This week saw the biggest launch in gaming history with the release of Infinity Ward and Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. News broke last week about an alleged scene during the game in which players, in the role of an undercover military soldier, had to gun down innocent civilians at an airport all the while in the guise of a Russian terrorist. The story was later confirmed as legit by Activision themselves which really started the ball rolling on violence in games, once again. A fellow GS user by the name of Aberinkulas wrote a fantastic blog covering this very issue, but it did get me thinking - how far is too far?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

At the age of 19 I'm hardly the oldest user here, though I'm certainly not the youngest, but I've been gaming for more than a decade now, and in that time I've played many titles that deal with "adult" issues. Violence, in particular, has been present in games for a long period of time. Come 1994, the ERSB were founded to help rate games on their content and themes to provide consumers with a better understanding of the nature of a game, as well as its intended audience. The ERSB has never been mandatory but with all three console manufacturers (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony) insisting that no game can be published on their console without an ERSB rating, publishers are pretty much forced to submit their games for rating.

I feel that as we have moved forward, games have become more and more realistic. It's not just that characters on the street in Grand Theft Auto IV look more real - they act it too. They have their own little routines and respond to your actions in a manner that's supposed to reflect the actions of a real person. Having played many games like the GTA series, I have no problem with the issues raised in "mature" games. If I kill someone in a game I know there are no consequences outside of the gaming world itself. The character will most likely spawn at the other end of the road. Likewise, should I pick up a hooker for a night of cheap thrills, I don't have to worry about what my money's being used for, or who it's going to. I feel as a adult that I can deal with this issues for what they are - actions that exist in a purely virtual world.

Grand Theft Auto IV

But this is where things get a little hazy. I have no problem killing someone in a game, nor do I have a problem paying for sex. However, I genuinely believe that should I play a game tomorrow that had a scene in which I had to rape someone, I couldn't do it. Not because I feel as though I may lose all sense of perspective and realism, and commit the crime in the real world, but simply because it just feels so very wrong to me. So why do I have no problem killing game characters, but the idea of rape is worse?

It's a question of exposure. I've played many games where I've had to kill, and I've even more films that feature killing, so it's not surprising that my view point on killing, and the way in which it affects me, might have been toned down. Problem is, when I read about a poor individual losing their life in the paper, it affects me. It elicits a response from me - a moment of sadness, perhaps even anger at those who committed such a horrible act. So it has nothing to do with the cheapening of murder in my eyes, the fact that the event is so commonplace these days, it's lost all significance. Perhaps it has something to do with how I view both acts; that of murder and that of rape. Whilst both are horrible, I do feel that rape is the worse of the two. There's something twisted in the way that a victim will most likely carry their ordeal around with them for the rest of their life - a life that will forever be filled with fear.

Game developers are pushing the boundaries every year - what was not acceptable 20 years ago is certainly now. That's down to the changing views of society as a whole but it's something that developers are quick to pick up on. There's no doubt that big controversies can help stimulate a game's sales even more, much like it's down for many films over the years. Many within the gaming community still feel as though the industry is viewed as the little brother of Hollywood - great for a bit of fun but incapable of showcasing the more adult themes of human nature. What films have been able to do for years still results in headline news for the gaming industry. But the industry is moving closer and closer towards its elder sibling and I wonder just how long it will be before a developer dares to incorporate rape into their game, and the gaming public (or a majority there of) accept it.

I do love a bit of shamless self-promotion! I'm now level 15 - hurray!

Just got the new PES game last friday (launch day, of course) and I've been playing for a couple of days now. I'm still going to wait until the end of the week before I consider writing a review, but so far it looks like a vast improvement over 2009's edition. Still a few issues that need worked out and a couple others that I'm unsure what to think of, hoping I will come the end of the week.