Violence/Maturity in Video Games/Comic books

Avatar image for jointron33
jointron33

2107

Forum Posts

69

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 12

#1  Edited By jointron33

Violence/Maturity are two very delicate things in any medium, let alone comics and video games. When is it too much? Is there such a thing? Are there bad and good examples of it in both mediums?

Let's get this straight: as boring and played out as the "space marine" trope of video games is, it is a FAR different situation than the state of comics in the 90s. Forced maturity is a trend in games, but it isn't the norm. In the 90s, EVERYONE was riding this wave. Image was founded on it, Marvel whored it out, and although far less affected by it, DC was nevertheless affected(such as the "gritty" 90s reboot of Dr. Fate.) In video games, you still have countless Mario games(as HARDCORE as any FPS, mind you), Sonic games, and several other "lighter" series to play. On top of that, though there are several "mature" series' out there, many are done well. Metal Gear Solid, Gears of War, hell, MAYBE even COD to some extent. For the record, I do not like Halo and see it as a generic shooter that started a trend of copycats despite not being very good itself. This does not, however, negate the quality of these trends done well. That's the difference with alot of 90s comics: they were force shock value that did not have the quality to back up the hype. Also, something does not have to have blood and guts and take place in the gritty streets of DEATH CITY to be mature or dark. Azzarello's Wonder Woman(or really any Wonder Woman once Perez started writing her) is mature and serious, in no way reflective of the silly Golden/Silver age roots. Even modern Superman stories are grounded in modern sensibility that does not coincide with cheesy tales of old. Conversely, most video games, even those lacking BLODD AND GUHTZ, are serious minded. Sure, Nintendo has Mario and Donkey Kong, but they also have the serious minded Zelda series, as well as the dark space shooter Metroid(hell, if that isn't a modern trope I don't know what it). Sega has Sonic(finally good again), but they also have the excellent Yakuza series that is essentially a Japanese Grand Theft Auto. Very few fighting games(including Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series) are overtly humorous or light, with Street Fighter and Tekken having very serious stories, no matter how little you see in the actual games. Than again, you also have the shock value stiffness of Mortal Kombat, which is just shock value and nothing else. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, and other JRPGs are very serious, with the former being lighter only in spinoffs. Even Pokemon(games at least) are not inherently "kiddy", and only happen to have cute characters. When several of the "family friendly" Nintendo's franchises(aforementioned Zelda and Metroid, Fire Emblem, Mother, Star Fox) are more serious and have mature elements, the whole "video games all of a sudden got MEAN" shtick is as ignorant as can be. Never mind the fact that KIDS DON'T SELL GAMES and that many adults and older fans do as well, if not even more. This is one reason why I refuse to pay any mind to this Wreck-it-Ralph film, as it seems it will have some preachy lame Disney-esqe "violent stuff is bad, too bad this good stuff isn't around anymore".......even though that stuff is. But Disney can kiss my invisible donkey anyway.

Avatar image for jedixman
JediXMan

42943

Forum Posts

35961

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 16

#2  Edited By JediXMan  Moderator

It's too much when a material relies heavily on violence for success. Or when violence is portrayed unrealistically to a disturbing degree.