As our society ages so do our views on life. What was once unacceptable in society 20 years ago is now readily available to the general public. Recently I’ve been reading more and more about games on the horizon like Age of Conan, Witcher, and other games with adult content. These games are being developed to include intense violence/gore, nudity, strong language, and other suggestive adult themes which are all being marketed for adults. Honestly that’s fine. In the U.S. our country was founded on these principles of free speech and video games are covered under that right. Other countries have similar rights for their citizens. Let me be clear now, as I know there are those of you just chomping at the bit to bite my head off, put as much of this in your games as you choose – it’s your right.
Where I start having a problem is when people start praising that they finally will have a game for “mature” gamers and won’t be surrounded by “kids” anymore. They continue on about how adults really don’t have any form of gaming entertainment and that everything is being developed for kids. Today I read an article that stated Nintendo games are designed for kids. It’s uneducated ignorant statements like that which tick me off. If any time is taken to become informed anyone will see that the past few years Nintendo’s marketing has been entirely aimed on including everyone. The Wii has been constantly pushed as being the console that everyone can enjoy. Mario might have a “cartoony” look to him but is stopping a “mature adult” from enjoying Mario Galaxy? It may be on a Nintendo system but what makes Metroid any more aimed at kids than adults? I hope this doesn’t crush your world but there are M rated games on the Wii.
What about the PS3, Xbox360, and PC? If your “M” rating is so important to you then open your eyes and see that a vast number of games are receiving these ratings. Mass Effect, Gears of War, Resistance Fall of Man, Grand Theft Autos, and Diablo 1 & 2 are just the games that come to my mind immediately that received M ratings and have been enjoyed by adults. So what really sets these apart from Age of Conan, Witcher, and the other “mature games for adults” coming out? Is it the nudity and suggestive themes that you need to justify your adulthood? I hope not because that doesn’t speak much to your maturity at all.
Let’s also take a look at those thinking they can escape the current crowd by playing a more “mature” game. Are you kidding yourself or are you really blind to the fact that the same people who play WoW (and other MMOs) will also be playing AoC? Do you think the nudity will scare away the “MMO Kiddies”? If anything that is going to attract the “immature” crowd to you like a magnet. And that’s just the above 18 crowd lacking maturity. I don’t even need to remind you the countless underage gamers who will get the game because their parents do not care.
So I ask you “mature” gamers out there who are so relieved that they will finally have games for them – am I immature because I like Mario Galaxy, EQ2, WoW, Pokemon, Viva Pinata, Diablo 2, etc etc etc? Or am I in fact more mature than you because I can enjoy and find myself entertained by all forms of entertainment and not just those ‘restricted’ to adults only? You go ahead and play AoC and Witcher – enjoy your mature community.
I’ll be enjoying my Waaaagh! in Warhammer Online (shooting for a Teen rating), rescuing the princess from the evil Bowser, and trying to catch’em all.
I would actually say that video game nudity is more designed to attract a male teenager audience (getting somebody else to buy them the game if need be) than for a real mature audience. I don’t find the collectible sex cards in the Witcher titillating at all. If an adult wants to see porn, he isn’t going to search for it in a badly pixelated video game.
I always liked the Pokemon games (especially the Gameboy version of the Pokemon trading card game), and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was a great game. Real maturity is doing what you like, and not caring how cool it might or might not look.
Heh, you should see the fanboys on a gaming forum I sometimes go to. Most of them have the idea that Nintendo is definitely for kids and/or gays because of all the cartoony graphics and bright colors, while the XBox360 and PS3 are considered the home of the hardcore, masculine gamer. To that I would like to say: Oh please. (And I own none of these next-gen/current-gen consoles, so it’s not like I’m trying to make myself feel better about my purchase — another argument people like to use against those who argue that Nintendo is not automatically kiddy because of bright colors and non-realistic-looking characters.)
I completely agree with your post, every single word. This is one of the issues I have as well, when I poke around forums or blogs where they discuss AoC vs. WoW, Nintendo vs. other consoles, or whatnot. Some people say they will never play WoW or think WoW is horrible because of the ‘kiddy graphics that are meant to attract kids and immature people’ and then those same ones crow about all the great mature content in AoC. Wow, let’s drool over boobs! Sex! Cursing! Totally mature!
I’ve learned over time to ignore people with the mind that only games with blood and sex are “mature” or “fun”. I state this believing it to be fact, not mere opinion: they’re absolute f**king morons.
Personally, I’m sick to death of the immature people in the games I play.
WoW has so many kids that do stupid sh*t all the time that they end up souring the whole experience.
I think adults are looking for a game that will potentially keep the kids OUT but leave mature, skilled play IN.
I agree with you in that I think the blood and nudity is going to attract the exact opposite audience that the more mature gamer would like to see. Parents don’t care about what their kids play these days. Kids have thir PC’s in their rooms, and the parents get to do their thing while the kids do theirs. AOC will have those immature gamers in there just to see the ‘fun stuff’.
I’m not sure what a game company can do to prevent all these under-age gamers from coming in and spoiling our fun, but it would be nice to keep them out.
As far as Wii and Nintendo – I would generally have to say that Nintendo’s software is more kid-oriented. The other developers that make software FOR the Wii are making more ‘mature’ titles.
I don’t like the Wii, because even though they came up with a very cool new control scheme, they gave the system sub-par graphics and sound. I paid alot of cash for my HD / surround setup, and I prefer tech that takes advantage of it. I guess I’m a bit of an ‘HD-snob’.
I don’t know, I never really think about needing to have bleeding-edge graphics. My husband and I still play a lot on our PS2, and our computers aren’t monsters — we’re not drooling over Crysis, for example. I guess for us it’s not that big of a deal, but I’m also not naive enough to say graphics don’t matter. They do, but for me personally they’re not as important as they are to certain people I know who immediately disregard a game just because of graphics, whether or not the game is good. (Note that I’m not saying you’re saying that, Mike, I totally get what you mean.)
I guess it’s true what they say about MMO games: they can be as awesome as anything, but it’s the community that tends to spoil the experience. I don’t play WoW anymore for many reasons, and that’s one of them. I still miss it, though, and am still trying to figure out something else to play.