First off, I want to preface this post by telling you what this is not : this is not a blog about whether violent video games lead to violent personalities, or a rise in violent crime. Furthermore, this is not about whether violence should be a facet of our entertainment. This is about what we say about ourselves when we play violent video games, and what we condone when we make choices about our hobbies, our interests, and our actions.

I was playing Heavy Rain tonight (I have been going through my GOTY list), and I was playing the “Doc” chapter. For those of you not familiar with it, this particular portion of the game involves a young woman being drugged and strapped to an operating table where she will, presumably, be tortured by an evil doctor. I was playing along, and I got to the finale portion of the sequence, where our protagonist successful jams a rotating electric drill into the chest of her attacker, killing him.

It was at this moment that my sister decided to walk into the room, exclaiming in shock, “What the heck are you playing? I can't believe you're condoning such gratuitous violence!”

Now, I am not a violent person. However, I have been known to enjoy violent movies, books, television, and, of course, video games. This, I calmly explained to my sister, does not reflect my personality, or even that I condone violence in any way, shape, or form. It is for entertainment, and I can draw a distinct line between the realities of war, death, and violence, and the virtual realm of video games.

My sister (a psychology student) proceeds to tell me that I have been desensitized by my entertainment choices, and that I have no reaction to what I just bore witness to because I have surrounded myself by it for so long. Now, my sister does not partake in much violent behavior, let alone violent entertainment. Her extent of gaming is Wii Sports, and not much else. I try to explain to her that I don't play a game like Heavy Rain for the violent content at all, but rather I enjoy the story-telling, character development, and innovative game mechanics. She then throws this gem at me:

“If that's all you are looking for, then why can't you play a game that contains all those elements, but lacks the violence?”

And for a while, I was stumped. Why couldn't I play such a game? Do games like that exist? Now I won't verify the existence of such games, but I do enjoy media, whether it by film, book, or video game, that deal with mature themes. Their plots are often more interesting, and their characters are often more complex. Violence seems to be an arbitrary by-product of this. Not the overall focus.

To pose the question bluntly, why do we play violent video games?

I find that, personally, it is not because I enjoy the violence. I don't play games that deal exclusively in realistic violence (notice I said realistic, as opposed to cartoon, which I think we all can agree is absurd), and it is because I often find them one-dimensional. But a game like Heavy Rain is full of complex, mature themes, and violence just happens to be a means to that end. Heavy Rain is a murder-mystery that derives its greatness from its intricate plot, not its scenes of gore.

On the flip side, what are we saying about ourselves when we play violent video games? Are we endorsing violence? Not likely. But by purchasing that video game, we are encouraging the developer to make more like it. How conscientious are we as consumers? Do we passively absorb violence as “just a part of the experience”, or do we consider the message we send with such a purchase?

Now my sister, like much of the media, only focused on a small percentage of the actual game. She happened to walk in at a particularly violent portion of the experience, which does not accurately reflect the overall themes of the game. Perhaps if she had actually paused to consider all the different elements of the experience, she may have felt differently. Or perhaps not.

So, I'd like some feedback: 

•  Why do we play violent video games?
• Is violence just an accepted part of gaming, or can we have quality games that deal with mature characters and plots that don't also have violence?
• To what extent do our interests reflect our values?
• When we play violent video games, to what extent are we condoning violence?

I'd say that it's because violence is in a lot of games, in some form, but that only delays the question. Why do most games have violence? I'd say because most early video game plots were good vs. evil, and you don't talk to evil. Plus there's the fact that it was easier to animate something being stabbed/shot than it was to add a bunch of dialogue options. Violence today is an evolved form of that.

" @BigLemon:   Does it matter? As long as I'm able to separate fantasy from reality, and know not to do this stuff, does it matter? "

I play em because they are fun. In a certain extent, I am condoning violence but not in a extreme to make me want to kill someone.

