In the beginning, when the Odyssey, and Atari 2600, gaming was viewed as little more than expensive, electronic toys. And perhaps this view was justified, as the earliest games were played almost exclusively by a younger audience, and were incredibly simple, due to the huge technical limits developers had to deal with. It has been almost 40 years, since Magnavox introduced the Odyssey, and gave birth to the gaming market, and times have changed since then. The first gamers have long since grown up, and, rather than leaving gaming behind, like so many other fond childhood toys, and memories, they have continued gaming.
The average age of gamers these days is rapidly approaching 30, and this demographic change has brought in huge changes in the games being developed. This more mature audience demands more mature games, and developers have obliged, by making games with more mature content, not unlike certain movies, or books. Some of the content in these games is a little much for younger gamers, but the ratings system stops them from buying games they can't handle. It's really no different than the ratings system for movies, and the content isn't worse in movies than games, is it?
So why then is there this huge double standard, that excessive violence, and sexuality are so taboo in games, but aren't given a second glance in movies? Clearly, there are gamers old enough to handle the content in these games, so why do games undergo constant attacks, for slightly risque themes, but books, and movies that could be equally "corrupting"?
Take, for example, the controversy that just sprang up around Mass Effect? Anyone who has played the game, as I have, can tell you that there have been, quite literally, thousands of movies that leave a lot less to the imagination than Mass Effect. In fact, I would say the nudity, in the game was no worse than that in Titanic, so where were the thousands of crusading soccer moms, screaming for Titanic to get an NC-17 rating, as there seems to suddenly be for Mass Effect?
Why is it okay for movies to have these things, while a game having them will cause mass controversy? Why the huge double standard?
The average age of gamers these days is rapidly approaching 30, and this demographic change has brought in huge changes in the games being developed. This more mature audience demands more mature games, and developers have obliged, by making games with more mature content, not unlike certain movies, or books. Some of the content in these games is a little much for younger gamers, but the ratings system stops them from buying games they can't handle. It's really no different than the ratings system for movies, and the content isn't worse in movies than games, is it?
So why then is there this huge double standard, that excessive violence, and sexuality are so taboo in games, but aren't given a second glance in movies? Clearly, there are gamers old enough to handle the content in these games, so why do games undergo constant attacks, for slightly risque themes, but books, and movies that could be equally "corrupting"?
Take, for example, the controversy that just sprang up around Mass Effect? Anyone who has played the game, as I have, can tell you that there have been, quite literally, thousands of movies that leave a lot less to the imagination than Mass Effect. In fact, I would say the nudity, in the game was no worse than that in Titanic, so where were the thousands of crusading soccer moms, screaming for Titanic to get an NC-17 rating, as there seems to suddenly be for Mass Effect?
Why is it okay for movies to have these things, while a game having them will cause mass controversy? Why the huge double standard?
