violence posts

Despite this article's provocative title, this won't exactly be a history of violent video games; more like a random sampling. While obviously not all games have violence in them, many of the more popular ones do. What's more, they're often inextraicably linked to the gameplay. What would Call of Duty 4 be without the combat? Could we still enjoy World of Warcraft without its serious medieval action? Would Dead Space be the same without the ability to sever freaky monster limbs?

However, there are different levels of what's acceptable for violence. To my mind, one of the roles of violence in video games is to provide catharsis -- a sort of pressure valve to release all manner of negative emotions in a safe, controlled manner. I can't honestly think of any game that displayed violent acts that were too extreme for me to handle, but as our taste in content develops and matures, we might start to see a corresponding change in what we witness -- and commit -- in our video games. Let's take a look at some notable moments in video game violence over the years, and see if we can guess where we might be going.

The recent post on the National Institute on Media and the Family by our own John Callaham brought to mind this well-trod subject. Let's lay out the particulars. Video games sometimes feature violent and/or sexual content. Children who are too young to access such material should be prevented from doing so. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board exists to assess the content of video games and provide a label for parents to use in determining which games are safe for their children to play. However, the NIMF has been at odds with the ESRB for years, claiming that they're either not doing their job properly, or that their system isn't enough of a deterrent to prevent the sale of non-kid friendly games from being sold to minors.

This begs the question: when it comes to the safety of children, who's responsible? The parents, or society? Can any organization, well-meaning though it might be, have a reasonable expectation of adherence to its own standards? Shouldn't it be up to the parents alone to determine what's okay for their kids to experience? Do children really need protecting?

The term "mature" is frequently used without an accompanying definition. Like the common definition for "art" -- "I know it when I see it" -- it's accepted that people generally know what it means: It refers to content meant for adults. But the range of that content is extremely wide. On video game boxes, a Mature rating means violence, gore, rough language, and sexual themes. Of course, there's more to true maturity than the ability to handle experiencing that level of adult content, but the definition has to start somewhere. Let's take a look at what maturity means in the context of gaming.

At this year's QuakeCon, Big Download was able to sit in on a private screening of Frag, a serious documentary about the many struggles and setbacks dealt with by professional gamers such as Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum is LAN Party Massacre, a satirical film in development by Creatively Bankrupt Productions.

LAN Party Massacre follows the exploits of a group of pro gamers invited to a national LAN tournament. One of the attendees has spent a bit too much time playing video games and decides to hunt down fellow attendees.

The movie aims to parody both the "slasher" sub-genre of horror movies as well as gaming culture, with the antagonist, a man obsessed with violence due to excessive gaming, seemingly viewed as a representation of how the government and most non-gamers view our admittedly violent hobby.

LAN Party Massacre will be available in 2009. You can view or download a teaser trailer on the movie's official website.