Sony removed a suicide option from Project Morpheus’s Heist because it was “too stressful”

Sony’s much-touted virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, has been doing the rounds as of late (including at this year’s GDC event) with a handful of exclusive demos designed to immerse your senses in new interactive experiences. In fact, one of these demos was so convincing Sony had to remove the ability to turn a virtual gun on yourself due to the potentially damaging psychological effect it could have on users.

[Activemessiah]

Can't take the heat? out of the kitchen.... chicken.

[Mr_GoolyPunch]

Gosh, you're so tough and moody! x

[VenomUK]

Shuhei Yoshida said: "You could point your gun at yourself. And that felt wrong – it was too stressful – so they removed it. The medium is so powerful, so we need to be careful with what we provide.”

VR is breaking frontiers. As the technology gets better the experience will get more immersive - however developers will have to be mindful of it seeming TOO real. I'm alright playing Resident Evil or Outlast but I would hate to experience as if it was real!

[vickers500]

however developers will have to be mindful of it seeming TOO real. 

Why is it up to devs to be mindful of what they create rather than consumers being mindful of what they consume?

[DonkeyDoner]

http://www.quickmeme.com/im...

[pompombrum]

Sssshhh your edginess is scaring the children!

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

@Activemessiah
Agreed. Having all options on the table is part of immersion. PT was stressful and that demo has people starting petitions fighting a lost cause. Just tell people what types of situations they will be exposed to before buying the game and let us choose!

[Activemessiah]

Thank you!! Pro-choice is what I'm advocating here.. if it ain't your thing why ruin it for someone else? that's just selfish and such a SJW thing to do.

[I_AM_ CANADIAN_1989]

Silent hills plus Morpheus plus move would be insane

[Timesplitter14]

This seems more like a publicity 'stunt' for Morpheus than an actual moral issue to me. I mean, this was said by Shuhei Yoshida himself, in the official PS magazine, followed by "The medium is so powerful, so we need to be careful with what we provide."

We all know this thing wouldn't actually be "too stressful" or have damaging psychological effects on people

[mayberry]

I have watched numerous vids on VR. some show grown men crying and yelling, vomiting and whatnot. the mythbuster guys said it was very intense too. from what ive seen just on others experiences, I can belive this article.

[Hairy Chewie]

More than anything i think they're trying to avoid negative publicity. VR is still in its infancy an the last thing any of the companies with VR products need is the general public to get up in arms over some kid that committed suicide that also played VR games that allowed them to kill themselves.

[3-4-5]

Soooo edgy

[ThunderPulse]

I walk that edge everyday. I only wish I could get even closer.

[_-EDMIX-_]

lolz. I would actually want to play that version as an option later on, maybe in a different difficulty. I'm curious to see what they are talking about now.

I had legit stress playing P.T lol. The game looks so real, you start to forget its a game, its a nerv wrecking playing it in the dark for the first time (hell I replay it and still get scared)

Haven't had that feeling in a very, very long time.

[MasterCornholio]

Suicide simulator coming to project morpheus in the near future.

[Conzul]

Maybe a suicide simulator would have a *good* effect on suicidal people or teens.

They'd pull the trigger on themselves, and STILL feel like shit. Which should hint to them subconsciously that it's not a solution at all and fixes Nothing.

[Jalva]

Except in reality they wouldn't feel like shit, they would just be dead as intended, sounds like a pretty viable solution to me, still not saying it's the right thing to do though.

[pixelsword]

It would be a VERY BAD thing to do because most people don't have the guts to do the motion, and once they are acclimatized to doing so because it wasn't that bad when they did it in the game, doing something balls to the wall crazy and ending yourself will be that much easier because they've practiced it.

[jujubee88]

PERSONA!

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/...

[bahabeast]

That option keeps the game so realistic and immersive.

[pixelsword]

So would be the ability to rape various segments of the populous (whatever you can [or can't] imagine), to kill animals at will, to take drugs (and see simulated "highs" and the effect of being drunk), become a serial killer, to choke random people at will, and to pleasure yourself in the presence of clergy, but as a killzone developer said (I'm paraphrasing): "realism in a game doesn't mean a better or more fun game".

[net123456]

You can not simulate optically being high its a feeling caused by neurotransmitters in your brain. Its actually impossible to describe and until you do it yourself you will never know how it feels. Even the visual part of being on LSD, seeing it (a crude aproximation) gives you no idea of the drug. Because this it not how you perceive it. Other highs are often entirely feeling based and often not comparable between each other and can not be conveyed through any type of media.

[rextraordinaire]

Why they even thought it was a good idea for one second is beyond me. O_o

[Timesplitter14]

How can you not think this would've been at least a little bit interesting to see?

There are plenty of games where you can kill yourself. VR doesn't make much of a difference

[rextraordinaire]

There's a difference between play-killing yourself and letting an avatar on a screen kill itself on your behalf.

