While it’s a debate as old as time ( Beauty and the Beast song stuck in your head now isn’t it?), the conclusions seemingly vary depending on whom is making the argument. But what do those in the game industry itself think?
Ken Levine, creator of BioShock , explains things in pretty black and white terms. What’s the reason games tend to seem so violent? It’s because it’s simple to do. “…there’s been a lot of violence in video games…because it’s relatively easy to simulate. And generally it’s been … like action movies, there’s an easily perceivable market for it. I think the reaction to the violence is more an expression of people building confidence in the industry’s ability to express itself in more diverse fashions.” He reveals.
Looking ahead, Levine anticipates the future of gaming, not from a psychological standpoint, but from the distribution side of things. Touting the advent of digital downloads, Levine states that financial resources will be better directed to the appropriate places when advertising is no longer required on such a large scale. “…when you don’t have to appeal to 8 or 10 million people if you can just digitally distribute things like you can now. You can do that because you don’t need to spend the money to put it on trucks to get it to a store and deal with retailers and shippers and all that. So you can really try to have a 1:1 interaction with a smaller, more dedicated fanbase and give them the thing they want. You couldn’t do that 20 years ago when I started.” Says Levine.