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What makes a game ‘adult’?
Is it a massive amount of blood and gore? Is it the ability to shoot or run down everything in sight? Whilst your perception of ‘adult’ games may fit that profile, I don’t think that it is. Whilst the content may certainly be adult in that it is not suitable for children, I think that even a child can point a control stick in a certain direction and press a button to shoot someone. You think you have to be an adult, or have a certain intellect and intelligence to do that? Think again.
I myself can’t give you an exact definition of what makes a game ‘adult’. I think it may have something to do with ‘feel’ (stop giggling at the back), and what you perceive to be ‘adult’. One thing I am pretty sure of though is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of blood, guts, guns, puke, crap, swearing or naked flesh involved. You know what I think are two games are prime examples of ‘adult’ games?
Mario and Zelda.
You’re probably laughing at me now, thinking ‘but they’re kiddies games’ but hear me out. If you examine the demographics of Mario sales against a game like Soldier of Fortune, you’ll probably find that 18 rated games sell best amongst youngsters (who can show off to their mates about their latest game where you can shoot individual limbs off etc.) whereas games like Mario sell in both. When your’re an adult, you want a little more than just mindless killing. I think that Nintendo more than anyone, and especially though their two flagship titles, understand how to treat a proper gamer They seem to be the only ones who understand what makes a game great, treating players with a healthy respect, and rewarding intelligent, thoughtful play with intelligent (and often ingenious) set pieces. You are required to think – both literally and laterally – and use a large portion of your brain to work out the taxing problems that always seem achievable despite their difficulty.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not criticising FPS of games like GTA3, because they have their own merits and their own particular uses, I just don’t see them as adult games. In the right context, a splash of claret and the chance to fire off a few rounds is fine, but increasingly developers are hiding behind mindless violence and controversial topics as a smokescreen for the fact that, behind the blood and the press outrage, the game isn’t actually that good, its just included in a pitiful attempt to boost sales. Games like Carmageddon have always been unmitigated rubbish, but have always sold stacks of copies off of being controversial. It’s a shame really – games like Ico will probably be undeservedly outsold by trash like that Hooligan game.
With the next generation of games upon us there is a real opportunity to move gameplay forward, but it seems that few developers are content to do that. With skill, dark content can be dealt with effectively, as shown by Metal Gear Solid 2 and Perfect Dark. But to me ‘adult’ games are not ones with blood and guts but contain proper puzzle and gameplay more befitting of an adult.
Thanks for reading
Russell
Is it a massive amount of blood and gore? Is it the ability to shoot or run down everything in sight? Whilst your perception of ‘adult’ games may fit that profile, I don’t think that it is. Whilst the content may certainly be adult in that it is not suitable for children, I think that even a child can point a control stick in a certain direction and press a button to shoot someone. You think you have to be an adult, or have a certain intellect and intelligence to do that? Think again.
I myself can’t give you an exact definition of what makes a game ‘adult’. I think it may have something to do with ‘feel’ (stop giggling at the back), and what you perceive to be ‘adult’. One thing I am pretty sure of though is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of blood, guts, guns, puke, crap, swearing or naked flesh involved. You know what I think are two games are prime examples of ‘adult’ games?
Mario and Zelda.
You’re probably laughing at me now, thinking ‘but they’re kiddies games’ but hear me out. If you examine the demographics of Mario sales against a game like Soldier of Fortune, you’ll probably find that 18 rated games sell best amongst youngsters (who can show off to their mates about their latest game where you can shoot individual limbs off etc.) whereas games like Mario sell in both. When your’re an adult, you want a little more than just mindless killing. I think that Nintendo more than anyone, and especially though their two flagship titles, understand how to treat a proper gamer They seem to be the only ones who understand what makes a game great, treating players with a healthy respect, and rewarding intelligent, thoughtful play with intelligent (and often ingenious) set pieces. You are required to think – both literally and laterally – and use a large portion of your brain to work out the taxing problems that always seem achievable despite their difficulty.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not criticising FPS of games like GTA3, because they have their own merits and their own particular uses, I just don’t see them as adult games. In the right context, a splash of claret and the chance to fire off a few rounds is fine, but increasingly developers are hiding behind mindless violence and controversial topics as a smokescreen for the fact that, behind the blood and the press outrage, the game isn’t actually that good, its just included in a pitiful attempt to boost sales. Games like Carmageddon have always been unmitigated rubbish, but have always sold stacks of copies off of being controversial. It’s a shame really – games like Ico will probably be undeservedly outsold by trash like that Hooligan game.
