Kevin's Watch

Is there a level of violence in video games beyond which you are not prepared to go? I ask this, coming fresh from playing the consul game Resident Evil; Biohazard which, a short while only into the game (and very enjoyable too) , I have decided to put down. In my last session (probably my third - about three hours into the game) due to lack of ammo, in order to survive an attack by a (granted, possessed) old man, I was reduced to slashing him to death with a small knife, each cut of which was graphically portrayed until his semi-flayed and severely mutilated body slid to the floor. Shortly thereafter, I had to kill the same man (he could rise zombie like from the dead) with a chain saw, carving chunks of his body away with blood and gore aplenty flying in all directions until he once again succumbed; my words to him following this last despatch were "Now stay f****ng dead will you!"

Now this was a top notch game. It had just the right amount of.searching, puzzle solving and fighting to make it a highly entertaining mix, and were it simply not for the graphic depiction of the violence, rendered in every sanguineous detail, it would have been fine. But this was simply too much for me. I can't believe that shutting yourself away in a dark room for hours (and for the gaming experience to be appreciated at it's best you have to immerse yourself in the game - to live it) hacking people to death with knives, can be a healthy thing to do. There needs, in my opinion, to be a sufficient 'wall of non-realism' maintained, for the process to not become desensitizing or even downright damaging. I know Tarrantino said that "violence is either a mountain you can climb, or one you can't" but gaming is different to cinema: it demands immersion - emotional detachment is not an option - so for me, in this case, I find the mountain to be unscalable.

See what happens when you let that guy 80 years ago say that
word "damm" in the movies..
It lead to that violent video games...
Just took one curse word that the censers allowed and Wham, the hold
shebang is done for...
He could have said... "Frankly my dear.. I don't care...

but nooo...

Well youll have me for company at the mountain base Pete. I dont know the game, not a gamer but there must be a wide variety of games available that arent as graphic,

Resident Evil is s graphic zombie slashing movie ... I like the movies because the non real wall seems pretty clear... with zombies.

Some of my kids do the gaming thing .. Halo, Assassins Creed and what have you .. and definitely killing scenes .. but I dont see any reflection of violent behaviour evident in their real day to day lives. Quintessential pacifists. Lovers not fighters. The boys could defend themselves adequately if they had to but are not aggressors themselves and none of them are the kinds of humans that go out spoiling for a rumble.

So theres that.

But not my cup of tea and tbh I now lack the hand eye coordination to operate those controllers. Put me on a keyboard . Im ok .. give me a controller and Im utterly hopeless.

Id far rather go hiking, swimming or any other outdoor pursuit than sit in a dark room indoors playing graphically violent games.