I wasnt going to reply to this because I understood nothing, then I realized that it was probally the same reason nobody else had posted yet, so I decided to post it just to warn you that maybe people arent answering because they arent managing to understand

Fear not all, I have my Ennui translator at hand!!!





Editors notes: What I think Ennui is getting at is that we play fighting and gory videogames all the time, but we do not realize the content of the game because we are so consumed with the imagery the game provides us. In a sense, we are so distracted by the fact that videogames are so good looking graphically that we do not care to think about the negative connotations (fighting and gore) the videogames portrays.

So? Do you think that we are desensitized to the fighting and gore in videogames because of the imagery or presentation of the game itself? or even our addiction to multimedia devices like the videogame console?

impressive vocabulary but not easy to translate... the phrases, though heard before, confused on how exactly you meant to express your thoughts...

but im a console gamer and am deeply compelled to be involved in this conversation no matter what direction it takes ;P i even think my first blog at this site was a gamer rant...

i think games mean a great variety to different people...

i am impressed with graphics, sure... but in my experience i prefer quick load times and simplicity in my games... which means sacrificing these over done graphics...

i remember playing ridge racer when playstation first came out... i was absolutely amazed at how real it looked psh... but obviously that was silly seeing how far it has come... even being confused, briefly, at first whether beowulf was animation or not...

im addicted to games no doubt about it... of course we all have an addiction to something... reading, television, games... one is not better than the other though... because i get alot out of playing online multiplayer games

friends... experiences... teamwork... critical thinking... quick thinking... strategy... lot better than a dull absorbing of a tv show... at least a video game keeps you completely involved...

but like everything else... moderation is the key to a healthy dose of anything...

gore is beautiful... gears of war shotgun kills are well done... torque... boomshot... best of all a sniper head shot... but thats only a fraction of the experiences games offer...

gotta go though

We are naturally desensitized; Humans enjoy the prospect of gore on some level. Generally, however, we don't enjoy the gore being presented in the reality around us. Watching gory movies, hearing second hand stories horror stories, and most recently during our techno era, video games, allow us to enjoy gore without compromising our morality. These are outlets for our natural bloodlust, without the expense of anyone's life. Does the presentation allow for a more entertaining experience? Sure, but we still enjoy the material regardless, I think.

Vide, Refrigerator???

Nice vocab, Ennui...you may well be the next Immanuel Kant! I too play console games, so too I have something to say in this position.

I actually prefer, in general, playing action-adventures, esp. ones with mythical components. I agree that too many of today's games are desensitizing, which is why we should treasure the ones which are actually cathartic in nature instead--you know, like Zelda?

I've been playing a Metroid recently, and last night I finally beat this ridiculous rock boss but when I went back to save it, some random ****ing Space Pirates popped out of nowhere and killed me before I could (needless to say, there was some serious controller flinging after that). So I'm also beginning to think if a game's too hard, it can tap into your emotions in a drastically negative way.

I think they can also tap into a positive way, as in making people more perseverant over time, and its really gratificating to finaly beat a hard part after eons of trying

Personally I admit that gorefull graphics are entertaining, but in games I usually prefer to have little details rather than graphics. With that I mean that I prefer a game where you can cut someone's arm in a single place and then use it was a weapon over a game where you can cut someone's arm in multiple ways but cant use it for anything.

Interesting. The fireworks didn't come because I finally beat that annoying boss, it was rather because three Space Pirates suddenly appeared in the 500 or so yards between the save station and boss chamber! Man was I pissed! That's the most frustrating kind of programming trick in the book :listening:.

i think it depends on the personality entirely for the most part when it comes to difficulty level and amount of gore...

i cant watch faces of death... but theres something about gears of war thats soothing... especially the sound effects when playing horde... it really takes all my stress away... and im not a violent person at all... im against war... i think people should be civilized... but a war against zombies or aliens is more healthy to simulate than a war between other humans with different lifestyles or values... but anyways

when it comes to a difficulty level... i hate to fail... i enjoy success after effort sure... but im the type to shamelessly use a guide on tombraider... but id never use cheats... if i need cheats to succeed i just play a different game (like i hate grand theft auto but i love saints row) however friends of mine play on hardcore or advanced or the equivalent right away but ill play on casual or easy just so i dont get stressed out... im the type to enjoy score accumulation more than just passing the stage...

but in my experiences online it just seems there are people who enjoy drama and enjoy stress... and whos to say thats wrong... even if its supposedly psychologically unhealthy...

I agree Better hope its not one of those "repeat all the bosses on final level" games.

I think games offer relief for emotions we cannot relieve anywhere else. I found out I was kinda sadist then playing Black & White (A be-god game) and finding immense fun into throwing people around and frying then with lighting

Doubtful, I'm sure it depends on the exploitation of carnal desires vis a vis the aforementioned eyeball-screen relationship. There's no real fun in delivering faked execution to things in a fantasy world, I think it is all a satiation of a nurtured desire, albeit one founded in reality...

I was a sponsored Pro-Gamer for quite some time. For me, it has nothing to do with the game itself...

