Is Violence one of the most important things in a video game?

Every game I play has some sort of violence, Viva Pinata you hit furry cute pinata's over the head to kill them thats violence, Fallout 3 enough said but the question is do we really need that much violence in video games to enjoy them as much as we do?

your right........We need MORE!!!!!!!!!

No, gameplay and graphics are.

But if you look it that way then every game has violence, which is kinda dumb.

You gotta admit though only games that i've played that dont have violence in them is like Brain age and who knows mabey it still does cause it hurts my brain T.T

One of the dumbest questions ive ever heard. Only important things are gameplay and in most cases a story. also the game cant be completely broken with shitty controls.

The gameplay however uses violence as a way to bring in more people, like seriously people always wanna get headshots!

Most conflicts can not be resolved without violence, so it would seem.  Even something like Katamari Damacy, where you roll a big ball around over people and turn them into stars, can be seen as violence by some people.

Conflict, moreso than violence. Something to pit yourself against.

Yea and thats the argument should we allow our children to be playing games like Gears of War or even Halo for that matter if they contain chainsaws and swords? Lol i woulden't want to be hit over the head with a shovel from a child to see if candy comes out.

"Most conflicts can not be resolved without violence, so it would seem.  Even something like Katamari Damacy, where you roll a big ball around over people and turn them into stars, can be seen as violence by some people.

Honestly, I don't care if there is violence.  Should kids be playing it?  I'm still an old-school kind of person and believe that it's reserved for a certain age.  I'm not gonna sugarcoat something to a kid if he asks about it.  However, I'm not going to be like "sure, you can play Gears of War".  I don't believe violence in games or movies affects children or anything.  I just don't personally feel comfortable as a person exposing them to something like that when they should be out having fun and being a kid.

LOL  It's weird.  I'd rather have a kid go out and burn ants with a magnifying glass than use a chainsaw on Gears.  Call me weird.  =  /  *shrugs*

"

"Yea and thats the argument should we allow our children to be playing games like Gears of War or even Halo for that matter if they contain chainsaws and swords? Lol i woulden't want to be hit over the head with a shovel from a child to see if candy comes out."

"Generic_Ninja said:

"Yea and thats the argument should we allow our children to be playing games like Gears of War or even Halo for that matter if they contain chainsaws and swords? Lol i woulden't want to be hit over the head with a shovel from a child to see if candy comes out."

That's taking it to an extreme, sir.  This is a timeless argument, one with absolutely no logistical end.  The most that can be said is that violence is something in the eye of the beholder.  I don't find violence in games and movies, even music sometimes, to be that big of a deal.  I know plenty of people that think otherwise.  It's a matter of opinions and that's all.  Violence in real life is something different entirely."

The violence doesn't need to be graphic, but for most games it is necessary. Gameplay has always been based around some time of combat. Shoot this.... jump on this... fight this boss etc. Other than driving games and some sports games, games generally put a goal in front of you and a bunch of enemies you need to fight. The goal being beating the game, collecting the next item or whatever. There are other important aspects to a game such as controls, immersiveness, graphical and sound quality but most game genres can't exist without some sort of violence.

"

Well then when would it be able to come to and end? People need to begin to realise what their children might be playing in some games.

However it is true that games should be noted first and foremost as just fantasy that we use to have fun, i just dont like watching children you know go up to their parents and showing them how they can cut some guys head of in like Ninja Gaiden perhaps.

"

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Well then when would it be able to come to and end? People need to begin to realise what their children might be playing in some games.

However it is true that games should be noted first and foremost as just fantasy that we use to have fun, i just dont like watching children you know go up to their parents and showing them how they can cut some guys head of in like Ninja Gaiden perhaps.

"

clarke0 said:

"The violence doesn't need to be graphic, but for most games it is necessary. Gameplay has always been based around some time of combat. Shoot this.... jump on this... fight this boss etc. Other than driving games and some sports games, games generally put a goal in front of you and a bunch of enemies you need to fight. The goal being beating the game, collecting the next item or whatever. There are other important aspects to a game such as controls, immersiveness, graphical and sound quality but most game genres can't exist without some sort of violence."

