Topic: Why overly gruesome, sexual, or profane aspects of games aren't needed.

Todays gaming world is a lot more over the top then it used to be. We have people getting ripped apart, ladies flaunting their assets, and the f bomb being dropped 3 times in 5 minutes of play. I know some of this is a over exaggeration, but some of it is true. M rated games are all the rage, and the more over the top, the better. Think about games like Zelda, Pokémon, Metroid, and Mario. They are fantastic games that don't have any of the things above (unless you count Twilight Princess). These games didn't need any of these things, and you know why? It's because they were high quality, great games made for everyone. They didn't need to have cussing or gore to be good. Now ask yourself this question: What do these things add to a game? The answer to your question is nothing. They don't enhance the gameplay, graphics or story. They are simply viewed as being "mature." What is mature about any of that? There isn't anything mature about that. These things add nothing to a game, and as you can see, plenty of games are fantastic without these aspects. So next time a game is rated "M for Mature", ask yourself this. What is mature about that? And if you think I'm just an old timer yapping about the golden ages of gaming, then I need to tell you that I'm not. In fact, I wasn't even alive when the NES and SNES were around. Peace out and keep on gaming.

I agree with you, but there are exceptions.

While a lot of this stuff isn't needed for games, games like Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto made their names with these tactics. I don't think every game needs these, of course, but games that are built around the over-the-top action/violence/gore/sex appeal are alright in my books.

Just to clarify, GTA should stay GTA. However, suddenly putting jiggle-physics in Zelda is a no-no as well as making a game with violence that has no point.

I agree, a LOT of the things in games these days are very unnecessary.

I agree. Why is it that these things are viewed as being necessary nowadays?

Exactly.

A game like The Last of Us or Zero Escape would not work at all without swearing or violence. There are some situations that, if you want to explore them as a developer, you won't be able to do without having those elements.

And hey, all the terrible stuff in GTA makes it so you feel totally fine for going on killing sprees. When everyone around you is a terrible person, you don't feel bad for doing anything. You're just as bad as everyone else. I don't know if it'd be the same if those bad elements weren't there.

From what I can tell, games that have those elements solely to be successful (i.e. not because the developers made the games they wanted to make) don't do that well. Last time I checked, Fuse kind of bombed. Meanwhile, games like GTA and Mortal Kombat succeed, and I don't think it's because of their violent/promiscuous elements; it's because they have heart.

Granted, their hearts are as black as can be, but they're still there. I say that developers should just make the games they want to make. If violence, swearing, and sex happen to be there, then so be it. When someone or a group of people make something that they care about, you can usually tell. Every high quality game I have played had effort exuding off of them that you could clearly see.

M for Mature does not mean the game is in any way mature, it means only a mature person should play it.

Regardless, no, such things are not necessary for a game to be enjoyable. A lot of things aren't necessary. But it's nice to have some variety, something different.

But does "something different" mean going over the deep end?

12.
Year.
Olds.

that's the whole explanation.

I'm not saying a mature game like 'The Last of Us" doesn't have quality (It's story is practically a work of art), but some games have profanity and nothing else. And I don't mind cussing as much as the other 2 bad aspects, considering curses are simply words.

Considering 70% of people who play M games aren't even 17, that is correct.

It depends on how something is used. I don't condone the use of such things just for the sake of it, but if it has a reasonable purpose behind it, then I'm all for it. Take 1984 (the novel) for instance. It could still get it's point across without sex and nudity, but it's use is quite important to the story. Orwell is kind enough to keep it short, not going into any great degree of detail, but it's there. Heck, even cursing can be used well, storywise. A well dropped (male) B-word can actually convey quite a bit more than other words. I hav en't played the games, but I hear the Zero Escape games attained their M ratings for good reasons. Sometimes a developer ups the rating because the game will be too complicated, or difficult, or have more meaning than a child could understand. You may not be someone who sees games as art, but they can be. In those cases, games can have a need for those kinds of things. As I see it, people should make the games they want to make. If it's going to have any mature content, they should be able to add it without scrutiny, as long as it has purpose. I'd love to see someone make an FPS about the actual horrors of war. It would need to be Rated M, not because the developers were trying to, but because it needed to in order to accurately portray the battlefield.

Sadly it's just the times we live in honesty. You would be surprised how many kids nowadays drop a f bomb and think nothing of it. Or other words like the other words for a donkey, poop a female dog etc. Some kids actually are surprised when you punish them for using those words or even when you tell them that its not a nice word. Heck I see on internet forums all the time just to name one place. But I also hear it from kids when I go to a store and their parents do nothing not even scold them they just accept it like its normal language.

Being necessary doesn't matter. Making a video game in the first place isn't even "necessary", so what does it matter what gets put into it? I've seen enough stuff by now that I'm not phased by any of this stuff in any kind of fiction, games included.

Well, "overly gruesome, sexual, profane aspects" is kind of subjective. What may be too gruesome, sexual, and/or profane to one person, may be just right for somebody else.

I dunno, is that what we're talking about here? I'm kinda lost right now...

1.I view games as art. But practically porn and garbage aren't art.
2. 1984 Is a example of these things used in a classy, respectful manner.

Off-topic: I loved 1984 to pieces, my gosh. Read the whole book in one sitting.

I can't find an old article of showing crime rate decrease for every violent mature video game including Grand Theft Auto series releases. I found this instead.

I know there is an article exists somewhere by the CNN or other news sites.

Edit: If one of you find it then awesome. And just ignored the statement at the bottom since the relationship is not exactly related and the best fit of line is almost impossible for this graph.

What matters is that it reflects on our culture, it makes these bad things seem okay, and it spawns clones that take the bad things up a notch.

Based on my brothers synopsis, it sounds spectacular.