games grow up, now?

it seems in the last few years games have grown up, well the content has goten more adult anyway.
games have always had violence, but what about sex, dark themes and language? the first such game i remember being so graphic was kingpin, at least the 1st major game anyways.

now in the last 4 years it seems games have increased this. this is confusing for one reason. Why now? why not 10 years ago?

now games are even going where movies will not. example GTA 3 and postal 2.

some of this i think is lashing back by game compaines about games being blamed for columbine and the string of shootings in the mid to late 90's. kinda of a "look what i can do" type deal. also games that are controversial sell. once agian look at GTA 3.
i thought it was an alright game, but nothing too great. the only thing that got it so popular was the content. other games tried to do this based on pure content. like BM XXX, and those 2 volley ball games.

another rerason is that game systems are now being aimed towards adults and older teens. one reason is that now young adult and teens have always been exposed to gaming. just like movies. when movies first apeared they didnt come out and start being offensive, other wise that would have killed the market. now games are doing the same. sex, the "f" word, dark themes and exsessive violence are now becoming parts of many games.

i good example is max payne 2, much more dark and bold compared to the first max payne. max payne 1 had it moments, first game i know of to feature a baby being murdered. hell not many movies do that.
max payne 2 is a great game, but if strong language bothers you then dont get it.

i dout doom 3 will have much of this, just good old classic violence.

I believe games have always been violent. Now however, games are depicted more realistically, and that's new. Because of new graphics, new possibilities arise. Sick fantasies that developers always wanted to portray in games can now finally be seen, because it simply wasn't possible back in the C64 days.

there where some, remeber custer's revenge?

like i said i think it is more of the fact that games are here to stay.

oh great my brother is listening to that DJ shit... better shut him up. i'll be back

Sephiroth said:

remeber custer's revenge?

Oh man, I remember that game. *Vomits*

I pretty much agree. I don't think it's as much an issue of "growing up" as it is developers being desperate for ways to sell games without putting too much work into them.

the only game I consider violent is aliens versus predator II and DooM on steroids (mod with Battlefeild graphics)

It's like any art today. In an increasing market, where so many titles are trying to stay afloat, it takes a gimmick to stay ahead. If that gimmick is "pissing people off" then that's what they'll do. Like actual artwork, you want to offend as many people as possible, to get the exposure.

Max Payne is a good example of how to blend profanity and violence into a game. I thought it was silly in Max Payne 1 when the Mafia is saying "freakin' whack the sucker". It sets a much more engrossing atmosphere to have a Mob Kingpin shout "It's Fuckin' Payne" like the sequel did.

Scuba Steve said:

Like actual artwork, you want to offend as many people as possible, to get the exposure.

Perfect example, "My Ding-A-Ling."

Well, it could also be that game developers are pissed over that ruling a year or two ago that video games aren't granted freedom of speech laws. Fucking bullshit.

I don't think games have progressed all that far from Kingpin in terms of adult content. GTA might offer something more fluid, but not more offensive. I haven't played enough of MP to comment on that though.

the_Danarchist said:

Well, it could also be that game developers are pissed over that ruling a year or two ago that video games aren't granted freedom of speech laws. Fucking bullshit.

Yes they are. Nobody told games they can't do anything in particular, it's just that ratings are enforced now. Which is something that should have been going on longer. Violent games are great, but like movies, should be restricted to mature audiences. Games take so much heat, but parents and businesses need to realize their role as well. As a parent, DON'T let your 13 year old son rent GTA3, as a store DON'T sell Max Payne 2 to him. There is no problem with violent games nor offensive games. People just need to quit finding scapegoats and address the real issues.

There have been adult games around long, long, long before Kingpin. If you can, try to get hold of some old adventure games, as they're perhaps the best examples.

Sierra's Police Quest, Gabriel Knight and Lara Bow series all had adult content, but it was adult in the "grown-up issues" sense, i.e. they dealt with serious subjects such as murder, rape and drug abuse, rather than just being crammed full of sex & violence.

If you want older examples of adult in the "grown-up child" sense that modern games seem to go for, the obvious example is the Leisure Suit Larry series, which basically seems to be an American version of the Benny Hill Show or the Carry On films in game form.

Other adventures like Space Quest and Monkey Island were more-or-less suitable for children to play, but had the occassional joke or reference that only adults would understand (kind of like a good episode of the Simpsons).

Then there's the infamous F**K Quest, which was created by a 3rd party but uses the same ancient engine as the really early Sierra games (Police Quest 1, King's Quest 1, etc). In that, your goal was first to persuade a woman to have sex with you, and then actually control your character as you have sex with her, changing speed, position, etc... all with glorious blocky EGA graphics and PC speaker sound effects.

Of course we can go even further back in time; I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on the subject could come up with a very long list of adult-themed text adventures, in both the serious and childish & perverted senses :)

Troi.zip?

yeah sex games have been around as long as computers, in fact sex anything has been around as long there was a medium to distribute it.

For example in the 20s and 30s after sound film was invented ("talkies") they started using Nickelodeons to show 'videos' of women stripping. Nickelodeons are actually way older than that (invented in the 1890s) and it would not surprise me at all if they were used for this purpose before the 20s.

Peep shows have also been around forever and prostitution is, without exaggeration, the world's oldest profession.

The simple fact is that people like sex, and thus sex sells. There's nothing at all wrong with it (unless you become obsessed, which is always bad), and in fact it's really quite natural.

Awesome thread.

Adult content can be used in extremely childish ways. I find it to be utilised in this manner in most of the games I have played.

like i siad i think the main reason games grew up now is the fact they are here to stay. had they decided to push such social limits early in their creation, it could have alienated people and killed the whole idea of video games.
sex is always the exception, but it is usally reserved in the back.

another reason is that games are now being targeted more for adults. in a class in high school a woman who worked for a school that had classes for game programing stated that most gamers are now over the age of 18.

most online services require you to be at least 18 to use them (or at least have parents credit card). X-box live was that way

If anyone wants to see an example of a game with excessive violence, foul language, and drugs (and a little sex) but handled in a sensible and mature manner, you need look no further than Fallout 1 or 2 (especialy 2). Nothing too explicit (except maybe the gore), and it all fits well into the setting.

According to a scientific survey carried out a few months ago, the average age of PC gamers is now 29. As if that wasn't startling enough, apparently a higher percentage of gamers are women over 18 than boys under 18: 26% for the former, 21% for the latter.

Personally I think the Sims and it's unstoppable expansion machine are responsible for the vast majority of that 26% :)

ToXiCFLUFF said:

Adult content can be used in extremely childish ways. I find it to be utilised in this manner in most of the games I have played.

The new Virgin mobile commercials.