'The ultraviolence has to stop' - Warren Spector

The comments section makes me disappointed in the future of games. If people won't even understand why games like mario continue to outsell ultra violent games, it is because they have grown so accustomed to ultra-violence in video games that they forget that violence and sex are 2 of the millions of types of themes people can create in video games. He is not saying viloence is bad; he is saying that it is used without any meaning or purpose. It is that meaningless violence he is criticizing. As a future game developer who intends to make games based on a similar philosophy, I whole-heartedly agree with him. I wish more game developers would be willing to take his advice before gaming has another crash and we see the death of AAA games in exchange for download-only games filling the void.

I wouldn't want little Alex reading this when he's on the moloko plus.

Warren spector is getting old family man... I will boycott his product

Booooo!  Get a grip, Warren.  Or, hang out with Jack Thompson and get out of the industry.  We've got too many issues (DLC, F2P, etc) to deal with right now to also have every game turn into a Disney clone.  Thanks for Deus Ex.  You may go, now.

come on Warren Spector, don't be a yellow bellied 5 year old sissy.

I don't think the issue is that 'mature' content in games is 'juvenile'. I think that the issue really is that 'video games' is stereotypically seen as Juvenile. But its more and more commonly becoming a form of entertainment accepted by all ages. And Parents need to get that through their darn noggins. The games aren't the issue, the ultra-violence isn't the issue. We ALREADY live in a society that fetishizes violence in our mainstream media, so singling out video games is really just the pot calling the kettle black. What we deem acceptable is all in the eye of the beholder, and I think if anything, game ratings actually need to be taken seriously now by parents. They are there for a reason yet are largely ignored because in the past and in the beginning of the industry, it was often reflected as, "...its a game. How bad can it be?"

Violence, is going to be fetishized in a tasteless manner in media, and its going to be done so in games all the same. Thats not going to change. Our world has turned that way since ancient times (consider the gladiatorial games in rome). If you ask me, people just make a bigger deal out of this then there need to be. Its... A GAME. And shame on YOU, the PARENT, if you're children can't handle these kinds of games, and you give them to them anyway at your OWN IGNORANCE for not heeding the warnings of the rating systems.

Amen Warren! Now go back to Eidos and Make Deus Ex 4 (please)! Though I agree with him I feel an odd feeling now as I can't wait for Hitman: Absolution, or any of the other slightly more mindless violence filled triple A sequels that'll be gracing us later this year and early next. Bring on BioShock: Infinite, Halo 4 and Crysis 3 and AC3! All those games contain such glorious violence and gameplay that I will have trouble keeping away from them!

I think the point here is that "Mature" content in games is coming across as "juvenile". That in turn is demeaning the industry and how people view it.

I agree with this article. The violence has gotten out of hand in games and now they're just pushing violence so far that it's getting ridiculous as well. Take a look at God of War with it's insane gruesome takedowns, do we really need that? I think that it is in fact being fetishized and completely desensitizing teenagers into thinking that violence is normal. I do appreciate that there are companies and games out there like Nintendo that still keep a leash on their violence in games. Sony is doing that as well with their eye pet, wonder book and so on, and microsoft with kinect. Just cuz a game is violent doesn't mean it's a triple-A game.

video games only is a reflection of the culture...how about we tell michael bay to stop producing movies 2

I like violent games and being able to kill the enemies in several different ways, but that's not the only thing that makes a game worth playing. Voice acting, dialogue/dialogue choices, music, atmosphere and plot are just as, if not more, important than violence in a game. You know, the stuff that doesn't degrade over time and always has been/always will be a way to infuse quality in a game. Not every game wants to be a Citizen Kane or the Godfather, though, and that's fine. Variety is the key thing, not every game needs to be the same and that applies to everything, not just violence.

We're starting to mix violence with an adolecent approach to sexuality? Did he not play Duke Nukem before or something? And games like Splatterhouse were popular over 20 years ago due to its gore and violence. It's not fetishizing really. Humans are by nature violent, it's only the clamps of society that leash people into being otherwise.

