On violent games being “Fun”
Posted in Game Development, General, Philosophy on December 10th, 2008So, I wrote this in response to a thread on someone else’s blog for a post about comments made by someone else on yet another blog, but that’s irrelevant. I’m reposting just my response here because I think it stand up well enough on it’s own.
Fun has a connotation that makes it a dangerous word to associate with topics such as extreme violence and torture. Assuming all games have to be “fun” is one of those cultural memes harming our industry like assuming “all games are for kids”.
Schindler’s List is not a “fun” movie, but it delivers a compelling experience, and makes a lasting reflective impression.
A game about torture shouldn’t be designed to be “fun”, it should be designed to deliver a compelling experience that showcases or even questions the morality and methods of torture, and/or why societies and governments resort to it.
Likewise, a game about organized crime (GTA) shouldn’t be “fun” it should provide a compelling experience that highlights the violence and tragedy of organized crime.
If our industry is going to mature we need to take our medium seriously and embrace that it can be used for fun, but can also be used to deliver compelling experiences about topics that span the full spectrum of human thought and emotion.
