[Tom4784]

Sony had a games conference on Tuesday in which they showed off a slate of upcoming games but two trailers in particular have caused a bit of a stir which are the two below.

Youtube video

Youtube video

Most of the controversy is centred around the second trailer and depiction of domestic violence with people saying that this kind of story doesn't have a place in gaming or that there should have been warnings ahead of the trailer being shown (There were no warnings that the show would contain content unsuitable for certain audiences).

Do you think the controversy is warranted? Are games too violent? Should games attempt to tackle difficult themes? Should there have been more warnings when it comes to conferences like this that are streamed to thousands of people?

[Marsh.]

Not a gamer, but I find the controversy silly.

Would these people make the same complaint about a film festival showing a movie/trailer depicting domestic violence or something similar?

It's not real. It's art. And art, like life, has ugly sides.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

Not a gamer, but I find the controversy silly.

Would these people make the same complaint about a film festival showing a movie/trailer depicting domestic violence or something similar?

It's not real. It's art. And art, like life, has ugly sides.

The difference is more kids play 18 games than go to 18 movies and, and its a big AND, you play a game

you watch a movie

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

The difference is more kids play 18 games than go to 18 movies and, and its a big AND, you play a game

you watch a movie

The difference being?

They're both forms of entertainment.

Unless you're telling me that within this game the player themselves as the character has a level where they beat up the Mrs for burning the dinner.

A ridiculous complaint.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

The difference is more kids play 18 games than go to 18 movies and, and its a big AND, you play a game

you watch a movie

There's no links between violence in real life and violence in games, there's been enough studies over the years trying to find a link and none have ever found definitive proof.

If someone has the capacity for violence then it's existed within them long before they watched a film or played a game. You can't play Call of Duty and suddenly decide out of nowhere to go on a shooting spree.

There's not much, if any, evidence that there's any difference between playing or watching violence as far as I know.

[Scarlett.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

The difference is more kids play 18 games than go to 18 movies and, and its a big AND, you play a game

you watch a movie

Maybe, just maybe, parents should pay attention to the age rating before buy little Timmy a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, you know, just maybe.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Chewy

Maybe, just maybe, parents should pay attention to the age rating before buy little Timmy a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, you know, just maybe.

yeah, have a kid and see how you go there barney...

[Scarlett.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

yeah, have a kid and see how you go there barney...

I'm not saying a kid cant play any game above their age rating, but there are ones that are inappropriate, especially GTA V which has a torture scene that even I thought went a little too far

[chuff me dizzy]

Originally Posted by Chewy

Maybe, just maybe, parents should pay attention to the age rating before buy little Timmy a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, you know, just maybe.

The onus is on the parent to check what their child is doing, but sad thing is a lot of parents are too selfish to bother nowadays, or too busy sat playing computer games themselves to care, they treat the media as a babysitter

[Tom4784]

Firstly, I don't think game violence is an issue, if people don't have a problem with zombies ripping people apart in Walking Dead then I don't see why it would be an issue in a game, especially with the line between gaming and traditional media becoming more blurred by the day. The Last of Us trailer was harrowing but I don't think the violence was anymore noteworthy than anything you would see at the cinema.

When it comes to difficult themes, I'm very much on board with video games tackling them when it's done right. With narrative becoming more important in gaming, I think it's a good place to tackle themes that traditional media are hesistant to touch. There was a game released this year called Hellblade which was about a Celtic Warrior who suffered from Psychosis and the player was encouraged at the start of the game to wear earphones so that they can more accurately get a feel for the symptoms the main character was feeling and it was very effective. I think that game did something for mental awareness that a TV show or film could never do, it gave us a glimpse of what Psychosis was like for it's sufferers. I think the problem with this trailer of Detroit is that it is mostly out of context and out of context it becomes a bit crass. I don't think games should shy away from difficult themes though as they can highlight them in ways that other forms of media can't.

I do think the backlash against Sony for not airing warnings was warranted though especially when it comes to subjects such as Domestic abuse.

[Shaun]

I am generally wary of most forms of entertainment that show a lot of violence and gore so perhaps I'm a little bit biased but - I was looking forward to the TLOU2 trailer and the scene with the hammer did make me uncomfortable.

But I guess that's rather the point. Same goes for torture scenes in movies/TV, other violence action... if it's told in an artful way. Do think some games are gratuitous with it though.

[user104658]

If it's OK for other media there's no reason it shouldn't be for games, is my basic stance.

