Maturity in Games

As a 19 year old gamer, a question crossed my mind today; “What exactly constitutes a mature game?” I am not talking about an arbitrary rating system, I ponder what actually makes a person look, at a game, and think “this is a game that’s meant for adults”...

[Animals_as_Leaders]

The Witcher ( 1 ) is the only game I have felt was targeted at an older audience.

God damn that was a good game. It's a shame TW2 wasn't as good.

[coolbeans]

Interesting to see that. I'm tempted into diving into the series (eventually when I have time) and wasn't sure if I should just get into TW2. Was it the combat system, better storyline, or something else iyo that made 1 better?

[Animals_as_Leaders]

The second game was by no means bad. The first game was just so atmospheric ( cliche`....I know ) but it was a combination of everything together.

Amazing gothic art design, the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a game, the subtle unfolding of the story and the different choices you could make that didn't follow your cliche` bioware black and white good or bad branches.

Modern games are like blockbuster movies, spectacle over substance. The Witcher was like a good book, all substance.

Varied quests and a conceivable world that wasn't just divided by intangible load screens where it would jump between areas, you could see how the world fit together in both the physical sense, and in terms of the plot. It was a more complete story with each element making sense and tying in with the location etc. Lots of games have stories and levels that are split up into chunks. This was just one big, open, choice filled cohesive game.

The second game was more linear, more broken up and the story didn't flow as well.

[coolbeans]

I see. I'll have to pick them both up eventually. Thank you for taking the time to explain :).

[Frankfurt]

Heavy Rain certainly isn't mature.

[Valenka]

You certainly haven't played it.

[Getowned]

heavey Rain is awesome!

[Valenka]

What constitutes a mature game? I don't know, maybe the reasons why the ESRB gives it the M rating? Excessive violence, vulgar language, nudity or sexual themes, etc.

[Tony P]

Oddly you criticize Frankfurt on how he hasn't played a game, yet you post a comment that makes you sound as if you haven't read the article...

[Valenka]

I was just being a kook. Obviously there's more than that that constitutes a mature video game.

[Tony P]

Ah haha. No offense meant.

I just never can tell on this site.

[Tainted Gene]

@ Valenka
"I was just being a kook."

I think Frankfurt was doing the same thing.
Irony huh???

[Dee_91]

this is why the /s was invented people

[MRMagoo123]

@tainted

Frankfurt is a troll so i dont think they where

[Tainted Gene]

@ mrmagoo

Doesn't that just prove my point???

Kook --- Troll. Simply splitting hairs.

[ShaunCameron]

Sounds like the typical XBox 360/PS3 game.

[kneon]

In fact the games with the most violence, vulgar language, nudity or sexual themes, etc of often some of the most immature games around.

[Tony P]

Tale of Tales' games are quite the atypical experience. But you never really hear about them since they aren't backed by huge publishers or on consoles.

[Shnazzyone]

I don't care the opinion of a 19 year old gamer. You can't even drink, why would I be expecting you to have a worthwhile opinion on what a mature game is? You aren't even really mature.

[LarVanian]

19 year olds 'can' drink :). Well at least over here they can.

[ChiVoLok0]

You don't know that. I've seen people who are more mature at 19 then other at 25 so judging someone by age can be misleading sometimes.

[Pushagree]

Get off your drunken high horse, dude. Being a boozer makes you mature? I know plenty of alcoholics twice my age who are far less mature than anyone my age.

[TheFirstClassic]

That is a case by case basis, you can't judge someone like that unless you know them. If you think that every 19 year old in the world is immature and thinks they know better than everyone else, then you have some problems.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

So, by your logic, I can't have an opinion if i'm 19. And I never said to "Know everything" You're more than likely projecting yourself at the age of 19 onto me. Unless you actually know me, your claims have no substance.

I mean there are children in this world, much younger than 19, that have more life experience than either of us combined depending on where they live. So, to generalize like that isn't doing yourself or anyone one else any justice.

[Shnazzyone]

I see N4g is unwilling to admit that people fresh out of high school may not actually be mature. In my opinion, you don't quite reach a level of maturity until about 25. Till then you could tell yourself all day how mature you are, Like it or not, you're still ignorant as @#$% to the world. You just wont realize it until you're older.

[rezzah]

You logic implies that you know everyone in the world.

Please explain how you went about observing 7 billion people in your current lifetime?

[TheFirstClassic]

"I see N4g is unwilling to admit that people fresh out of high school may not actually be mature."

You're completely twisting what everyone is saying, nobody is saying that no kids fresh out of high school are immature. In fact, most of them are. What you seem to be saying is that if you are 19, you are automatically immature no matter what.

"you don't quite reach a level of maturity until about 25."

What, are we all robots or something? We all grow at different rates and become mature at different times. You just can't judge somebody like that because of their age. You're acting like we are all born with the same I'Q, like we are all emotionally wired the same way, and like every person in the world grows up with the same experiences.

[Shnazzyone]

No I have the experience of knowing many people over that age and asking them of their opinions of themselves at a younger age. Typical response is, "god, I was an idiot back then".

