of games that do not use violence as a crutch are few, and that UT is not among them. 

In short, Legend, we agree in the larger scheme, just disagree by matter of degree. We both agree that some games use violence as a crutch -- I think it's most games, you seem to think it's a lot, but probably not most. Close enough

I agree with bodhesatva.

There isn't much "probably" about it anymore.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/menshealth/feature/men_and_violence.htm
http://mensightmagazine.com/Library/violentboys.htm

Particularly telling is the last article. Relevant text:

"Over the last few years, researchers in both the U.S. and Canada have been measuring testosterone levels among violent male criminals. The average testosterone level of the violent criminal is higher than the average testosterone level of a citizen without a criminal record."

The causal link between increased testerone levels and an affinity for violence is well established. Testosterone reaches its maximal peak, in the average male, at age 18. Therefore, it's not surprising that teenage males, with higher average testosterone levels, are generally more likely to be interested in violent material.

Another possible explanation -- although not as statistically substantiated -- is that young teens (of both sexes, but especially males) are fascinated by that which they are forbidden when younger. Sex is one of these things, as is violence. Joseph Conrad referred to this as the "fascination with the abomination," in Heart of Darkness, and while slightly to grand a literary notion for such a pedestrian empirical observation, it does seem appropriate.