Why you're probably wrong about the Steam and Hatred fiasco

MWEB GameZone writes: "The truth is Hatred and the discussion it has created shows how murky the issue of morality in games is. It is not as black and white as people want it to be.

If Valve’s back and forth is anything to go by, the only thing clear about all of this is how unclear the issue really is.

We take a deeper look at the undercurrents of the Hatred controversy."

[CongoKyle]

As long as we keep this in games I'm happy.

[HanCilliers]

Just imagine the next school massacre and it comes out the kid played Hatred.

[Hellsvacancy]

There was school massacres way before Hatred was released, that's no excuse, should the book Rage by Stephen King be banned because it portrayed a school shooting?

[ChrisChambers]

Then when the news inevitably starts blaming videogames you can turn the argument into one about lack of proper parenting, like it should be. Games have rating for a reason. It's a parents job to raise their kids. As much as the kids may hate it it's their parents job to be all up in their business until they're old enough to make their own decisions. It's not societies job to do any of this.

I grew up watching violent movies and playing violent videogames. I haven't murdered anyone. I've never even been arrested. I've been to war, where in all honesty I could have killed anyone I felt like, but I didn't. I was raised by my parents to have morals, and to be responsible for my actions. My kids will be raised the same way, and unless they are destined to be psychotic I'm pretty sure they'll end up just like me.

It's the news job to get people to watch. They do that by being sensational and playing up fear (at least in America). When I grew up, my parents weren't worried that if I went outside I'd be abducted and murdered. That's because 24 hour news wasn't shoving every horrible thing that could happen down their throats 24 hours a day. I ran all over the town I lived in, would be gone for hours and hours and yet I never got snatched up. Fast forward 20 years, the news tells you how rampant child abductions are, how you can't trust your neighbors, and now I see almost no kids outside. Ever. Even though the crime rate has dropped over the years, and child abductions are nowhere near as widespread as the news makes it seem, people live in fear. Sometimes they don't even know it.

Sorry for the rant there. Kinda got away from me

[PoSTedUP]

whats morally right and wrong is usually decided by the masses (most laws that are in effect that incriminates the deviant). i say let the ppl decide. i can understand why some ppl say let it go. but im on the other side, id rather not see a game like this being accepted. why? just the underlying tone of the game/main character, especially after the current events and the enlightened understanding of how serious they are. its not just the violence, its how close it resembles the lowest of the low, evil, the current events, and that being its main purpose. no story, no substance. this stuff being in the news already f***s ppls heads up. id rather not see someone as big as valve support other people that would get a kick out of such horror--especially how society is today--just as google play didnt support the game where you kill gays. its just my opinion. id definately rather see people take out their anger in a game, so this could be a good thing in a way. but there is no controlling people and everyone is different, for me its just out of moral and principle. its whole concept is just something i heavily despise. id say take a vote on it. thats all.

@chris- i hear you. but at the same time, parents nowadays dont really raise their kids, they let games do it. yeah it is their responsibility, but we as a society also have a moral obligation. there is a similar reason why that game where you kill gays didnt get approved, this may not be as bad imo, but falls along the same lines (and why there is opposing sides and controversy over it).

[ravencry]

"kid" it's a game which has mature rating. even if the school shootout does happen, parents are to be blamed for buying or letting their kid play this game.

anyone with a common sense knows the difference b/w reality and game

[DesVader]

Rockstar got themselves neck deep in controversy with the Manhunt game. I reckon the same thing will happen here in that this game will get banned in a couple of countries and the developers will become whipping boys for all the anti-gaming, violence in gaming groups.

[HanCilliers]

@Hellsvacancy

I am not saying Hatred will cause violence, I don't believe video games should be blamed for it. I was pointing out how say the US government will USE it as a scapegoat - as they've done with so many other games.

[IcarusOne]

The govt doesn't typically scapegoat games. That's what Fox News does.

[Sillicur]

hahahahah well said

[Jyndal]

This game is SO pre-ordered when it becomes available.

[kranker]

I'm more concerned that the game just looks plain bad and people are only showing support for it as a for argument for this toing and froing over the ethical and moral judgements about it. The game just doesn't look worth playing from a quality standpoint...

[HanCilliers]

And then there's that

[Mulletino]

I wish there was a super agree. I've seen the argument several times that it's just a game with pixels and it doesn't matter what you do or the role you play blah blah blah. If this is the case then why does a game that looks as bad as Diablo 1 for NES (exaggeration) have so many people saying it "looks awesome".

[jambola]

because gameplay is more important to graphics
game looks like a typical top down shooter, nothing awful about that

[HoldenZA]

I think when u see violence in video games that it slightly desensitizes you over time to violence in real life. That being said, I don't believe it prompts you to be more violent at all.

If anything I think that you can be calmer in violent situations, where others would panic.

[Somebody]

I thinks we all have layers of varying degrees of desensitization instead the overly simplified perception people kept referring to.

For example I could say I'm desensitized towards violence in games but I would shudder and cringe with the extremely graphic violence in movies. I can't wait to play Hatred but I haven't and probably never will watch any of those torture porn movies or the beheading videos during the Iraq/Afghanistan invasion.

[Pintheshadows]

People say that, however 28 years later and the sight of violence in reality is still shocking to me. The difference is night and day. The adrenaline, the instincts, the fear.

After seeing some get stabbed about 15 times in a street fight a few years back, I can tell you, I didn't feel desensitised to real violence at all.

Doom, Carmageddon, GTA, Postal, Loaded, Mortal Kombat. They don't help you in reality.

[nowitzki2004]

I have played GTA, Manhunt, just about every brutal game you can think of even at a early age, my parents never cared, heck my mom took me to the store and bought me the first GTA. I have never even thought of killing someone or attempting a massacre. I will not use my killing skills that I have picked up from games unless someone messes with my kids the wrong way.

I would like to see them blame a movie for violence because unlike videogames, movies look real.

[8bitninja]

Does it maen I'm sick if playing this game gives me massive chub.