I think it's a lineage thing. If you look at the older arcade/early console games, who they were appealing to, and what they could do basic violence was something that was easy to portray, and we kinda just grew from there. That being said, I think it's also because games, as an interactive medium, can't do things other media can't- you can't have a slow story, little action (violent or not), etc., because a gamer expects to constantly be engaged with the game he is playing (with notable exceptions like MGS where people are willing to sit through half hour cutscenes, but I have no clue why). And when you get a 19-34 year old male, he does not want to pretend to do mundane things. If you look at a lot of the material aimed at this subset of the population, it plays out a lot like a video game- action movies, for example, do basically the same thing video games do, but with more story. Again, games can't do this because gamers want to constantly be in the action, which means more shooting, less talking. Stuff like romances aren't really suitable, again because it would play out like a long ass dialog tree or a japanese dating sim, and we know how popular those are. Dramas or more slow paced films, to continue the analogy, also can't really be converted to game form for the same reasons.

For the same reason we read violent books, or watch violent movies- because we enjoy it. Now, I'm not saying that everybody is the same (because we're not), but I can say that without any doubt that humanity has always been somewhat inclined to violence. Some might say that we're less violent than earlier generations, but I would disagree; we've just transferred violence into more suitable mediums (unlike, say, the gladiatorial battles of Rome or anything similar).  As to why we enjoy it: I have no idea. Maybe it's just some instinctual, primitive human-thing; like how certain animal are generally belligerent to other species of animals. It's more likely that I don't know what I'm talking about -_-

I wish there was more violence in video games. When is Postal 3 coming out, btw?

"

•  Why do we play violent video games?
• Is violence just an accepted part of gaming, or can we have quality games that deal with mature characters and plots that don't also have violence?
• To what extent do our interests reflect our values?
• When we play violent video games, to what extent are we condoning violence?

   

    

"

Obviously for entertainment purposes. This doesn't mean we're bad people or "desensitized". 

" Obviously for entertainment purposes. This doesn't mean we're bad people or "desensitized".  "

" @Axxol said:

" Obviously for entertainment purposes. This doesn't mean we're bad people or "desensitized".  "

No, it absolutely does mean you're all desensitized. You were probably pretty shocked the very very first time you saw someone get his head cut off, whether in a movie, TV show, or video game.  Desensitization isn't a bad thing. It's a useful adaptation. Back 300 years ago, children needed to be desensitized to the killing of animals, because those animals were necessary for food, and there were no cow death factories to hide the butchering, especially since those kids had to learn how to do it for when they got older. Today, people are shocked at what happens to their meat when they find out because they were never exposed to it. And more importantly, think about the Nazi death camps. If the prisoners hadn't become desensitized to the genocide going on around them daily, how could they have ever survived and, more importantly, remained sane?  The real problem is that many people take desensitization as an automatic insult, especially gamers.  At the same time, it sounds like the way your sister phrased it was a bit inflammatory and derogatory. There's a difference (at least for me) between real-life and video game violence. I still feel repulsed by graphic live-action images, and I feel this way even moreso towards images of that stuff really happening.  I think that, to some extent, researchers on the issue may be skipping the fact that many who consume violent video games also consume violent and gory movies (a la SAW), and that the desensitization to these realistic, graphic images presented in live action as done on real humans is what may be actually troublesome.  That said, I really am going deep into opinion on the matter, as I've never personally looked through the studies done relating real-life violence to video game violence, so while I may conjecture about it, I will make no claims to the accuracy of my statement. "

So, I'd like some feedback: 

•  Why do we play violent video games?
• Is violence just an accepted part of gaming, or can we have quality games that deal with mature characters and plots that don't also have violence?
• To what extent do our interests reflect our values?
• When we play violent video games, to what extent are we condoning violence?

I'd say because it's something that we as a society aren't legally allowed to do in real life. Violence is thrilling. I'm not going to walk out of my house and slug a reporter in the face because she looked at me the wrong way. But in both Mass Effect games, you can do just that, with absolutely no consequences. Man those games are great...

