Morally dubious messages in seemingly innocent video games

God of war is the most stupid game when it comes to morality. In many scenes there is no need of excessive violence the game design and the game play is superb(+1 for the engineering team ) but the story and the concept is just nonsense ( management is retarded...)

it's perfectly fine to use toddlers as a basis for a super soldier program, as long as it's to stop decent in a bloated governmental-HALO

They do deal with that matter as morally wrong, what are you ttaking about? The woman who did it is arrested, she makes fun of them because that's how they won the war, there is a lot of confrontation in halo 4 on the sibject, that's the whole point of 4, is the biggest step in dealing with Master's origin and humanity. And the woman who created the spartan program becomes the villain at the end.

the batman one made me laugh my A off

Trought i have to point in Batman: AA most of the minions are not insane, theya re blackgate prisoners who where moved there after a fire...

Persona 3 & 4; There are no adverse effects to dating every girl you know as long as you manage you calendar correctly.

Wait, isn't that true?

You really think that dating half the girls in your school, many of them friends with one another, won't result in them finding out and hating your guts?

If only sarcasm was more easily conveyed via the internets... Or even italics around the 'true.'

Ah yes, I often face the same problem myself.

How about the Megami Tensei series as a whole... It's a good Idea to make Deals with the Devil.

Dishonored is wrong because you can go through the entire game without killing anyone if you choose. It's just more fun to kill.

Good work Hooters. Where the podcast?

I wonder how many times GR will use the Nathan Drake joke... also, I'm pretty sure the God of War bit is pretty on the surface. Not a lot of subtext there. In all seriousness, this was pretty funny.

total war series. history and geography can be educational AND cool! oh, by the way you're basically an armchair hitler.

Regarding the Uncharted series, where did the “mass-murdering” part come from? Isn't Nathan simply trying to survive? After all, those he shoots [are] murderous gangsters who started shooting at him with the full intention of killing him [and] his friends; you want him to not fight for his life? So, no, Nathan is not a mass-murderer, but yes, he [is] a grave-robber, an immoral thief. So why not just say that? Why add 'mass-murdering' to the mix? Do you see what I mean? I'm [not] trying to defend the series or Nathan; I actually agree that the message in the game is morally questionable, and that Nathan is a thief made to look really cool, handsome, lovely, funny, etc., but at the same time, I find the addition of “mass-murdering” a bit confusing, and actually makes the mind refuse the claim, and thus refuse the whole sentence. And maybe covert or dodgy agendas like Transhumanism are not considered “morally dubious” by everyone, but they are certainly very creepy and ominous to some people, and they certainly lead to morally dubious results with legalization after public acceptance or public desensitization toward them. So I'd personally add the Mass Effect series to that mix with a line like, “It is perfectly normal and logical to believe that the created can become more powerful than the creator and even rebel effectively against the creator (read: it is ok & logical to be a theophobic or God-hating atheist); and it is perfectly fine to not believe in the soul yet claim that artificial intelligence has a soul, actually...it has life, actually...it [is] life; and finally, it is the most beautiful thing ever to electromagnetically butcher human bodies and genetically mess with humans to turn them into half-machines, actually...that's just the inevitable ultimatum of evolution. As long as we stick the 'evolution', 'posthuman', and 'enhancement' labels on it, it is fine.” And, on the other hand, in defense of the article (if it is actually a serious one!), for the people who are asking, “Who said Saints Row / <insert any other game here> is an innocent game??”, of course 99% of the games out there are seemingly innocent, just as the author said, because they all hide behind a mask of humor, or fiction, or entertainment, and so on. I mean, come on, how many times have you heard the line, “Chill...it's just a game” from every airheaded gamer out there! Every game hides behind that mask of “It's just a game”, but it is never...“just” a game, or just a song, or just a movie, or whatever; it always shapes you somehow, teaches you something, inspires you of something. It is always a piece of culture, and it contributes to your own individual culture. And the more you play it (like Mass Effect serious or Call of Duty series), the more it contributes to your individual culture. Don't take my word for it; read up on the subconscious. Your subconscious is very, very bad at telling reality from fiction.

some serious generalizations going on in that last paragraph...

Specify and clarify, or save your breath. That goes for all criticism and everyone really.

"99% of games are seemingly innocent"- made up statistic. "they all hide behind a mask." all of them? so much hyperbole. "every airheaded gamer" -smh...so pretentious. "but it is never...“just” a game, or just a song, or just a movie, or whatever; it always shapes you somehow, teaches you something, inspires you of something. It is always a piece of culture, and it contributes to your own individual culture." as if you have any idea whatsoever what you're talking about. again with the hyperbole. "your subconscious is very, very bad at telling reality from fiction." again, you have no idea what you're talking about. and saying that you read it somewhere doesn't mean anything. not a single thing. you know nothing of my subconscious, let alone the other millions of people in the world. no amount of education that you think you have is going to change that. "save your breath." again, pretentious as hell.

*claps* Simply beautiful.