Hi Guys, Time For A Little Rant Me Thinks. :)
This week I have been pondering over the fact that most of the games we get have to be processed through the government, to be censored. Now, I had no problem with this whatsoever until the Manhunt UK release issue. I was not planning to buy the game at all, as I thought it looked out dated and not worth a look, but it got me thinking... Recently Condemned 2 : Bloodshot was released which allows players to kill their enemies in far nastier ways than Manhunt 2. And I thought to myself, "Ok, so. They won't release a Wii/PS2 game which looks outdated and is not too violent." "And yet they will release Condemned 2 to the public when it is far a more gory/creepy game."
This got me slightly annoyed, for I felt I had a right as a gamer to choose what games I play. I do not want to play a game that someone else feels is "clean" enough for release in the UK when I may think completely differently. One of the main issues that surrounds violent video games is crime. People seem to give the presumption that since people have played GTA etc. They will be more likely to commit crimes... What?! I play Gears of War and you don't see me running around the streets with a chainsaw in hand trying to chop people up!
This is one of the reasons I feel slightly angry at the fact that the BBFC tells me what I can and cannot play. I am 13/14 years old and I play: BioShock ( 18 ), Gears of War ( 18 ), TimeShift ( 18 ), F.E.A.R. ( 18 ) and DEAD RISING ( 18 ). I have not been influenced by the games in no shape or form, only basking in how awesome they all are. :) My parents do not mind if I play these games as there is a good purpose for me fufilling the tasks and not just mindless killing.
DEAD RISING - You must kill Zombies in order to survive your neck being chewed on. (By the way BBFC zombies don't exist)
F.E.A.R. - You are a top government paranormal agent and are fighting the paranormal as well as clones to surivive and uncover your past.
TimeShift - You are a famous scientist who has been developing a time travel suit, you travel back in time to an alternate future and must find your work partner and kill him. To try and reverse this alt history he has created.
Gears of War - Aliens called Locusts are rising from the ground and have killed most of the people on the planet. Now fighting with the force of the C.O.G.s behind you, you must try to put an end to the locust horde. (By the way BBFC Locusts don't exist)
BioShock - You are trapped in an undersea city and must find your way back home, fighting big-ass divers and mutant humans along the way. (Big Daddies Do Not Exist)
All these games all cannot occur at the young age we are at now, I cannot go out right now and buy a 9mm Pistol and run aronud shooting people in the knee caps! And besides people should know that it is only a game! It's not something they should pull off in real life or it will happen anytime soon. IT'S FICTION!
Now with violence out of the way, I will get around to bad language.
Bad language is so common nowadays, that even 6-7 year olds can be caught saying "F***" or "D***". Since society has leaked these words out in a number of forms such as: Music, Games and even the people who are around us say them. And too be honest I do not see why people are so touchy about them... If someone walks up to me and says "Who are you looking at you D***head" I'm not offended at all. They're just words, they're not knives, guns... they're words. Stick and stones my friends, Sticks and Stones.
Just because we may use bad language does it mean we should makea huge fuss over it? Bad language is just a form of expressing ourselves in a way that we are strongly offended by. And now we come back to my point once more... WHY ARE PEOPLE OFFENDED BY THIS?! They're just damn words! If you believe them too be true and suck yourself in of course you are going to be offended, so choose not too!
I think I have a right as a gamer and a person too choose what games I play, to have them as they were meant to be developed. Uncensored and Pure!