Yea but its also in the case on how much more we could do with graphics other then make better hardware that is avalible on the platforms, graphics are already pretty much at their prime when it comes to some games and now its just polishing that needs to be looked on before retailing the video game.

Of course not. If violence was more important than gameplay, then wouldn't Manhunt be a considerably more respected game than Portal? Violence is just satisfying a demographic, and (for better or worse) that demographic is pretty big right now.

"Generic_Ninja said:

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Well then when would it be able to come to and end? People need to begin to realise what their children might be playing in some games.

However it is true that games should be noted first and foremost as just fantasy that we use to have fun, i just dont like watching children you know go up to their parents and showing them how they can cut some guys head of in like Ninja Gaiden perhaps.

"

Well that doesn't happen. those kids you see getting into trouble on the news they had bigger problems before they played the games. They just decide to blame their problems on the game or when authorities inspected their houses and automatically put the blame on violent video games they went with it. I feel that you need to give kids more credit."

"Of course not. If violence was more important than gameplay, then wouldn't Manhunt be a considerably more respected game than Portal? Violence is just satisfying a demographic, and (for better or worse) that demographic is pretty big right now."

"MasturbatingBear said:

"Generic_Ninja said:

"

Well then when would it be able to come to and end? People need to begin to realise what their children might be playing in some games.

However it is true that games should be noted first and foremost as just fantasy that we use to have fun, i just dont like watching children you know go up to their parents and showing them how they can cut some guys head of in like Ninja Gaiden perhaps.

"

Well that doesn't happen. those kids you see getting into trouble on the news they had bigger problems before they played the games. They just decide to blame their problems on the game or when authorities inspected their houses and automatically put the blame on violent video games they went with it. I feel that you need to give kids more credit."

Then mabey the blame would be put on the parents for allowing their kids to play such games perhaps?

I do agree that kids and teenagers definetly get stressed out alot especially if going to school."

If you stressed out most teenagers probably resort to video games as the scape goat as you said since teenagers seem to always try to handle a situation by themselves. But if your stressed and being bullied and start playing a violent video game would that not in fact give thought on how to act on that problem?

Also the parents would be the ones to blame for allowing their children to buy M rated games in the first place, although depending on the game like lair or so i don't see how even children cant tell the different between dragons flying down and eating people that is almost common history.

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Of course not. If violence was more important than gameplay, then wouldn't Manhunt be a considerably more respected game than Portal? Violence is just satisfying a demographic, and (for better or worse) that demographic is pretty big right now."

Yes and puzzle is a fantastic game in its own case, but when I go over to a buddies house and ask what game to play it usually ends up as Halo or Gears of War, not saying though that we haven't played portal its just that we needed a multiplayer game to focus on and in which cases we wanted to be able to do some bad things."

"Generic_Ninja said:

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Of course not. If violence was more important than gameplay, then wouldn't Manhunt be a considerably more respected game than Portal? Violence is just satisfying a demographic, and (for better or worse) that demographic is pretty big right now."

Yes and puzzle is a fantastic game in its own case, but when I go over to a buddies house and ask what game to play it usually ends up as Halo or Gears of War, not saying though that we haven't played portal its just that we needed a multiplayer game to focus on and in which cases we wanted to be able to do some bad things."

So you were playing Halo and Gears of War for the necessity of mulitplayer. You're question was "Is Violence one of the most important things in a video game?" and the answer is no, otherwise Portal would never have gotten popular. Violence is not necessary to make a great game, but violence is popular right now."

"

If you stressed out most teenagers probably resort to video games as the scape goat as you said since teenagers seem to always try to handle a situation by themselves. But if your stressed and being bullied and start playing a violent video game would that not in fact give thought on how to act on that problem?