Why do we play violent games? Maybe for the same reasons that we partake in all violent entertainment.  The answer could be that we do because were are capable of creating this entertainment. 
 Why does someone write violence in to  story?  Probably the same reason that somebody would create a superhero.  At some point most people witness violence.  Has does a baby feel when told no by his or her parents?  Could this be a trigger?  Children can seemingly be violent for no reason, sometimes a violent act can be committed just because they learning new motor functions, responding to visceral reactions.  Case in point during prayer on tuesday, a lovely one year old by the name of Anna scratched her foster mothers eyes, she yelped so Anna responded by laughing and trying to do it again.  I probably did not help matters as I found myself chuckling at the entire situation. 
 
Now Anna may grow up to be perfectly happy, with no traumas in her life.  But one day she may this decide to write a story with a character that is super human, able to to scrape a building down to its foundations just by rubbing their hands across them.  Could this idea of come from her experiences as a baby? Why not? 
  
There are many people that claim to hate violence as entertainment, but support the idea of capital punishment.  Any one who supports such punishment are angry and probably feel justified in being so.  My point is that if we partake in screen violence than it is less likely due exposure of earlier screen violence than a familiarity of an experience we have lived through.

Oh look, another psychology student who doesn't understand what she's learning and uses it to as an extremely poor basis from which to moralise at gamers.
 
My mother was a trained clinical and practicing therapeutic psychologist and she never pulled that crap with me.  Tell your sister to step down from her pulpit please.

" Oh look, another psychology student who doesn't understand what she's learning and uses it to as an extremely poor basis from which to moralise at gamers.  My mother was a trained clinical and practicing therapeutic psychologist and she never pulled that crap with me.  Tell your sister to step down from her pulpit please. "

" @Axxol: I didn't say you're desensitized to violence in the real world. I said you're desensitized to violence in video games.  It might have seen that way based on my first line, but I wrote that before I wrote the rest of the post, so it was a holdover from what I was originally writing.  However, realistic-looking violence (like in live action movies) desensitizes you to realistic-looking violence. People who enjoy Saw watch super-gory movies like that and show no repulsion, or actually any "normal" response, when compared to people who don't watch that type of movie.  And as video games become more photo-realistic, the desensitization line is starting to blur, probably. Think about it. People were uncomfortable punching the doctor in the face in Black Ops. Many were. And then there's the infamous MW2 level. After you've done that sort of thing, can you really say that it's just as powerful every time you do it again? "

" Why do we play violent games? Maybe for the same reasons that we partake in all violent entertainment.  The answer could be that we do because were are capable of creating this entertainment. 

" For the same reason we read violent books, or watch violent movies- because we enjoy it. "

Violence is a part of life bro.
A game designed to allow you to choose your actions has to have violence. And sex. And possibly drugs and rock and roll.
 
RPGs need to emulate real life, so they have to emulate all those elements too.
If you want to playa violence-free game, play tetris, or another game without any form of narrative.
 
I'll say this though, games are still pretty limited, and sometimes the only option you have, is to kill something (Gandhi eat your heart out).
Or, in games like God of War (which you should show to your sister) violence is your only goal.
But it sells. Animal instincts and all that.
 
But again, I'd like to see video games go in the direction of choice rather than: "yo dude kill all those fools in front of you!"
Such a waste of narrative potential and player interaction.

tbh would she rather you played violent videogames in a corner with only you affected or that you went out to beat the shit out of that guy you don't like? 
I'm going to go with nature. throughout history, people (mainly men) partook in violent activities, whether it was the afternoon hanging session, playground  fighting, shooting your way through your problems in the wild west,  hunting, etc. It's in our nature to be excited at violence and it's quite cool that we were able to develop a non violent form of violent entertainment. 
Also i do think it's the easiest forms of games to make. think of the TRUELY non violent games out there and how much thought must have gone into them. it's easy to think up a gears of war type game, not that easy to think up flower.

