Violence - where do you draw the line?

[WePlayForAiur]

Do you agree that some games for Xbox are just too violent? I know the gaming experience has to be as close to reality as possible but these games can harm people if they don't pay attention.
Where do you draw the line when it comes to 'violent' games?

 

[Xboxfan]

I can make the difference between a game and reality so I stop at nothing. I'm afraid not everyone thinks like me, though, but even if they made games less "violent", it wouldn't make much of a difference. Violence is everywhere these days (in movies, on the news). You just have to know what's good and what's not.

 

[crossunitedfate]

I've yet to come across any instance in any game that I've ever found so offensive that I had a line to be drawn. But that's part of looking at the ESRB rating before a purchase. It gives people an idea of what to expect of the game in terms of maturity levels that should play it.

 

[JessiFox]

Agreed. I feel like people with a solid understanding of something that's okay in a game vs. something that's okay in reality (which is, I would hope, the majority of gamers) shouldn't need to worry too much about where to draw the line. If something offends or upsets you, by all means leave it be. But video game violence doesn't bother me much, at any level.

 

[charlieman999]

I have never played a game that I have stopped playing because it was too violent or disturbing, violence in games or movies does not bother me at all.

 

[DiamondCardz]

In my opinion, violence in games isn't really important. You can make the player cut off, say, 10 people's heads, but does it mean they are going to go running around in real life cutting off people's heads? There have been instances of people becoming violent due to video game violence, but this is fairly rare...if it was common, the restrictions on games would be a LOT tighter than they are today.

 

[shadowventure]

This is a vital question that requires deep thought for a proper answer. I agree that some video games tend to be very violent and should be kept out the hands of young children. With that being said children are still able to play games that are not right for their age. I personally don't believe violent games can influence people to do something harmful. A person has to have something mentally wrong with them or some condition for them to be influenced by a video game. Before video games existed violence existed. The only thing that is damaging is when the line between reality and fiction is not defined. People in general must know that this is fiction and not the real world.

 

[nhoelb]

Indeed, if someone knows the difference between a game and reality then there is no violence at all. Besides, if a kid is raised by good a parents that teaches the norm of society, violent in games doesn't make the kid violent. It is not the games that teach values to kids, it's the parents.

 

[gabstaff]

As a parent, I have to be careful as for violent and blood and guts. I have an son with Aspegers's and we have already had to talk to him about stuff we have found on his history on the computer. So I really limit his activity with the games and what games we do get.

 

[Epicfied]

I like games that offer to give your choice of amount of violence. You can go through with very little, or a ton.
However, I don't like games that get really gory. There's a difference between lots of violence and a needless amount of gore.
I like it realistic and in reality, there is a lot of violence out in the world.

 

[ACSAPA]

I haven't found a video game yet that was too violent for me. It would take something specific for me to say "Okay ,this is my line and I'm done."
I would consider a game too violent and disturbing for me to play if it required me to kill a human child, rape a woman, torture a helpless victim, or kick a domestic dog to death. Although video games are not real and these crimes would not really be taking place, I would be emotionally upset buy doing virtual violence to a child or a woman who is begging me for her life. I play video games where I get to be heroic and rescue lives, I don't want to play a game where I do evil things because it goes against my true nature.

I once played a simple PS2 game that had a multiple branching story path and I tried playing it as a bad guy, but I was really bothered by some of the stuff I was doing, so I deleted my game save and started over as a good guy.

 

[Daz-]

Someone mentioned it earlier but I think in reality the best thing games companies can do is offer you the ability to turn it off, I think it's modern warfare 3 which gives you the option not to have to do the part of the game which involves you going around the air port shooting innocent people as they cower and beg for mercy...

 

[ZaneCloud]

The thing is, all games have ratings. With that said, most young influential young kids buy these 18+ games without any resistance. That is where the biggest problem lies imo.

 

[RainbowFlwrPowr]

There is a line we are supposed to draw for violence? Anyways, I would not draw the line at any level because I have seen all types of violence first hand, on TV, in movies, etc. To me when you talk about blood, you are just using another word in the dictonary.

 

[Peterparker]

I feel as though there is somewhat of a line when it comes to any form of entertainment but at the end of the day it still depends on the person and how they separate reality from entertainment. I've played plenty of gory games in my lifetime and never once wanted to actually do the things I just did with a game controller.

 

[DarkRepulser]

The amount of violence in a game doesn't appeal much to me, I don't care if I kill several civilians in an airport, because they're just 3d models with textures. Why would I possibly want to do this in real life, just because I did it in a game?

 

[Claptrap]

Violence doesn't affect me in game. Even if I really like dismembering virtual characters, that don't mean nothing. Show me a picture of REAL gore, though, and I'll be all like "AW HELL NAW" and run away.

 

[BlackSolaris]

Nowhere?
It's a game, i think that only because of that you should be able to create games with gore, no problems attached. It's not like it's going to hurt people, right? And if it is too violent for some, just don't play it, we aren't forcing it to anyone!

 

[Dubs420]

I like games where you can control yourself the level of violence you want in the game. Take for example GTA4, it's a violent game in and of itself, however you can choose how violent you are in the game as you control the main character, and your interactions with the rest of the characters in the game. I think violence is only really a problem if the individual struggles to differentiate violence between reality and whilst playing games. I think it is the parents responsibility to choose what games their children can and can't play. In general, I don't think any children should be exposed to anything above mild violence. They are still trying to work out right from wrong, and still developing ideas about life and the world around them.

 

[lindbergh]

Nowhere?
It's a game, i think that only because of that you should be able to create games with gore, no problems attached. It's not like it's going to hurt people, right? And if it is too violent for some, just don't play it, we aren't forcing it to anyone!

The problem is that, some kids either by curiosity or by accident would eventually come to play these violent games. That's why I think that a line should definitely be drawn. But, I most definitely don't know where they should draw the line.