With the next generation of games upon us there is a real opportunity to move gameplay forward, but it seems that few developers are content to do that. With skill, dark content can be dealt with effectively, as shown by Metal Gear Solid 2 and Perfect Dark. But to me ‘adult’ games are not ones with blood and guts but contain proper puzzle and gameplay more befitting of an adult.
Thanks for reading
Russell
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AbsoluT Neo wrote:
> Yeh but when some people are young they think 'its cool' to do things like they
> see in games, films etc. It's an influence rather than a mentality thing. I
> agree that they get their hands on things anyway, because its v.hard to stop
> something like that but that doesn't mean that laws should be lifted. Some
> young people don't like to see that kind of material, but might be forced upon
> them hence young family members getting their hands on it illegally.
Yeah ok it's an influence thing but i think the amount of influence most games have is minimal, i think that the majority of these things occcur due to a persons up bringing aswell and also with the points grapo made. But i'm willing to accept that u have ure own more than valid view and i have mine.
> Yeh but when some people are young they think 'its cool' to do things like they
> see in games, films etc. It's an influence rather than a mentality thing. I
> agree that they get their hands on things anyway, because its v.hard to stop
> something like that but that doesn't mean that laws should be lifted. Some
> young people don't like to see that kind of material, but might be forced upon
> them hence young family members getting their hands on it illegally.
Yeah ok it's an influence thing but i think the amount of influence most games have is minimal, i think that the majority of these things occcur due to a persons up bringing aswell and also with the points grapo made. But i'm willing to accept that u have ure own more than valid view and i have mine.
I'm sure that most families do not force their children to watch adult material, be it violance, or pornography. Yes it happens in some cases but that is a bit far fetched. I feel sorry for the game companies who get blammed for making a child hurt another child for something they saw in a game. They cannot do much more than put a certificate on the game. Then they go and get blammed. The game producers are genuinly producing games for the market they are then going to aim it at, its not their fault that its getting into the wrong hands. I think what Nintendo are doing with the Gamecube discs, ie. making them smaller, is a good idea. It may stop so many illegal copies of games getting into the wrong hands. But this wont stop people who give games to people and younger children who ask older children to buy games for them. Its a very difficult thing to stop.
All good comments though guys.
Yeh but when some people are young they think 'its cool' to do things like they see in games, films etc. It's an influence rather than a mentality thing. I agree that they get their hands on things anyway, because its v.hard to stop something like that but that doesn't mean that laws should be lifted. Some young people don't like to see that kind of material, but might be forced upon them hence young family members getting their hands on it illegally.
Very true treguard - you cant just blame it on the game or film because thats just naive. There are loads of other things in the world, including the news, that people get to see. The news is probably one of the most violent things ever - ie. wars etc. and people being shot on tv. All these things influence and warp a fragile mind. We cant blame it on the game or film solely.
yeah but kids hold of these things sum how wether by their parents or other means they're still likely to get these games
i bet most of the members on here are 10 or 11 years old (same age as the bulgar killers) but r still able to get copies of metal gear solid 2, DOOM watever, so it doesn't really matters
i think that if u r going to perform sick acts like they did u got to be mentally sick in the first place.
i bet most of the members on here are 10 or 11 years old (same age as the bulgar killers) but r still able to get copies of metal gear solid 2, DOOM watever, so it doesn't really matters
i think that if u r going to perform sick acts like they did u got to be mentally sick in the first place.
i dont know the ins and outs but i think the judges went against the claim - thank god for gamings sake
I wasn't aware of that particular one, but thanks for the input grapo.
AbsoluT Neo wrote:
> Yeh but if it was that easy there wouldnt be any point of having certificates on
> games or films for that matter, the adult line has to cross somewhere, I know
> this is out of context but take the James Bulgar case as an example, similar
> thing could happen in the gaming world too.
and it has - ie. that case in america where something was blamed on DOOM
> Yeh but if it was that easy there wouldnt be any point of having certificates on
> games or films for that matter, the adult line has to cross somewhere, I know
> this is out of context but take the James Bulgar case as an example, similar
> thing could happen in the gaming world too.
and it has - ie. that case in america where something was blamed on DOOM
Yeh but if it was that easy there wouldnt be any point of having certificates on games or films for that matter, the adult line has to cross somewhere, I know this is out of context but take the James Bulgar case as an example, similar thing could happen in the gaming world too.
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