Everybody knows that Shigeru Miyamoto is a lovely little imp. Not only is he always grinning like some sort of lunatic, his games are colorful, gentle and most importantly, not all that violent. In fact, in a recent interview, the legendary game creator stated that violent content in games concerns him.
"[I'm] concerned that many developers focus just on excessive violence in order to stimulate people's minds. I believe that here are more ways of grabbing players' attention than violence alone.
I also hope that parents take advantage of age ratings when letting their children play."
Miyamoto is right when he says that there are more ways of getting our attention, but let's be honest -- rarely are they quite as effective as a hammer to the skull or a chainsaw through the neck. Like it or not, we're a violent species, and while most of us have reined in our base instincts to become civilized people, the majority of us still have an underlying fascination with the brutal.
Rather than be too concerned, I would instead be glad that a lot of people can release their violent sides through a videogame rather than let it explode in real life. There is a reason that stuff like violence and sex sells -- it's because deep down we're all vicious, horny bastards.
Even, I'd wager, Miyamoto ... and that's a scary thought.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
12:41 PM on 10.21.2008
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There are obviously tons of other things developers could use but fists/guns tend to be the thing they fall back on instead of trying new things.
Shigeru Miyamoto : videogame violence :: Chad Concelmo : old ladies
I have to agree about the implications some Nintendo games have. It has that 1950s ignorant "innocent" racism/stereotype feel to it.
I think it would be good if we had more GOOD games that didn't focus so much on violence. The problem is that obvious violence and sex are the things that sell. Since those things are easy for the unintelligent to understand, and they are the majority, they are what we see more commonly. I mean hey, I probably love getting lost in a hack and slash for ours as oppose to a puzzle game, but if it was something done well, I'd probably be just as inclined to play it. I'm not drawn to the violence. It just tends to be what's out there. I dunno. Maybe it's just a stereotypical female thing, but I'm not that into extensive violence or shooting. Or maybe it's just more of the fact that I'm sick of it since it seems to be the only thing out there these days.
Name one shmup that focuses on creation.
I mean sure, in the great Buddhist sense, violence is violence, but honestly, that isn't even a relevant comparison here.
Violence can work great (I loved Fight Club when I finally saw it), but often, use of violence is just lazy. I therefore agree about 79% with Miyamoto on this.
Shiggy has always thought that games are for children - read his interviews, he designs his games for his children, his wife - he doesn't consider adults as a viable audience for serious gaming.
What he says here is no surprise. The media shouldn't let him get away with this just because he invented super mario, where they would have repeatedly vilified any one else.
I admire the man's creativity but its obvious he has no idea on how the gaming market has evolved, its gone well past stomping on goombas(not that there's anything wrong with that) and plenty of titles have sold well that don't focus on killing, look at the sims, its about creation and its one of the finest selling series to date.