You Know those stories that start, "Well, I was young and stupid..."? There's a reason that's such a recognizable phrase. Because between 16 and 25 you are full of irrational hormones and an undeserved want to be considered an adult coupled with an refusal to listen to good advice if it's inconvenient.

It's one of those things that never changes. It's why people who grew up in the 80's never want to see pictures of how they dressed. Of course, no one under the age of 25 is going willing to accept this statement for all the reasons I've already stated.

[TheFirstClassic]

"Pecause between 16 and 25 you are full of irrational hormones and an undeserved want to be considered an adult coupled with an refusal to listed to good advice if it's inconvenient."

You're still generalizing. So all kids between the ages of 16 and 25 refuse to listen to good advice if it's inconvenient? ALL of them?

There are SOME teenagers who aren't idiots, and you can't just disregard their opinion because of their age. Obviously just about everyone is going to look back on their former selves as being inferior to who they are now, but even that doesn't mean they were necessarily immature. We get wiser as we grow older, but to completely ignore a younger person's opinion on something simply due to their age is just plain unfair.

I'll admit to you that I myself am 19. Will I look back on myself in the future and see myself as being immature? I don't know. Probably. I have a lot of faults, that's for sure. But I refuse to believe that every 19 year old in the world is immature, or that no rational or worthwhile thought can come from one. I've known people my age who I consider to be very mature, admittedly not many. These "irrational hormones" you talk about do not control one’s mind. It isn't like every teenager in the world has no choice but to be an ignorant jerk.

[Shnazzyone]

You'll look back and regret this whole discussion someday along with many others.

[Lord_Sloth]

Not very mature of you to discriminate based upon age rather than the individual in question.

Some people mature faster, some slower, and others never mature. My 31 year old brother has yet to mature.

Age and wisdom are not always hand in hand.

Life gives every1 hardship and some of us get handed said hardships before we're even 16. I had to start working my 1st job at 13 to help my father afford food for the family (he fired both my uncle and elder brother because they wouldn't work), was homeless for a time at age 8, and have suffered a multitude of other hardships for all the years in between.

[MRMagoo123]

hardships dont = maturity lol, wtf are you even talking about

[Lord_Sloth]

@MrMagoo
His comment about being ignorant to the world at 19. I'm telling him that age doesn't equate to life experience.

[gigreen]

Games with an intelligent plot, clever gameplay and well drawn characters that require at least some life experience to appreciate.

Also a violent game certainly isn't automatically mature. Postal 2 for example is one of the most childish and silly games ever.

[Dee_91]

Yakuza is very mature game.
I honestly think that if that game was in english it would be my fav game .. or atleast top 3.
Im not a reader but I was so into that story.. not only the entire story but the side stories too

[ginsunuva]

These days, Mature rating is ironic because M rated games are usually the most immature.

Blood/Gore does not equal Mature.

I think the E (or was it T) rated ICO and SotC are the two most mature games.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I'd say L.A. Noire, Heavy Rain, BioShock, Catherine, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mafia II, Metal Gear Solid 3, Half-Life 2, Singularity and Yakuza 4 are the most mature games I've played in terms of story, tone, choice vs. consequence, ideologies and things of that nature.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

Many of these games crossed my mind while trying to think of what to write, but I chose to go with some of the more obvious cases. Ones that everyone could pretty much relate to.

[Derpy]

Usually what passes as maturity in games these days isn't mature at all. Sex and profanity and excessive blood & guts in games is usually craved by teenagers who think they need that stuff to feel mature.

A 'real' mature game is one with a story that simulates the adult mind in ways that children do not yet have enough life experience to comprehend.

[Braid]

It's not the gore that makes a game mature-oriented.

Mature games make you think about something spesific that you may normally overlook just like any other medium (theatre, movies, books etc). Let it be a question about life and death, or something which makes you question the way you live, or something that sensitizes you to the illusions surrounding us. They're thought-provoking games which allow our minds to wander within fiction and reality, thus expanding our imagination with a wider point of view.

Bioshock, for example, makes you question ethics and allows you to think about what would happen if you forcefully try to change the nature of mankind and how would the conventional understanding of social hierarchy be affected by it from the first moment you see Andrew Ryan's statue with the inscription "No gods or kings, only man" on it. Deus Ex makes you think about transhumanism and makes you wonder what would the consequences of trying to alter the way human organims work be. Metal Gear Solid makes you think if politics always work the way you think it does and if your conception of "enemy" and "ally" is unquestionably right. Heavy Rain makes you think if the past traumas can justify the bad things a person does and if it is the nature of the person or a psychological disorder which stems from the hard times a person has been through that makes him or her behave that way, which is in fact a basic "nature vs nurture" question. And you get the gist, examples go on like that.

What I find interesting is that I used to play every kind of game as a child, whether it was a mindless entertainment or a momentary comedy. But I don't have as much time as I used to have now so I solely play games with a good stroyline, and I seem to enjoy those kind of video games only as I grow older.

[newflesh]

I Love mature games! A shame that so little of them are there..