Opinion: Why E3's constant stream of identikit brutality saw me embarrassed by this industry for the first time

And the generic in-game violence isn't even the REAL problem

Words: David Houghton on June 8, 2012

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Frexerik - June 8, 2012 7:06 a.m.

Awesome article dave!! sort of reminds me of a better written and thought out article like Tom Mc Shea wrote on gamespot..
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fullmetallegend - June 8, 2012 7:06 a.m.

The Last Of Us demo excited me for that simple reason that the violence actually made me feel uncomfortable. It seemed like an actual survival game, not just some "kill the 100 zombies running at you" type of apocalypse. Watchdogs NPC reactions also unnerved me a bit, as you pulled a man trying to wake up his dead wife from the car crash you caused. These two games, as well as Beyond, are going to make me cringe when causing violence. I've been disturbed by 90% of other people's extreme joy and "fist-bumping" at this kind of stuff for years, though. I think I've just desensitized myself of their desensitization.
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mercury228 - June 8, 2012 7:07 a.m.

It sounds to me that it was not really the games that were the problem, but other people. I think E3 was disappointing overall. It seems like the games industry is forgetting what should be the focus, great games. While it is sad about other professionals acting inappropriate, that is hardly a games fault. Many things were disappointing this year, but their is always next year.
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PopeBenedictXVI - June 8, 2012 7:11 a.m.

Crowd behaviour is often ugly. Recaptcha - Carthage? As in the battle of Carthage? Well, massacre of Carthage is more like it. Weird.
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Lurkero - June 8, 2012 7:11 a.m.

When Ellie made the exclamation about burning a man with a molotov cocktail I was surprised and wondered whether Naughty Dog would continue this type of dialog for the entire game. I was ashamed of the cheers during the "The Last of Us" demonstration. People cheering at the ballistic decapitation of a man begging for mercy at the end of the demo are exactly the type of people that others get concerned about when it comes to videogame violence. Yes, the man just tried to kill your character, but I still wouldn't CELEBRATE after killing him. It is difficult to tell whether Naughty Dog wanted that type of reaction, but I believe that it was still not the best reaction to present to the public. I listen to podcasts where members of the videogame press like to talk about how they are better than that, but I bet some of those same people cheered during that moment (and no I do not consider them journalists).
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Satchurated - June 8, 2012 7:28 a.m.

I agree with all of your points. It stinks, but with today's main demographic of gamers looking for games that are violent, game developers are just going to show violence. A shame though that those esteemed people reacted that way too. Think about this: two of the biggest game developers, Insomniac and Naughty Dog both started out with cartoony video games, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot, but eventually the two of them reached mainstream violent videogames with The Last of Us, Uncharted and Resistance, Overstrike. It's funny to see how game developers are just gonna end up producing a shooter in the end. Not that the games are bad, but the fact that it seems to end up that way.
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db1331 - June 8, 2012 7:31 a.m.

Ahh ok, I couldn't see the arrow due to low video quality. That's still pretty ridiculous though. Why is the cover mechanic so popular? Because devs are targeting casual gamers. A cover mechanic with a regenerating health bar is the same as making the player invincible. You got shot? No biggie. Just crouch behind this wall for 5 seconds and try again. Even the actual gameplay is mind-numbingly easy. All you have to do is aim above whatever cover the enemy is using, and he will stick his head up in the same spot over and over, like he wants to get shot. It's like playing whack-a-mole. Mass Effect 3's combat just about put me to sleep. If I ever play through that game again, you can bet I will select the "I don't care about the combat, just give me the story" option at the start.
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Cyberhero18 - June 8, 2012 7:32 a.m.

Should've saved this article for 'High Horse'. It really confuses me how GR have a crack at Fox news for overreacting to contextual violence/sexual content but clearly fail to identify contextual human behaviour. It's a huge crowd of people, they'll cheer at almost anything within the confines of a big exciting event, it doesn't have to mean that they, or indeed the gaming community as a whole, are a bunch of amoral sociopaths. It's just so patronising. And why are you talking about this as if it's something recent? It's been like this for as long as i can remember so i dunno why you didn't bring it up then if you're so bloody worried about us all. "Maybe" you're overreacting?! HA!
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gilgamesh310 - June 8, 2012 7:43 a.m.

I don't like how the gameplay and story appear to exist mostly separately in Tomb Raider. The cutscenes present her as being a weakling that can't accomplish anything, yet during the gameplay she is gunning down people like rambo. I am recently playing through the first Far Cry, as it was going very cheap on steam, and that game is a real challenge. There is no regenerating health. You need to constantly know where to be and avoid getting shot at all as best you can. You're extremely vulnerable. It's so different to what most shooters are like today. It's really quite pathetic what they've become like. Far Cry 3 even seems to have regen health as well as indicators telling you where people are shooting at you from and stuff like that. And yes cover shooting is a lot like whack a mole. Vanquish is different though. That has a lot more going on and is easilyt he best TPS around lately.
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TheHowetzer - June 8, 2012 7:44 a.m.

If this is what I think it is (a HUGE slam) then THATS hillarious man! LOL! Oh mygawd did I just fist bump and laugh there??? I must be a representation of the overall downfall of any moral values of mankind.....or maybe I just thought it was funny.
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A9entOfChaos - June 8, 2012 7:46 a.m.

