Topic: How does mature content play into your gaming experience?

Almost no problems with MA content. No cursing or swearing (I am somebody who admittedly curses a lot) nor with Sex and nudity (only got to watch out so nobody catches me playing a game like that ;p) and not with violence. However, if there are still dead bodies and ripped out organs around bathed in an ocean of blood hours after the brawl, it just grosses me out. Like that one Prop Hunt map with that experiment basement where you can become a spine - I just can't play on that map. Mortal Kombat is okay, though.

I feel that they both have the potential to be damaging, however, in regard to violence, almost any act of violence displayed on-screen is simulated (apart from documentaries and newsreels) and therefore loses any shock value that it may have in most people (except the most extreme of violent acts, such as removing of eyeballs/limbs, skin being burnt off etc.).

Cruel, realistic violence (physical or not) makes me uncomfortable.

So I don't frequent games or stuff with that kind of content.

I can ignore most "sexy" content in games, but yeah, it can be really awkward too.

I don't know if I've been brainwashed by Nintendo games, but I really don't like killing people in video games. I think it's the reason I didn't like Assassin's Creed, and why I'm struggling with MGS5- all I want to do is make them go to sleep and fly them off with a big balloon. MGS5 is a good looking, good handling, fantastic story driven game, but the killing aspect makes me less interested in it. I'll kill the baddies if I have too, but I find it to be glamourising murder. Swearing doesn't bother me one bit in gaming, and although sexual scenes don't really either, I do find it a little sad to be re-enacting sexual acts in a video game. There's just something really seedy in the whole 'push X to squeeze bottom' thing.

It is perfectly fine as long as it fits the gameplay and narrative.

The Last of Us is probably the best example of this yet.

I actually find those sexualised teenage anime games really embarrassing to watch, let alone play. I just don't see the appeal in them at all, other than it being perceived as 'quite normal' for their Japanese audience. They come across as pervy to me too.

The whole Quiet 'plot' in Metal Gear Solid V soured the game a little bit for me, especially the utterly ridiculous reason for why she has very little clothing on. It's just a pervy guy combining his pervy thoughts to be put into the game with a daft 'good reason' for doing so.

I'm mature myself so I can take it, but I don't like sex/kissing scenes in videogames. They don't fit and look terrible because polygons usually stick through eachothers bodies and it doesn't look natural at all.

Yes...becoming numb to something such as extreme violence means your psyche is being damaged. Glad we agree.

The sex scenes in Indigo Prophecy make for some great unintentional comedy or HR Giger horror though, depending on how you look at it.

@Klimbatize I hope you don't take it as an insult to religion, but the philosophy of many monotheistic religions is strongly focused on words and less on actions. That's why the religious head figures speak to the people instead of acting with them.

@MrGawain Granted, MGS5 can (technically) still be done without killing any of the soldiers.

I don't really care

I think we should drop the religious discussion.

@Morpheel: Agreed. Deleted my post.

@Klimbatize:
It has more to do with what a culture as a whole has deemed acceptable. In the west, violence has played a bigger role in our media and our stories than sexuality. T.V. shows were violent long before sex became a common occurrence. However, swearing has long been a huge no on T.V. until fairly recently (and even now, it is used sparingly). So we have become used to seeing violence, but for a lot of families (regardless of faith) sexuality is a little more offensive, and swearing in excess is very very off-putting. Especially so for the U.S.. Now if you travel to some places in Europe you would find the same is true only swap sexuality with violence. Sexuality is ok because it's natural, but violence (in the level of U.S. media) is pretty tasteless.

Meanwhile in Japan, fan service is like, no big deal. Ecchi and Hentai can be bought right next to regular comics or magazines and no one bats an eye. Games can come out that are practically nothing but fan service and while not all will like it, most won't care.

btw, I dislike Batman Arkham City because I find it incredibly violent with lots of swearing but the swearing affected me more. what finally made me turn off the game and never look back was the Catwoman stories. Having the thugs call me b**** over and over again left me with the feeling that this was just an extremely hateful game. So I left.

For me, its violence and sexual appeal, but mostly violence. They're never deal-breakers, but they can make the experience less enjoyable. I don't really appreciate when video games make me feel like a horrible person when I deal excessive violence and killing sprees. I didn't so much when I was a kid, but now as an adult, I understand death a whole lot more. I tend to respect a game less when it uses sexual appeal for more sales. Horror is definitely not my thing: I'm not too easily scared by things on a TV screen, and when I am, I don't really enjoy it. If something is really gross and off-putting, that just makes me uncomfortable.

Some of these things are okay if they add to a dramatic narrative, or that there is another good reason why its there. But I go play video games to have plain and silly fun; heavy themes are usually unwelcome unless I find that I'm already invested in the game. Plus, if its a game that I don't have to hide when kids are around, that's a bonus.

@Utena-mobile: Yes, I, and anyone who has looked into the issue even at a basic level, know all that. Just because that's the way it is, doesn't mean it makes sense. It's silly that words offend people more than violent images. Especially when you look at the research behind how exposure to both affect the psyche of human beings. Exposure to violence is far more detrimental than exposure to profanity. I'm not stating opinion here.

And yet you care enough to write 'I don't really care' in a thread you supposedly don't care about?

Awesome!

I appreciate everyone's mature (pun...intended?) and respectful handling of the topic. Sometimes even mentioning the personal nuances and preferences when it comes to mature content in gaming can bring a flurry of insults and attacks, especially on the internet. So, thank you.

I think everyone has made good points and I think a lot of it is just a matter of personal opinion. But a comment or two on violence, again using The Last of US as an example. There is a great deal of violence in that game. With one or two exceptions I think the violence fits into the game: the world has gone to crap and you need to protect yourself and your sidekick (who is VERY important to society...of course...there is irony in this statement for those who have played and finished the game). There are a few scenes of extreme brutality (Ellie and David), but even then I understand the reaction even if I don't personally relate. To a certain extent, I think it is good to feel a bit (or a lot) squeamish when video games put you on a path like that.

And I think that is the difference to me between TLOU and, say, Call of Duty (or most other M rated titles). TLOU actually makes you care and intentionally (I think) makes you squirm. Many other violent video games just seem to say, "point and shoot." Maybe that makes sense and maybe it doesn't.

Violence doesn't bother me unless it's WAY overboard and unnecessarily gorey, like, say, Mortal Kombat.

Explicit language doesn't bother me at all. It's just words. No big deal for me.

Sex and nudity, however, are huge turnoffs for me. Every time I see stuff like that in movies or games I think "C'mon, again? Is this really necessary?" I just don't like seeing other people's naked bodies.

I generally try to avoid games rated above T because I have smaller children in the house, but even then there are challenges. The biggest of recent times was Batman: Arkham City. I don't mind language with purpose, but it was just throwing around a specific word trying to sound edgy and instead it mostly was just a creepy commentary on those that made the game. Christopher Nolan made a very dark, violent and scary Batman trilogy without needing to call every female in sight a specific name.

I think there are times that a story requires something shocking, but usually the best storytellers leave it up to your own imagination to fill in the blanks of the event. The poor ones (like the authors of Arkham City) are the ones that display language, sex, and violence voyeuristically. For every Grand Theft Auto that pushes the boundaries for the purpose of social commentary or satire, there are ten others that do it just because "Sex sells". I think there is a place for the first, not so much for the second. The issue is that it is really hard to do the first one correctly.