The Video Game Critic

I'm sorry if I came across as trying to be 'holier than thou', the point of my post was that I was wondering if anyone dealt with this.  Take Gears for instance, it was hyped and I was super-excited about it, but had to put it down because of this. Same with Far Cry.  And I really enjoy FPS.  It wasnt very difficult, and im not tempted to play it at all, but it was at the time.

 

I guess I was wondering if anyone stuggled with this at all.....

 

[QUOTE=voor]

That doesn't mean 'anti-Chrisitan' (like a burning cross or whatever), but dudes getting their heads blown off in graphic detail while teammates run around cursing (mild or not), is enough for me.

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On one hand, you don't mind belonging to a sect that has a logo that is a depiction of an means of torture and murder, but you don't like depictions of exploding heads? wow. Another reason I stay away from religious types.

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]I was raised a strict Catholic, but that's never deterred me from playing ANY video game.  If I was to avoid everything that offended my moral sensibilities I'd probably never listen to music, watch TV, or go to movies.  It's just entertainment.
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Wow--I hope most people have a deeper perspective than that.  You can't be serious.

[QUOTE=Quiet Flight]Video games are just games. I have no moral issues playing one or another. It's like watching a movie to me, its not a big deal. The only requirement is enjoyment of the game.
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That's why so many people/families fall apart--they don't see the damage caused by little, seemingly insignificant, compromises.  Most people don't wake up in the morning and say, "I'm going to cheat on my spouse today."  It's a series of small compromises.  It's the same with just about everything.  Ever hear someone say, "How did it come to this?" or "How did this spin so out-of-control?" 

Sometimes I catch myself considering things I would have never done ten years ago, such as pirating a DVD.  Then I have to figure out why I was trying to rationalize it, and fix the problem.  Slippery slopes.

You don't have to believe me, but it's a fact.  This isn't a religious tenet--it's just life.

[QUOTE=Crevalle][QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]I was raised a strict Catholic, but that's never deterred me from playing ANY video game.  If I was to avoid everything that offended my moral sensibilities I'd probably never listen to music, watch TV, or go to movies.  It's just entertainment.
[/QUOTE]

Wow--I hope most people have a deeper perspective than that.  You can't be serious.
[/QUOTE]
Serious about being right? I hope he is serious.

[QUOTE=Crevalle][QUOTE=Quiet Flight]Video games are just games. I have no moral issues playing one or another. It's like watching a movie to me, its not a big deal. The only requirement is enjoyment of the game.
[/QUOTE]

That's why so many people/families fall apart--they don't see the damage caused by little, seemingly insignificant, compromises. 
[/QUOTE]

So, video games cause families to fall apart?

Oh yeah, I got a rule.  I play games that are fun.  If a game isn't fun, I don't play it.  I think God would be pretty cool with that as a rule because, basically, that leads me to avoid most "morally questionable" games.   If a game has cursing in every second line, nudity, sex with prostitutes (I'm looking at you GTA), and unnecessary killing of innocents, chances are it's just covering up the fact that it blows.

[QUOTE=john-boy][QUOTE=voor]

That doesn't mean 'anti-Chrisitan' (like a burning cross or whatever), but dudes getting their heads blown off in graphic detail while teammates run around cursing (mild or not), is enough for me.

[/QUOTE]

On one hand, you don't mind belonging to a sect that has a logo that is a depiction of an means of torture and murder, but you don't like depictions of exploding heads? wow. Another reason I stay away from religious types.
[/QUOTE]

 

Exactly, what man did to JC was absolutely horrible, and demonstrates who we are at our core without Him, and that it was allowed to happen for our sakes.  You have to understand about things like sin and salvation to understand why the cross (it's not a 'logo') is a reminder...

Funny how most "mature" games shouild be rated "immature", ain't it? The problem with some of these games is they just plain overdue it, you have to limit shock value for it to really be effective! Study Hitchcock game designers! Less is more!

 

As for myself, I don't buy games I can't play in front of my kid or her cousins. That is easy for me, they don't hold my interest anyway. To each, their own. 

 

To the guy who made the anti-Christian remark, you may well have you reasons, and your entiitled to your opinion. But if you think Christianity is bad, just give moral-relativism a few more years. Something tells me we are not able to build heaven here on earth!

Great thread.

 

I'm also a Christian and have put a great deal of thought into the idea of what is OK and what is not. I've gone back and forth on this in mind, but I do feel I've come to a satisfactory solution, but it's a personal one. This is an area where everyone must find their own answers.

 

What I've come up with for myself, personally, is that I have to feel like I'm fighting for good or in pure self defense. Obviously, that is the case in most games. And that is also why Grand Theft Auto is one of the few that I just can't see myself playing (yes, it is a sandbox game, but the premise of the game seems very bent on commiting criminal acts). A recent game that I would not play would be the recent Scarface game, for the same reasons.  

 

And yeah, my worldview definitely affects how I look at games, and it is certainly a reason why I didn't like something like the language of Gears of War. Now, for me personally, it didn't bother me enough to stop playing the main campaign or multiplayer (I would say it is more of a taste thing than a spiritual issue at that point.

 

The general opinion expressed by most on this thread, which is that we all have different tolerances, is true. I have a good friend whom I consider to be a good Christian guy (the sort that lives it, not just talks); yet he has no problem at all doing the most fiendish stuff in games. Give him any sort of "moral choice" game (Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, etc.), and he'll be as evil as he can get.

 

His mind just works differently than mine. I can tell that, for him, it's just a game (and that's what he says when I talk to him about this). When I played the same games, I would feel very guilty if I did anything "wrong." At the end of the day, using the force to cause innocents to jump off a cliff in KOTOR II is literally just a slightly amusing way to push a button, send an electrical signal, and cause some one's and zero's to bounce around.

 

But for some of us, maybe that sinister virtual act affects as in some other deep, untold way, and our conscience says to us, "don't." And I think it is obvious that children are far more susceptible to this sort of influence as well. But video games are not a clearly regulated thing, the Bible (or any other religious text) doesn't mention video games (and no, things don't have to be spelled out, since we can pretty clearly see that God wouldn't like it if I started a cocaine habit, just to be clear on that), so one just has to be cautious.

 

Anyway, it does please me to see the folks on this forum thinking about those issues. Too many people *don't care*.

 

-Rob