How censorship can lead to better video games - discussion.

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@HandsomeDead said:

Not to mention you also have that crowd of gamers who just want cheap, empty fun and anything that tries to be clever is immediately labelled as 'pretentious'."

I think games really have an opportunity to go main stream and be considered a serious form of media like film and books are. The first thing that has to be done is the phrase video games needs to be eradicated and we need to start calling this form of media Interactive Entertainment or IE (Not Internet Explorer xD). Then more serious innovate games need to come out that are not all action orriented and can tell a story that doesn't envolve any sort of fighting or action while telling a great story that makes you feel things without using cut scenes because cut scenes are basically the same thing as film with CG. "

" @cspiffo: I was just talking about censorship in general and applying it to video games, so yes I am totally confusing what you were talking about in particular. I'm not a person who is in favour of government intervention in general.

And I didn't know rape games could be legally sold, either here in the UK or where I'll assume you're from, the US. I may well be mistaken. As for Japan, a body have decided to ban rape games. That will most likely be law once they sort out definitions.I don't have a problem with that. As well as rights, we as people have a responsibility to the rest of society, making games about rape is irresponsible to the point where it shouldn't be available to the public in any form. I don't care how that happens (and your example works) but I would like to think that if it were necessary, a governing body could be directly involved with censoring, they should have that power.Again though, I was being more general with my earlier comments. "

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@Wolverine said:

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@HandsomeDead said:

Not to mention you also have that crowd of gamers who just want cheap, empty fun and anything that tries to be clever is immediately labelled as 'pretentious'."

I think games really have an opportunity to go main stream and be considered a serious form of media like film and books are. The first thing that has to be done is the phrase video games needs to be eradicated and we need to start calling this form of media Interactive Entertainment or IE (Not Internet Explorer xD). Then more serious innovate games need to come out that are not all action orriented and can tell a story that doesn't envolve any sort of fighting or action while telling a great story that makes you feel things without using cut scenes because cut scenes are basically the same thing as film with CG. "

(To HD) That's more a problem with humanity than this particular medium.

(To Wolverine) All we need is time. Movies were considered originally considered shit compared to *prepares pretentious, snobby voice* the sophisticated plays in theaters of the day, *ends voice* and theaters, conversely, were considered evil when they were experiencing a rebirth around the 17th century. And my solution is simple: get rid of the term video game (sad, I know) and replace it with the new, more pretentious term "interactive media." Instead of people thinking, "I'm playing a game, I feel like a man-child, my life sucks", they'll think, "I'm interacting! WITH MEDIA!! Holy crap, I'm smart and progressive! *puts on beret, pretentiously snickers*" "

True, but at least other mediums have ways of weeding that audience out. You have your Michael Bay movies for people who want just fun explosions but you have your Curtis Hanson movies for people who want depth. In video games, there doesn't seem to be that kind of distinction. "

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@HandsomeDead said:

True, but at least other mediums have ways of weeding that audience out. You have your Michael Bay movies for people who want just fun explosions but you have your Curtis Hanson movies for people who want depth. In video games, there doesn't seem to be that kind of distinction. "

What about RPGs? There are tons of them with depth and interpretation and emotional connection. "

But on the flip side, there's also very little action in those games. It's as if there's one genre for depth and everything else can be as shallow as it wants. Like cspiffo says, games made by people like Hideo Kojima and Tim Schafer are the direction I feel video games should go into. It's just that for every one of those games, we end up with a million generic others. "