Why do these views exist? Why do people get upset at having a tiny amount of graphic content in games? The answer seems to fall on the fact that video games have just stepped into the national spotlight, and movies have been in the same spotlight for years. Movies have had the same issues as games are having now, they have just moved past that stage. Also think of when Rock & Roll first debuted with artists like Elvis, the music and dancing was considered outrageous.  It seems the game industry might be able to get past the point where people get offended by these things in games just like movies and music have. Another big issue that may be adding to the negativity is the fact that almost anyone can walk into a store and buy an M-rated game. It may be necessary to enforce game ratings much more in order to allow more graphic content in them.

So how do you make graphic content in a way that it is tasteful and helps to further the plot or keep you in the story? There are quite a few games with brief nudity or graphic violence here and there that do not do it well, and this is not helping the overall push to make games with more graphic content more acceptable. I think Mass Effect did the sexual scene well. It required you to interact and learn characters, and begin a full relationship with the character as opposed to just throwing it out there. Games that use scenes of violence and sex as a way to further the plot and make you care more for characters, or show you the intensity of war really can help the overall experience. Look at it the same way as movies, they (the good ones) use violence and sex as a way to help you feel for characters and draw you in the story and put you in the environment.

I think what needs to happen is that first media and parents (or anyone that hasn’t played the certain game with certain content) need to play these games to judge whether the content is done right. Second, the media needs to step back and remember that movies for the same age groups are more graphic than games, and cut some slack to a game like Mass Effect. Third, there need to be more regulations on the sale of M-rated games to minors. Once a good system is in place the media and parents may feel a bit better about graphic content in games, because they know their kids cannot get their hands on it. Finally, people in the game industry need to realize that games are just now coming into the main spotlight, and it may take a while for games to be as movies are now.

In the future I hope to see games push boundaries much more, yet do it in a respectful way. As I mentioned above it will take time, but I believe games need to be put side by side with movies and rated the same way. If I can handle seeing Saving Private Ryan’s beach scene, why would I not be able to handle the same scene in a Call of Duty game? It will take a bit to change non-gamers’ perceptions of these scenes, but as I said before, if parents and media outlets will play through some of these areas before they scrutinize it may give them a better feeling of how this relates in the stories.

Overall, game companies need to make sure that they push these boundaries, but do it in a respectful way. If game companies can show that these scenes of sex and gratuitous violence relate to the plot and help build relationships or show the realities of life people’s opinions and views may change. The gaming industry is still new and has just stepped into the spotlight so it still must work to prove that things like this can be done without being just another spectacle, or just another shooting game. If companies make these issues mature and use them well they can earn the respect of media outlets and critics, and only then can the industry move toward a more mature understanding.

“Call it nerd rage. Like loyalists of a once-partisan politician who tacks toward the center later in an election cycle, old-school gamers are coming to terms with the ramifications of their favorite’s newfound popularity. Though they have long craved mainstream respectability for video games, players sometimes resent the concessions their champion must make to attract mainstream adherents.”

We have all seen its ramifications. Soccer moms playing Wii Sports’ Bowling. High school girls toting Nintendo DS’ playing with their virtual dogs. What does this all mean for the true gamers? Gamers that fuel the industry by spending hundreds of dollars per month and thousands per year on hardcore games like Halo and Metal Gear and products like a Halo themed Mountain Dew? It is true, the industry is changing but gaming companies need not forget what, or who, got them to where they are.

The gaming industry was built on addiction. Gamers used to be seen as twenty-somethings housed up in a dark basement wearing a headset and drinking Mountain Dew until the sun came up. It wasn’t more than a few years ago that gaming was still considered nerdy. Now look at the industry; there is a Nintendo Wii in a vast majority of homes and almost everyone, including grandma, is playing games of some sort. I don’t blame companies like Nintendo at all for reaching out their arms. There is a great amount of money to be had in this new casual market, but at what cost to the hardcore?

Take a look at Nintendo at this years’ E3 convention. It must have been casual day at work because Nintendo was throwing around new casual games left and right. Games like Wii Music, and a new Wii Sports flooded the conference. Then came the aftermath; gamers condemned Nintendo for not showing anything geared towards their true fans, fans that grew up on Zelda and Mario not throwing frisbees to virtual dogs.

This all brings me to my point. It is all fine and dandy that the industry is trying to expand its’ borders, but don’t kill off the crowd that brought you to where you are today. The hardcore demographic and their money is still what fuels the industry. Take away the hardcore and the industry would fold. I think a quote from the gamerscoreblog reply fits best what i am trying to say:

“I like Tetris, Peggle, and Puzzle Quest as much as the next guy – but without Civilization Revolution, Gears of War, Burnout, and other “hardcore” games, I would lose interest in the hobby pretty quickly, and if you lose your passionate gamers, if you lose your core – the tangential fans who only buy one game per year, won’t be enough to sustain the industry, and it will die.”

Without the hardcore, there is no future. So to Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and game developers everywhere I must say; do not lose sight of what you used to be. Expand your market yes, but do it in such a way that does not affect the crowd that made you what you are. Fill the needs of your core first, then worry about gaining that new demographic. As a hardcore gamer I can say that it is not a bad thing to get more people to play games. It brings a lot more revenue into the industry and relaxes stereotypes that have been held against gamers for years. It becomes a bad thing when companies see a bag of money in front of their faces and totally forget about their true fans. Fans that will spend a lot of money on a continuous basis to buy their products. So to the company heads out there, keep the casual going, but give back to the hardcore. They are what made you.