Yea Dave, because i want to turn on video games and pick flowers and bake cakes.
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PBC13 - June 8, 2012 7:49 a.m.

Sure it is uncomfortable when people cheer grizzly violence but it's also just human nature. People are excited and enthralled by what they are seeing. You can't woop and holler about a subtle character moment but you can for a brutal show of force. To me it is as simple as that. The video games industry is largely built on visceral experiences. That is nothing to be ashamed of. The film and TV industry is similarly proficient at offering those kind of moments it is just games offer a more exhilarating way to enjoy them.
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TheHowetzer - June 8, 2012 7:49 a.m.

GREAT post man! You NAILED it. I know its just a human need to feel like you belong, but it's not something I feel a whole lot usually, in this case though I am glad I am NOT the only one who is thinking this post. Bravo.
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Hobogonigal - June 8, 2012 7:57 a.m.

Hmmm, I am playing ME3 at the moment and I think that the challenge are actually quite good with flanking techniques, shielded enemies, ranged enemies, charging enemies etc. Maybe this is because I am playing it on the hardest difficulty? But I have to agree with your point that cover mechanics and regenerating health appeal to casual gamers, to be honest I'm surprised CoD doesn't have some form of cover mechanics yet but then again it is a twitch-reaction shooter.
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ObliqueZombie - June 8, 2012 8:01 a.m.

I love you, Dave, I do, and I was about to write a whole shitton of why I thought blah blah was blah, but I will say this: You thought way too much into it.
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bass88 - June 8, 2012 8:07 a.m.

I'll admit that the developers wanted people to talk about the violence, but as to how it reflects the social order of the game's world. Not talking about how cool it was. This is what Mr. Houghton was referring to. I'm not going to piss and moan about violence in Tomb Raider either. I don't even mind people cheering to it either. It's an action adventure game. Yes, the gore is gratutious but who really cares? Complaining about violence in an action game is like whinging about Arnie chopping a guy's arm off in Commando. But people should understand the difference between "fun" violence and "serious" violence. Clap all you want to God Of War and Saints Row all you want (it is visceral fun) but games like The Last Of Us and Kane & Lynch don't exactly scream violence for shits and giggles.
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Hobogonigal - June 8, 2012 8:11 a.m.

I think that the point about the article is that while we are accustomed to violence these days through movies, videogames and even the daily news; we should not celebrate and take pleasure from desperate and dehumanised violence. Hey, I'm was thrilled to see Leon's head get sawn of by a chainsaw in Resi Evil 4 but I did not get any enjoyment or happiness from this experience. tbh it scared the crap out of me at first which is the appropriate response for a horror game. The problem is that whilst killing up-close and personal has been in videogames for ages; did you count how many games this feature is in now? Splinter Cell-breaking necks. Last of Us- turning a head into goop using a table. Watch Dogs- cracking a security guard's head with a baton. Even Tomb Raider- ripping a guy's throat open with an arrowhead. Whilst these acts of violence are to show us the desperation that events can place humans under, are we supposed to laugh and cheer when we see this sort of violence? This probably isn't the best example because my knowledge of films is rather sub-par, but when watching a Saw film I don't think the appropriate and intended response is to be happy, supportive and celebrative of the brutal acts that people must go through in these films. The same logic applies to videogames and the situations that they display. Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to add my thoughts to yours so that you could see my point of view.
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db1331 - June 8, 2012 8:16 a.m.

It's not the lack of challenge that was the problem. It was just boring. It seemed like there were only 8 enemy types in the whole game, and most of them behaved largely the same way. First time through the game though, huh? A word of advice: Look up Marauder Shields on Youtube, and once you reach him, save your game and don't go any further until Bioware releases that update.
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ThatOneHobo - June 8, 2012 8:16 a.m.

Honestly, I'm less worried about the crowds reaction to the violence and more worried that they are reacting to the BORING violence. It seems like every game that developers intend to make for the "HARDC0R3ZZ" audience is just a brown first or third person shooter with little to no inspiration whatsoever. That's why I think many people might have been disappointed with the new splinter cell, because it seemed less focused around sneaking in the shadows waiting for silent assassinations, and more for going into battle guns blazing. That's why the only real game I found interesting that was intended for a more mature audience was Watch Dogs, because at least it did SOMETHING different. But even then, the Bullettime slow mo gunplay bored me. And the fact that gamers are eating this up, all these bland, brown, uninspired shooters, THAT is what scares me.
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TheHowetzer - June 8, 2012 8:19 a.m.

@bass88 I completely agree about the point of Last of Us, I am sorry if I was ever coming across any different than that. I appreciate the ugliness of it, it IS ugly and THATS what they wanted us to see man. The game is trying to let everyone know it ain't a very nice situation to be in and we should contrast our own lives with the lives of these characters. Im just saying that people need to show these things off to get a very excited response from people ESPEACIALLY at a industry show, so people will talk about it and be excited (notice im not saying happy about it) but excited and when people are in crowds and are excited, thats what they do, they cheer and hoop and hollar. Also I bet ALOT of the people even the ones cheering etc when they went back to thier rooms or whatever later in the day and were going to TALK to someone about what they saw during Last of US they were not so "cheery" about it, but guess what man? They remembered it didn't they? David Houghton obviously did. You have simply fallen prey to marketing my friend.
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