For me, it is the skill. It was the strive to be better than the next person in every way possible. Faster, more accurate, smarter with a better strategy and a couple of well placed grenades.

I was a sponsored Halo 2 player, my specialty was sniping and heavy vehicles. Still, I also enjoy games where you build things or solve puzzles or even just run around and and click on things to activate them. For me, it is all about being the best.

In regards to the general question, I do think that there is a sense of removal and desensitization when playing a videogame, especially a fighting or gory one. To tell the truth, I don't really consider it a bad thing because if anything else, those thoughts are based on natural instincts and normal occurrences. We do fight and we are prone to see gory images in reality from time to time... it's only natural (natural as in normal, and normal as in what we would experience in a state of nature.)

But really think about that. Society now has in many respects taken us out of the state of nature, so in fact when the question is asked about how videogames desensitize us to violence, in reality I think they "sensitize" us to our natural instincts. I'm not approving violence in particular, just the acceptance of what we would see in a state of nature. Look at the modern conception of death. In the united states, most of us experience death in the extreme Victorian sense? a family member laying in a coffin portrayed as sleeping. Is this the correct view of death? In India for example, families burn the body of their loved ones in such a way where the death and decay are plainly evident. How many people here can say they smelled a burning body, or viewed the charred remains. Heck, go back to the Callatians? they had to eat their dead as a sign of respect. The Greeks were appalled, but that's the relative nature of it.

Strip away all the constructs of society and you are left with something very raw, something which videogames simulate in one way or another as a base experience in a state of nature as well as evoking baser instincts.

For me? I am a Halo 3 fan. So much so, I bought the 360 system just to play that game in particular. If you saw me playing Halo in the same room as my friends, you would not think I was the same person. We have taken the art of smack-talking to a completely different level. We are talking something hilariously angry. But not only that, we push each other, smack the controllers out of the others hands, and god help the others who do not have an empty coke bottle? many a kneecap and fingers are bruised. But the more I think about it, the more I think that as all five of us (there is always the odd man out) digress into the state of nature. There is a sofa for two people, a chair in the prime right side of the TV, and floor space. The best player always gets the chair, the sofa usually goes to the middle players who have a grudge between the two of them, and the floor is reserved for the worst players. It does not always follow that format, but that's how it usually happens, and we sit where we sit by choice, not by comparing rank. But it's interesting to see how it actually pans out like that.

As for game play, I think games like Halo changes a person's mentality for fighting and gore. When I first started playing the game, I was disorganized and my kill to death ratio was way off. I was so concerned about getting the biggest weapon or the power-ups that I really didn't think of the game in general and thought in a personal sense instead of the a team sense. Now a-days, I think more about maximizing the gain from my loss. I know I am going to die, so how do I get two or more of the other side down before I go. How am I going to make sure my team wins? Supporting fire with heavy weapons? Cluster in there with the others on the hill in Valhalla to make sure the high ground is ours? Become the warthog driver who knows what he's doing but doesn't get any reward for kills? That speaks volumes I think. When you stop thinking about the individual aspect of the game and focus on team's damage infliction, you end up winning a lot more games rather than focusing on yourself. I actually enjoy it a lot more. But when you really think about it, it becomes a little bit more than a game then and your metality changes from "how much fun am I having" to "how many people can I kill efficiently today?"

Also, can't pass up the opportunity to post screen-caps!

Vide... What's your GT?

Hit me up. I'll play some Halo 3 with you. I am bigger fan of COD: World At War but I wouldn't mind dusting off my Halo disk and reclaiming my place among the Elite Spartans. <--- halo pun

Halo 3 Service Record



Invincible... I haz it.


Whats your GT?

I admit I have always wanted to play Call of Duty, but I never got around to getting the game. The demo was great though.

As for Halo, I have my good days, my great days, and my really bad days. But we definitely should hit up the Halo. I wonder if other people may be interested in forming a ringer group. Should we form a "philosophical death squad?"

lol... seriously?

i meant it depends on personality on what level of difficulty you choose to play on... easy to succeed even if you could eventually beat it with more effort and more playtime... its not like you can take every person and personality and sum it up into one summary of how everyone thinks and reacts to difficulty levels and gore amounts

i also meant amount of gore as in like halo being a less amount than gears... or none at all in guitar hero, rockband or most racing games....



my gamertag is xXI SARA IXx
if anyone is interested in sending a friend request, a message accompanying it would be appreciated so i know who you are

those halo shots are beautiful videcor

and i would post screenies of the custom forza cars i designed (like the tampax racer, the jurrasic park car, harley quinn, tomb raider, and many joker cards) but i doubt anyone would appreciate them (to make the decals you have to use hundreds of basic shapes at different gradients and distortions to make it look like a design which takes 6-30+ hours)

i also have a bunch of good gears snaps i need to get uploaded

... should i make the GameBattles: The World Leader in Online Video Game Competition "PDS" page
(i have halo 3 but i typically only play when i have company, and being a gears person im not so good) but if your the type of gamer personalities who play for fun and not to win every time then id love to join your clan :a-ok: