Violence in Video Games: I Just... I'm Done...

     So apparently this happened:

Read the Kotaku article here...

     And there is but one thing I can say for it: *giant resounding sigh*

What is this... Violence and Video Games?

     Violence? Video games? Surely those two aren't connected... are they? Short answer: NO. Long answer: maybe. Allow me to explain...

     To start off, we're going to derail the train before it even gets out of the station. What a great way to start, right? Before we get to the problem everyone blames, we need to look at the problems everyone tends to forget...

How Do We Define A Violent Video Game?

     With the Sandy Hook shooting on everyone's minds recently, I feel the need to bring up an old argument and drive it home again. However, before I go on a rant about violence in video games, I want to throw a related issue out there. There is no doubt that there are countless violent video games out on the market, but there's only one problem: what is a violent video game? How do we define what a violent video game is? "Well, it's a game with violence in it, of course." Yes, but where do we draw the line? Consider, for instance, The Legend of Zelda. The player assumes the identity of Link, a young boy who gallivants around the land of Hyrule slicing away at enemies with his sword in order to defeat the evil Ganondorf and save Princess Zelda. Is that not violence? "But he's trying to save the Princess!" But it's still violence, is it not? Again, I ask: where do we draw the line?

I'm going to carve your heart out of your chest and consume it... What? That's exactly what happens!

Violent Video Games, You Say?

      Over the past few years I've been known to say, "I love blood and violence!". On occasion that stems from a desire to quote Sarge from Red vs Blue. Most of the time, however, it's a legitimate expression of my own thoughts. "Goongala! You blood-thirsty warmonger!" CHILL OUT! I have my reasons for this; namely: realism. As I've said previously, I find blood and gore adds a certain amount of realism to a game, movie, or anime. There is a limit to that though, and anime exceeds it often. But, if you're going to have violence in your game, movie, or anime, at least have blood to go along with it. It does make a difference in realism. I'm not in it only for the bloody violence. This is all besides the point however, and I digress from the original point of this post. I warn you now, it's going to be a long one (quite possibly the longest piece I've ever written). Also, keep in mind that most of this was written a few months ago, so certain info and/or data may be a bit dated...

Let's talk about games, shall we?