I think it is a game design thing. You often want a situation in which you have an intelligent force opposing you, and you need to feel that there is weight to your actions. Further, since we can never act out this violence in real life, it fills a nice little fantasy gap in our minds. that's why I don't get sports games: you could go play football IRL, but you can't go wack some Nazis.

" Violence is a part of life bro. A game designed to allow you to choose your actions has to have violence. And sex. And possibly drugs and rock and roll.   RPGs need to emulate real life, so they have to emulate all those elements too. If you want to playa violence-free game, play tetris, or another game without any form of narrative.  I'll say this though, games are still pretty limited, and sometimes the only option you have, is to kill something (Gandhi eat your heart out).Or, in games like God of War (which you should show to your sister) violence is your only goal. But it sells. Animal instincts and all that.  But again, I'd like to see video games go in the direction of choice rather than: "yo dude kill all those fools in front of you!" Such a waste of narrative potential and player interaction. "

In my opinion, violence is just another aspect in the way gameplay is enhanced. Just the same as cutting edge graphics do. It's just something that can make certain games more fun.

Violence is a massive part of the human experience, it has been a basis for reflection in art for thousands of years. Art explores violence because it's fascinating to some part of us, it's primal and most importantly in this industry, it is an easy and aesthetically exciting way to implement the win/fail dynamic that video-games rely on so much. Far Cry 2, Limbo, Heavy Rain, Edmund, and others like them in recent years have shown a more mature, deeper look at violence and it's a trend that I hope continues.

Gadzooks, video games turn people into sociopaths!
 
Postal 2 is an interesting game. You can be as violent as you like, but you can complete the game by simply choosing to avoid conflict.

I am a doctoral student in psychology and am completing my dissertation on the question of why individuals choose violent video games....I have enjoyed reading the links posted to this and hope to incorporate some of this information in my paper (with your permission of course). With luck, I will be able to repost on this with a more informed answer than what I believe to be the case now....

First of all, anyone who says fantasy violence desensitizes people towards real violence is grossly misinformed.

Take an actual fist fight for example (one where both parties are very willing to fight). It's a horrible affair. You're actively trying to hurt someone until they submit to you, and even if you win, you still feel sick to your stomach. No amount of Punch Out or Fight Night will prepare you. You're desensitized to aspects of video games that otherwise would have made your heart race or elicited some emotion, not violence itself. Imagine if you were in an actual massacre like the one in the "No Russian" level of Modern Warfare 2. I don't care who you are, if you survived it would take a very long time and most likely, massive amounts of therapy for you to return to your normal life.

As to why people play violent video games, it's an easy question to answer. There's no one reason. Some people like the thrill of danger without any of the risk involved, some like the sense of catharsis, some don't process what's being portrayed and simply see games as tests of skill, others like to release pent up aggression, and a very small percentage like inflicting violence on others. Basically it involves some method of stimulation.

As I get older, I'm getting more and more sensitive about overly violent video games. I've always thought video games and movies like Manhunt and Saw were completely pointless and unnecessary, but even now, when I play too much Call of Duty Multi-player, I become depressed and need to stop because I start to think that I'm making light of war, which is a sickening thing which should never be glorified.

I'd also like to say that we're very lucky to live in a time where real violence isn't a common place thing, Violent behavior (believe it or not) is at and all-time low in America, and we can get our food without being forced to kill it ourselves, and with the option of killing the animal as humanely as possible, or not at all.

Finally, how far along is your sister in school? She seems very "first year" to me considering how quick she is to over-analyze. Also I'm not sure she understands everything she's saying. By playing a violent video game and witnessing violent acts, you're not necessarily condoning violence. By her logic, if you watch footage from 9/11, you're condoning terrorism.

I think the human mind enjoys everything that distracts him from his everyday-life-routine. That includes violence.

I also think the human mind enjoys things he can somehow identify with. That includes violence.