Drowning a sim isn't the same as a virtual reality game about drowning, at all! ;)

[LifeInNZ]

VR is about total immersion, making it seem like the gamer is part of the world he/she is playing in. Making it seem like the player is in the game.

Try watching a movie like Gravity on a smartphone then watching that same movie on IMAX. The level of immersion is significantly higher when watching on IMAX because it consumes more of your field of view. VR totally takes over your field of view increasing the sense of you being part of the game, especially if playing something from an FPS perspective.

The more real it seems the greater the emotional connection. We have no idea what social problems may arise from VR as its never been mainstream before. But to suggest it will be no different from how we play games today I think is being a bit naive.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Well if a job goes wrong and you REALLY don't want to get gunned down or arrested, usually the only option would be suicide. I don't see how it's bad idea since it's a realistic one I can imagine someone having.

[Father__Merrin]

if you have a really bad day you could virtually blow your brains out as a de-stress treatment, then go back to normal. could be popular

[Insomnia_84]

LOL 👍😂

[KryptoniteTail]

Stupid decision.

[Ninver]

True! I say keep it in there as an option. Not everyone is a pansy.

[700p]

not everyone is crazy like you.

[hay]

@700p: Exactly! Why everyone should be prohibited from using this awesome feature only when some small minority is not crazy enough?

[KnownAsEpic]

No It's not! Can you imagine the news stories when ANYONE who play video games commit suicide? They'd gladly blame sony!

[xXDerickXx]

Or make a fun game so they won't even think about such a thing...

[Ulf]

We should be thanking Sony.

If the media ever caught wind of a kid committing suicide after, or while, playing this game, the sheeple masses would demand that broad new laws be made, and then gaming would be screwed.

Then, the sheeple would go buy popcorn, now with aluminum-perserved vaccine butter, and watch Faces of Death 41, or whatever, and the laws would make gaming lame for the next 30 years.

[SilentNegotiator]

And we would just have to take them to task on it, like gamers and gaming advocates have had to do for over ~40 years anyway.

[victorMaje]

Does it help the game? Keep it. If it doesn't, remove it.

[Relientk77]

Ok this is sorta controversial, I guess it's a good thing they removed it. Sony don't want bad PR like "Playstation game encourages you to commit sucide/shoot yourself" or something of that nature

[katzura66]

VR GTA :D

[vork77]

and yet other games have this option

[ThunderPulse]

Sony must think everyone who uses their PS4 system is under the age of 8.

[Pandamobile]

Doing stuff like standing at the edge of a building, or even committing suicide in VR can actually be extremely discomforting for people. It's not really surprising that it didn't test well with players.

Expect the more crazy VR sims to be on PC-based VR where one company doesn't hold the morality-clause over the whole platform and anyone can upload content for others to experience.

[kraenk12]

You clearly haven't tried VR yet.

[SpinalRemains138]

Good call.

Something inherently wrong with pointing a firearm at your own head. Game or not. This has nothing to do with impressionable people and everything to do with just choosing the right thing.

[jznrpg]

I think it does have some to do with the larger than known population of people with mental illnes as well. It may not be the main reason but it most likely is a part of it.

[goldwyncq]

And they say little kids have trouble differentiating between fantasy and reality. It's not just the kids after all.

[TekKing]

Sounds like Morpheus will be a flop then. They're just going to remove enough of the stuff where you no longer feel like you're there so they can pamper the babies.

[SilentNegotiator]

This generation...anything that might upset *some* people gets removed or banned or ostracized from discussions.

[HonestDragon]

Seems to be a going trend in not only this industry, but many others as well. Still, it would be better to err on the side of caution these days what with opportunistic media outlets and venomous online crusaders seeking to further their agendas with what could be considered easy targets.

[DillyDilly]

They could always make it paid DLC

[goldwyncq]

That scene in Heavy Rain where you have to cut off one of your fingers would be interesting to experience in VR.

[Ryan741]

So are you making a child's game or an adult game, Shuhei?

[killa_sam]

Leave all options open. Its only a game. I wouldn't go down though without a fight. I want this Morpheus thing now.

[DarkBlood]

Well I need to test this immersion my self to see how it will feel for me because all this chatter is making me more interested in the product that theres no way im going to let someone else decide for me

[Dirtnapstor]

Half of you commentators stating suicide is a viable in-game choice within this context, as it was presented, don't really know or understand the power of VR. Sure, you're not really killing yourself, and sure, it's still a game...there will be a fine line at some point. As harmless as it could be, certain things just won't feel right.
VR could be a force, just think of Outlast. I'm not sure I could finish the game...let alone get to the generators! Ha!

[ArnoDorian]

Aw :( but i want a horror game for morpheus :(
a really really really scary horror game

[loadstone007]

CAN'T WAIT for Morpheus!!!

[xtheblackparade]

Good..you actually can take VR too far :)