V Rising

GWJ Conference Call 815

Salt & Sacrifice (PS5), Trek to Yomi (PC), Vampire Survivors (PC), V Rising (PC), the expression of violence in video games, your emails, and more.

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Amanda, Glendon, and Rich are joined by Ben Chicka to talk about the expression of violence in video games.

To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind.

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Comments

00:04:46 Salt & Sacrifice
00:12:25 Trek to Yomi
00:19:47 Vampire Survivors
00:24:14 V Rising
00:35:10 The Expression of Violence in Video Games
01:05:00 Your Emails

Thanks for the measured discussion on violence in video games. I admit that, in the past, when this subject has come up it’s left me feeling like I’ve been condemned for enjoying certain games and frustrated by the framing of the subject over all.

I enjoyed this discussion a lot more. Possibly because it felt balanced but also, I think, because I am more secure and relaxed about the topic, having thought through my own feelings on violence in games and come to conclusions about what I’m ok with and what I’m not.

I can see and appreciate your perspectives and that you see a line between cartoonish and ridiculous violence and more realistic violence. That violence can be ok in certain contexts, science fiction or fantasy and less so in more realistic settings.

My problem is that the fantasies I tend to be drawn to are those more realistic and grounded worlds (I’d argue that we are using realistic in a comparative sense and that no video game is actually realistic (I can see VR getting that way.)) What thrills me are games with ordinary people in worn clothes, carrying battered rifles whilst exploring a long ruined building or small squads of soldiers moving through woodland as rain falls through tall trees. Those settings, to me, are as much a fantasy as a world with Elves and dragons or explorers on a distant planet and the violence in them just as disconnected from reality.

It’s a good discussion to have and I’m glad it’s one I can listen to now without, hopefully, getting too defensive. I’m also glad I’ve taken the time to think about the games I play and the violence contained within them even if my conclusions on what is acceptable and what isn’t differs from yours slightly or, in come cases, considerably.

"I'll put my head in any jar!" - Rich's great new quote