Also the parents would be the ones to blame for allowing their children to buy M rated games in the first place, although depending on the game like lair or so i don't see how even children cant tell the different between dragons flying down and eating people that is almost common history.

"

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Generic_Ninja said:

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Of course not. If violence was more important than gameplay, then wouldn't Manhunt be a considerably more respected game than Portal? Violence is just satisfying a demographic, and (for better or worse) that demographic is pretty big right now."

Yes and puzzle is a fantastic game in its own case, but when I go over to a buddies house and ask what game to play it usually ends up as Halo or Gears of War, not saying though that we haven't played portal its just that we needed a multiplayer game to focus on and in which cases we wanted to be able to do some bad things."

So you were playing Halo and Gears of War for the necessity of mulitplayer. You're question was "Is Violence one of the most important things in a video game?" and the answer is no, otherwise Portal would never have gotten popular. Violence is not necessary to make a great game, but violence is popular right now."

Yes violence is a popular thing on todays market right now and thats alright because some great games like Fallout 3 and Fable 2 will be great games, but games like portal dont come around very often anymore and we dont get to see a large creativity coming out of the programmers and designers."

"Generic_Ninja said:

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Generic_Ninja said:

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Of course not. If violence was more important than gameplay, then wouldn't Manhunt be a considerably more respected game than Portal? Violence is just satisfying a demographic, and (for better or worse) that demographic is pretty big right now."

Yes and puzzle is a fantastic game in its own case, but when I go over to a buddies house and ask what game to play it usually ends up as Halo or Gears of War, not saying though that we haven't played portal its just that we needed a multiplayer game to focus on and in which cases we wanted to be able to do some bad things."

So you were playing Halo and Gears of War for the necessity of mulitplayer. You're question was "Is Violence one of the most important things in a video game?" and the answer is no, otherwise Portal would never have gotten popular. Violence is not necessary to make a great game, but violence is popular right now."

Yes violence is a popular thing on todays market right now and thats alright because some great games like Fallout 3 and Fable 2 will be great games, but games like portal dont come around very often anymore and we dont get to see a large creativity coming out of the programmers and designers."

...yes. That's pretty much what I'm saying. Violent games are part of the current trend. Todays teens live in a world where they can quickly and easily be labeled 'gay' or a 'pussy' for stupid shit like reading Watchmen or playing Viva Pinata. Therefore, playing the most violent video game you can find makes you 'normal', and developers have picked up on this trend. Games will keep getting more and more violent until it ceases to be as effective, then they will have to focus their attention elsewhere.

So essentially, we are in agreement right now."

Alright, kiddos.  Story time.  Read it and get the point.

Violence is important when you are playing a violent game. Contrary to what people believe, replacing blood with stars fails to do anything. In fact, I'd imagine it would cause more problems. I could imagine a kid shoot a parent hoping stars would magically fly out.

"Alright, kiddos.  Story time.  

My parents, when I was young, didn't want me listening to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre"

Violence is what games do best, it translates so well from the controller to whats on screen. Pretty much all games are based on beating the other player in some way so its not hard to understand why so many games have violence, not like movies.

A game that is not violent does not sell as well as any other, that is true. So yes it is an important factor in the gameplay of a game, but I wouldn't say one of the ost important. I'm not going to buy Farcry 2 because I want to blow everyone's head in high def, I'll buy it because it is a game that is better than others in other aspects. My point is that any game can be violent and that is not a very specia and dificult to acomplish trait.

No...it is not important. Not for sales and not for the game to be any good.

Absolutely.
Be it Tekken, Gears Of War, Call of Duty, Etc. Violence is the most important thing in my books.
Now dont be a smartass and go "what if everything else sucks", because obviously, the game will suck.
I mean that having alot of violence, without compromizing anything else (accualy will make it better) is vital in my eyes.

"A game that is not violent does not sell as well as any other, that is true.

"Snail said:

"A game that is not violent does not sell as well as any other, that is true.

I wonder, then, how those sports games manage to limp on from year to year.

No, violence is not important for a game's success or playability."