Why does everyone keep associating his opinion on ultra-violence with minors. He's not talking about it corrupting minors, he's talking about society as a whole. We get it already, games have a rating system (which I think a lot of people still need to be educated on), and we get that parents should be monitoring what their underage children should be playing. The thing is that those two things are not what he is trying to convey. So please re-read the article, get those two ideas out of your head, and then post. Please look at the bigger picture.

anything that surpasses the limits might become frustrating. When you think about how much time video game makers put into making the murders realistic (or at times truly ridiculous!) and less time they spent on making a better gameplay, you realize that this amount of time dedicated to violence and sex is killing the art in games!No matter how much you love nickelback, you won't still find art and freshness in their music. because they spent all their time shaping something that will make the masses go "ooh! Aah! holy Shit!" and the rest that you know!

THEY'RE SKIING ON PROVEN FORMULAS! AS THE GAMING INDUSTRY DOES THESE DAYS!

Have you lost your taste for a little ultra violence,Warren Spector? Well, have you?

I find in this article some kind of irony.Much ppl care much about videogame violence when they are already rated and prohibited to minors when are mature labeled most the time.Meanwhile nobody gives a dime whatever is happing on the darn tv.For me a violent movie is more harming to a younger audience mind than a violent videogame.You can see a very violent movie early from 9:00 p.m. and even at earlier time and nobody cares.I can't really remember many disturbing violent games that I really dislike but for movies o well I simply just don't want ot remember.If there are people who cares about violence to minors begin with the darn TV the worst media for younger people, meanwhile this is only an absurd topic.x(

I somewhat agree, while I do like violence in my games I think the Ultra-violence and sex is just lame and a cheap tool to try and sell games. Did Sniper V2 really need the xray cam showing someones brains exploding inside their skull, or would the game been just as good without? Did the Witcher 2 (one of my fave games I might add) need the full nudity to tell its amazing story? Mass Effect did fine showing a little sex without going pornographic, and seriously what purpose does renting a whore in the brothels serve, it cost gold but you dont get any stat buffs or anything just a scene of you having sex with a fully naked girl. Oblivion didn't have decapitations and it was very well recieved so why throw exploding body parts into Fallout or Decaps in Skyrim.

I couldn't agree. The level of violence on display is beginning to feel insulting, like developers think we no longer care about fun and good stories, and instead want simulated murder.

I agree completely with him.

Wow, between this and the other guy standing up against violence recently, it appears we actually have an argument.  I can't say I blame the people who are against the violence, I feel the same way about comics.  A lot of them have turned from fun into shock and murder.  I don't think we should stop making violent content.  However, I do think there could be a lot less of it.

He can go play barbie dolls with a few girls. Violence makes the game realistic and awesome.

People need to simply acknowledge the fact that there is a difference between real-life and fantasy. I don't see him complaining about pornography. He can go fly a kite.

Violence and sex make games extra interesting and add character, tone and depth to the game.

When you play a game you want a break from reality, you wanna be the bad-ass, ho-banging, pistol-whipping titan that you have always wanted to be. Who wants to shoot someone and say hey look he fell over. We want effects, we want it to look cool and 9/10 that's what helps to motivate the games to sell. Max Payne 3 is filled with violence and lovely effects of the bullets shredding their human targets, what brings me back to play that game over and over is the realistic effect of the bullet hitting the target. The way it rips through them, the effects are so good it is almost as if you can see the impact it delivers. Without that the storyline is made weaker as their feels to be no authenticity to the excellent storyline.

the violence i couldnt care less about really. Where i draw the line is having fictional scenarios and scenes are there just for shock value. Just for a "man look at this" reaction. Modern warfare 3 the kid getting killed with her mother. It didnt work because the game itself Doesnt feel realistic at all.  Theres NO intent whatsoever to be authentic in the first place in its gameplay. However in COD4 theres some pretty believable scenarios, the bridge crossing at night in COD4, was pretty believable, so maybe a scene like that might work in that game.. But in MW3 none of that works because its SO over the top..So the scenes where people like the mother and daughter get hurt, doesnt even have shock value, it just comes across as a freakshow.

