I've actually thought of the war-themed FPSs and RTSs as a kind of saturated market, until now. I've never thought of them as dangerous outside the realm of being violent videogames. One excerpt from Grandpa's interview caught my attention:
I've never thought of these types of games as a desensitizing factor towards war in general. They desensitize violence, sure, that's already been pointed out to death already. But not war itself (and that's mainly going to be my focus, although it's basically the same argument as the movement against violence in videogames). Grandpa's answer shows the possibility that these games do diminish a bit of the horror that war can be, and instead turn it into a mere cerebral or reactionary or entertaining experience. Which is obviously bad.
Hoping not to erode my stand on whose responsibility it is to police the types of games we play, to that extent I can agree with him.
In the end, I'm torn between "oh, people can handle this stuff without being affected" and "he's right, people's opinion of these games would change if they actually fought in World War 2".
To answer your other question, I would agree that the sci-fi setting of mech games like Armored Core distance them a bit from the actual experience of pain and destruction. I mean, the worst you can get in the game is a blown-up mech, and all that actually translates to is a rumble on your controller. And you can turn that off.
sforzando Wrote:Q. Do you think they would have a different opinion if they’d been through an actual war?
A. Yes. Definitely.
I've never thought of these types of games as a desensitizing factor towards war in general. They desensitize violence, sure, that's already been pointed out to death already. But not war itself (and that's mainly going to be my focus, although it's basically the same argument as the movement against violence in videogames). Grandpa's answer shows the possibility that these games do diminish a bit of the horror that war can be, and instead turn it into a mere cerebral or reactionary or entertaining experience. Which is obviously bad.
Hoping not to erode my stand on whose responsibility it is to police the types of games we play, to that extent I can agree with him.
In the end, I'm torn between "oh, people can handle this stuff without being affected" and "he's right, people's opinion of these games would change if they actually fought in World War 2".
To answer your other question, I would agree that the sci-fi setting of mech games like Armored Core distance them a bit from the actual experience of pain and destruction. I mean, the worst you can get in the game is a blown-up mech, and all that actually translates to is a rumble on your controller. And you can turn that off.
"Let's fight... like gentlemen." - Dudley, SF3
