Oversensitivity in Gaming

(I realized after I wrote this that there is technically a spoiler for Borderlands 2 in it, but it's about the opening video. So... if you are really that butt-hurt about me ruining the opening video....don't read this until you've at least seen that much. Go youtube it or something.)

    Alright folks, let's start this out by pointing out something that a lot of people are immediately going to argue with. I realize "games are different" when compared to movies. I know that since you are much more involved in the progression and outcome of a video game, that it warrants a bit of a different perspective. That's why we have the ESRB, not the MPAA. It's different, so it must adhere to different standards.

    Now, let's start with what caused me to get really pissed off about this. A steam user (who I will not name because I don't want to draw undue attention to them, plus it's not about them) posted a complaint about the Borderlands 2 intro. Now, I have to give them credit, they made sure to point out, multiple times, that it was his/her singular opinion that fueled this post. They pointed out that the intro to Borderlands 2 contains the dragging death of a wild animal. Now, I'm not completely insensitive. I love animals. I always get angry when I hear about some douchebag kids killing the neighborhood stray because they have nothing better to do. I get angry when I hear about what the Walt Disney company did to lemmings. And it's just plain depressing when some old woman claims she "loves" her 200 cats when all she is doing is making their lives a living hell by forcing them all to live in miserable conditions. Because these things are actually pretty appalling.

    With that said... When was the last time you saw a Skag beast walking around your neighborhood? I don't remember seeing them in any wildlife documentaries. And I will bet you 20 rupees right now that there isn't a single "Crazy Skag Lady" anywhere on this planet. Why? Because Skags are not real. They're an invention by the folks at Gearbox. And, as a completely fictional invention, they don't have rights. They're not really alive. They are made up, and we can do whatever the hell we want to them. Like blowing them to tiny pieces with rockets, hitting them with buses, filling them with sub-machine gun bullets, or just beating them to a red chunky pulp with our bare hands. All, by the way, things you could do in the first Borderlands game.

    This is a video game. It's not real life. If it were, I'd be a little more inclined to agree. But it's a video game that is rated "M for Mature (17+) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Sexual Themes, and Use of Alcohol". When you buy a game with a character on the cover who is holding hands to his chin like guns and every other character on it is either standing next to or holding a deadly weapon... what did you expect? Because I sure as hell didn't expect a puppy-petting simulation. I expected exactly what it told me on the front cover. That's why the rating is there. The cover could be completely blank besides that ESRB notice, and I'd still know what I was getting into. That's also why it says "17+". Because the only way we, as a society, have to measure maturity in a consistent and reliable method is through age. It may not be perfect, but dammit, it's all we have. The ESRB has determined that anyone who passes an ID check for being of the correct age is perfectly capable of realizing that this game does not depict real life and thus, some of the acts contained herein may not be suitable for reenactment with Fluffy. This user also mentions the idea of "Violence in Context", or the idea that shooting them in the game when they attack you is very different than dragging them behind a moving vehicle when they are (possibly) already injured, then goes on to point out that they "can't stomach pretending to drag one to death for fun".

    Well, congratulations. That means you are a sane person. Here's the good news. You didn't pretend to drag one of these fake animals to death for fun. Hell, at this point, you haven't even shot one in self-defense. What you did, is watch a group of the game's (quite obviously mentally unstable) villains torture a wild animal. Then you saw one of them headbutt and knock out a fellow bandit, just for the hell of it, before perching himself precariously on the hood of a moving vehicle. Finally, you watched the whole group get hit by a damn train, likely killing them all.

    I have to be careful here, because while I have to point out that the creature is not real, I'm skating a thin line here. Because I'm all for making the game seem real. Immersion is something I will always have a hard time arguing against. It's what makes the game so much more fun. That suspension of disbelief is how you ensure the game can mean something to you. My point is, nobody raises an eyebrow when Superman takes a bullet like a drop of water, because it makes sense in context. "Reality in Context" is what we need to be concerned with. As long as you are immersed in the game and believe it all, that's the point. But as soon as you click "quit" you can take comfort in realizing that "No animals were harmed in the making of this game".

    What bothers me even more about this is that people think that because something is angering or appalling or horrifying, it shouldn't be in videogames. I most recently encountered this atrocity when I was reading about the new Tomb Raider reboot (which i still have high hopes for, despite its extensive delays). When discussing the game, one of the developers mentioned that in the beginning of the game, she gets captured, beaten, abused, etc. I don't remember the exact wording he used, but he essentially implied that she may have been sexually abused. Almost immediately, tons of people got up in arms about how horrible it was to have that happen in the game. What? Because something is upsetting and miserable, we can't talk about it? We can't show it? I understand this specifically is a very sensitive issue. But that's the point. It's a sensitive issue, but it DOES happen. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away. You cannot censor something and make it go away. Censoring the discussion, representation or dramatization of something won't make the real thing go away. No matter how much we wish it would. It's like when the BBC censors and bans songs purely because they talk about (or sometimes are just perceived to talk about) things such as drugs, sex, and political views. Hell, the theme song to a Frank Sinatra film was outright banned from radio play simply because the movie had to do with drugs. IT WAS INSTRUMENTAL! Now, that is a very specific and slightly outdated example, but it's a mentality still goes on to this day. Some people think that not talking about things makes them disappear. And that if we don't expose people to something, they'll NEVER find out. The opposite is actually the case. Talking about things, and getting awareness out there is what helps people to deal with them easier.

    People don't get all up in arms over a girl being raped on your local prime time cop drama (anymore) because most people are intelligent enough to understand that it is horrifying, but it does happen. I realize that a lot of people play games to escape reality, but that's why I can almost guarantee you that Lara Croft will do a pretty damn good job of paying all those nice gentlemen back for their treatment of her. You don't put something like that in a game for her to just "deal with". That's why it's a videogame. Because you can do things that most people would not be able to. It's called empowerment.

If we had banned and outlawed everything that had "questionable" subject matter, then many amazing pieces of art would never have esisted. The supposed "Greatest Love Story Ever Written", William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" would have been banned. In case you folks don't know... (Spoiler alert) THEY BOTH FUCKING DIE IN THE END!

    Basically, what it comes down to is, people need to lighten up. It's a game. Nobody got hurt. And unless you decide to start reenacting the scenes within it, nobody really will be. It's one of the greatest upsides to the medium. I can come home after a shitty day at work and kill a bunch of fake people and animals as long as I want to blow off steam. And nobody will ever have to worry about it.

    We have to be VERY careful with how we present this on this site. Because I love getting into a game. Really experiencing it. But we all have to remember that no matter how much the plight of the Planet versus the Shinra Corporation touches us, no matter how much that Necromorph in the corner scares the living shit out of us, and no matter how much we hate how many times Ocelot has gotten plans to the fucking Metal Gear... at the end of the day, it's just a game.


        *23 Moogles were horrifically tortured in the writing of this article*