Actually, I sort of agree. I can't believe I'm saying that.

Here's the thing, I LOVE gore. Love, love, love it! But just like horror, it can get to a point where it's over the top and loses its impact, because it's just everywhere. It belongs in games like Mortal Kombat where that's expected, it belongs in games going for realism like a really good war FPS, etc. Basically, gore has a place, but that place isn't in EVERY video game, ever. It's just not. Has anyone ever actually seen a gunshot wound? Like, a real one? Unless you're nailing someone in an artery, you're not going to see fountains of blood splash out all at once, and even then it doesn't happen as fast as portrayed. 

I liked the days when gore made me go...OMG! Did you see that!?....now I just sort of yawn and wait for the cinematic to finish so I can move on. I'd prefer a much more realistic amount of gore in a game; don't hide from it or censor it, but don't over-dramatize it, either.

Its turning in to a excuse to do a game in my opnion, just put heavy gore in it and it will succed.

They are overdoin it, i mean its welcome in a game like god of war, Wolverine or even the fallout way( ur killing monsters, bandits savages in a world that means nothing.)

Now what they did in Max Payne for example wasnt necessary , so u stop the camera just to unload ur gun and see blood, is that really necessary? kill the guy and go on Max, u r not a butcher!

Its a complement , a realistic touch, but not main feature of a game.

i dont mind violence but i just dont like sex in video games. like that really in depth nude first person scene in Far Cry 3... the game doesnt need it and isnt the main characters motivation to save his girlfriend? that wasnttttt his girlfriend

Good. I'm glad someone invested in video games can actually say this (not that I really care for epic mickey games).

The moral and social arguments aside, when video game characters explode into a mess of blood and ground meat every time they're shot with a bullet or poked with a knife, it usually doesn't make for a very artistic experience.

Sometimes I feel like I'm watching "ouch my balls" from the movie Idiocracy when I try to play certain games.

whats funny is that the gore in games isnt even close to how gruesome it is, in real life

Strangely, I don't full on disagree with him. Some of the violence in games is getting to the fetish level, and it's just a bit too much in a common game. There's really no need for me to be splitting open someone's but and strangling them with their own intestines in a God Of War game. I would hope that people could be a bit more creative than that so the violence didn't have to approach that level in a AAA game. When the next consoles come out next year, and already on PCs to a degree, games are going to be hard to distinguish from reality. I think people will feel a little different about it when that time comes. Not every game can be a "gore" genre game, just how not every movie is a movie where people are sliced into tiny pieces.

Don't get me wrong. I love my gory games, just like the rest of you. But it does seem a little much at times.

I don't understand why it's so difficult for people to fully grasp at what Warren Spector is saying. It's not rocket science and it's not as bad as most people want to believe it is. Please read the article then post, not read the title then post.

I'm sorry Warren, but you're wrong.

Thankfully the best games out there don't have this ultraviolence. Developers should realise that. 

Give me a break....

Sam the Eagle says:

"We need more decent, cultural, healthy games, and less ultraviolent games designed by WIERDOS!... Now let's all enjoy a performance by Wayne and Wanda..."

Humans have always fetishized violence since the dawn of civilization. In fact the argument can be made that having a tool like this a video format can lower physical tendencies due the fact that occasionally after I've had a very tough day at work cause my boss is an ass instead of killing him i go home and shoot a ton of people in GTA and actually feel better and laugh at the people i just set on fire. Yes we worry about the children, but lets say this here and now that is not the responsibility of a video game company. It is a parents job to tell the child that it is not really an you cannot do this in real life or just not buy the game for them at all. Can we quit it with the video game violence thing? It's simple really if you don't like it don''t play it, if you don't want to see it don't look at it, and if you don't want your child to be influenced by it THEN DON'T BUY IT.

This message brought to you by the Are You Really That Stupid Foundation ( or A.Y.R.T.S.F as I prefer)

Yours in Madness 

Dimitri Yakol

don't be mad Warren Spector just because Epic Mickey was horrible doesn't mean that you have to hate it just make you look silly.