That said... With the latter one, even both perhaps, I'm not sure it necessarily had to be in a trailer for them. The first TLOU2 teaser trailer had no (active) violence and was a much more effective trailer than this one, so it's not really necessary.

[thesheriff443]

Have there not been links to people that play violent games being violent?
Don't all you gamers reach for your baseball bats.

[Rob!]

I don't know about controversial but that game looks amazing.

[RileyH]

Originally Posted by Rob!

I don't know about controversial but that game looks amazing.

2

[Brother Leon]

What a load of tosh. Forms of entertainment are going to be violent or gory. It's not like either trailer was just senseless violence for the sake of it either.

[user104658]

I'm not a huge believer in "age ratings" for the mostpart; parents should know their own kids and know what is too much for them. It's far more complicated than age ratings. But even where age ratings are concerned... I would say they're more relevant for the general wellbeing of the child watching, not because of any risk of "emulating behaviour". In other words, I wouldn't let my daughter watch most adult rated stuff simply because she'd probably end up scared, or simply not understand what's going on.

Basically... Kids from loving, well adjusted homes don't turn violent because of games, or movies, or any other scapegoat... Violent kids pretty much always simply have violent lives. They either get it directly from a caregiver's behaviour, or if not, they have a life that is otherwise frustrating / in turmoil a lot and they get wound up and lash out because of that.

One of the huge differences still between games and movies though, is that gaming is still a (relatively) new form of entertainment for many adults... They don't do it themselves, they don't really understand it, so they just let kids get on with it without really having any grasp of what modern games are like. They picture Crash Bandicoot, not The Last Of Us.

That's changing over time though, as I'd say the vast majority of under-30's do at least a bit of gaming to some extent now... It becomes a more mainstream form of entertainment year on year.

[user104658]

I genuinely hate to sound patronising and do the "u don't know what it's like" thing but here is the truth;

People with no kids have very little idea what is involved in being a parent to any kid. And not only that. People WITH kids have very little idea what it's like to be a parent to any kid other than their own kids. People usually find out that second one when they get to child #2 thinking they had it all sussed with the first one, and then get the horrible reality check that it's a completely different beast .

Children, the inconvenient little ****s, are individual human beings. You get to know them and muddle by the best you can, hoping to get them to adulthood with as few issues as possible. Let them experience what's out there (within reason) and be available to put it all in context when they need it.

You can't, and shouldn't, monitor what your children are doing 24/7. Not only is it unrealistic, but that level of control is psychologically a really bad thing for anyone including (maybe even more so) a child.

But yeah, basically, any advice from anyone (whether they have their own kids or not) assuming "all parents should do x/y/z then it would be fine" is being naive and falling into the two major traps of such assumptions.

1) That all children are the same

And

2) That when people have kids they stop having their own **** going on and become a "parentbot" that can or should spend every waking hour eyeballing their children.

[Tom4784]

Also Cherie, be very careful about talking down to people who do not have children, you do not know my circumstances or anyone else's and it's very insensitive considering some reasons why people might not have kids.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Also Cherie, be very careful about talking down to people who do not have children, you do not know my circumstances or anyone else's and it's very insensitive considering some reasons why people might not have kids.

Oh please, you slate parents yet you want to be treated with kid gloves, treat everyone how you want to be treated and all will be well

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Oh please, you slate parents yet you want to be treated with kid gloves, treat everyone how you want to be treated and all will be well

You have misconstrued my point again.

I've not slated parents, if you actually bothered to read my posts you'd understand that my comments are aimed towards people that complain that violent games exist and want them banned or dealt with but don't use the tools at hand to prevent their own kids from engaging in content that they disapprove of.

In that large post you quoted but largely ignored (and didn't read judging by how quickly you responded) I talked about it and my own views on violent games and children but you didn't bother to read the post so you don't know.

I won't respond to any more pettiness, stop trying to derail the topic and speak about the subject matter.

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

She also doesn't need you to speak for her I would have thought.

Neither should Dezzy need you to speak for him.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Brillopad

Neither should Dezzy need you to speak for him.

It's like North Korea around here at times with males trying to dictate who responds and how they respond

[Tom4784]

Fascinating discussion we got here about violence in video games and whether certain themes should be explored or not.

[Brother Leon]

I started playing GTA games from Year 7 tbh as I got San Andreas for 2004 Xmas as I begged for it. My mum would watch me playing games up until I was about 15 or so, but she always trusted in her raising of me that playing violent games or watching gory movies wouldn't cloud my mind and it didn't.

Won't even lie, the only time it ever got awk was if a game got a little sexual.