When Does Gore Get In the Way of Gameplay? 141
Wired is running a story inspired by the level of gore in the recent Wolverine game that wonders: how much is too much? It mentions a study we discussed in February which indicated that violence tended to interest gamers less than other characteristics.
"... the longer you play a 'twitch' action game, the less you notice the cultural content — the gushing blood, the shrieks of agony. You're too busy focusing on the gameplay. I noticed this with Wolverine. For the first hour, I found the deranged bloodshed both shocking and exciting; it made me feel like I 'was' Logan, the grunting, killing-machine character from Marvel Comics' X-Men universe. But as I became more expert, the cultural shell of the game boiled away. In a sort of staring-into-the-cascading-numbers-of-the-Matrix way, I found myself looking past the visible aspects of the game and savoring the underlying, invisible mechanics of play. ... The game became pure physics and algorithms: Vectors, speed and collision detection. The gore had become mostly irrelevant."
can't you turn Gore off? (Score:5, Funny)
I hated an inconvenient truth. all i want him to do is shut up.
but really in most violent video games can't you turn the blood and gore off?
When he comes in bitching and moaning... (Score:1, Funny)
...about all the energy your souped-up overclocked PC is using.
For God's sake (Score:2, Funny)
I thought Tipper got over this during the PMRC fiasco.
Oh, That's Easy! (Score:5, Funny)
When he shows up at my house and makes me turn off my Xbox because it's carbon footprint is too large.
You can't blame Al Gore! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:When you stop noticing it, it's too much. (Score:3, Funny)
If you really want to shock somebody, put a scotch bonnet in their chocolate cake.
Um, we're talking about food, right? Right?
Re:can't you turn Gore off? (Score:2, Funny)
Turning off the blood isn't enough. There should also be an option to replace all guns with walkie-talkies.