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What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

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Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#52
post #50

Seems 90s christian soccer-mom puritanism is making a comeback. I wonder how ultra violent gore action is somewhat passable but showing a bit of female skin is a no-no, US morals are funny.

While not related to the violence in MK, I also tend to think that if you get triggered by everything, you stop accepting other perspectives that don't openly concur with your way of thinking.

Just like in Farenheit 451

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#53
The real shame for me is that Mortal Kombat is not even a particularly good game.

Right now, fighting game fans are spoiled for choice with well-designed interfaces and competitive, balanced character design.

Plug for my personal favorite:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/...

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#54
post #3

Some people (John Romero/Carmack and team) actively like working on stuff like this. Seems like they should be finding volunteers if that wasn't the case. There's enough of demand for video game jobs I'm sure it can't be hard.

"So, Dexter? Hannibal? How's that ribcage-ripping animation coming along?"

Surely there exist perfectly sane and law abiding creative people who aren't disturbed by fictional depictions of gore. Comparing people like Romero to fictional serial killers is just silly.

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found many movies (war, horror) unwatchable after having been in combat. People do die in some of the worst ways. Their last moments will make you shudder to think about. I don’t find pleasure in, and I look down upon those who enjoy, terrible death/torture scenes. Some scenes in games are too much for sure, but there are far more horror scenes that I think never should have been made and have no place as entertain…

One point of view is that it's important for people who have not been in combat to see these things. It makes war less abstract and educates people on what the reality of combat is like.

A counter-argument is that it romanticizes / glorifies it. They don't get the reality because that's about impossible (or makes for a depressing movie).

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#56

The real shame for me is that Mortal Kombat is not even a particularly good game. Right now, fighting game fans are spoiled for choice with well-designed interfaces and competitive, balanced character design. Plug for my personal favorite: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/...

I think it's rather subjective. MK X was a great game in my opinion. Personally I'm hooked on DBFZ at the moment and think it's the best fighting game around. Certainly, at least to me, the most entertaining to watch at high levels.

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found many movies (war, horror) unwatchable after having been in combat. People do die in some of the worst ways. Their last moments will make you shudder to think about. I don’t find pleasure in, and I look down upon those who enjoy, terrible death/torture scenes. Some scenes in games are too much for sure, but there are far more horror scenes that I think never should have been made and have no place as entertain…

One point of view is that it's important for people who have not been in combat to see these things. It makes war less abstract and educates people on what the reality of combat is like.

I have heard this argument before. I think there are some works of art that do "make war real" -- Saving Private Ryan viscerally portrayed how chaotic and horrible fighting is, in a way that made any kind of heroism seem oddly small in comparison.

But I think most violent art instead aims for that apparently very popular mixture of disgust and titillation. For example, there are various scenes (for which I've read descriptions, not watched) in Game of Thrones that make me seriously question the state of a culture where this is extremely popular entertainment. And I do not buy the idea that these scenes force people into sober contemplation of the way mortality yokes us all together.

But I strongly dislike violence more realistic than, say, the Avengers, so I'm biased here.

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#58
post #38

I grew up on 90s video game violence. Doom, Mortal Kombat, Duke Nukem, etc. I've found that over time, the type of violence that disturbs me is the one that is the most realistic. I had friends growing up who joined the military because they _loved_ games like Call of Duty and Counter-Strike. Many of those friends came back with severe cases of PTSD. Mortal Kombat 11, Doom (the reboot), are not for everyone. But It's…

I think I was more disturbed by the news on TV when I was a kid, which was long before even remotely realistic games started appearing. There are so many depictions of violence in everyday life be it video games, the news, movies, music, and even art. I wonder if they had the same conversations back in the day, e.g. battle of 1066 etc, etc.

Same, I played a fair amount of Goldeneye as a kid with no problem, but around the same age I saw a news clip of the execution of Nguyen Van Lem and remember being seriously disturbed by it.

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sales figures would indicate that, wouldn't they?

True I guess. "Acceptable" was probably the wrong word. "Most enjoyable"? Still, do gamers think it's a great game while coping (and would have preferred less gore) or is more gore always preferred?

Mortal Kobat's niche is largely people who really like the over the top gore for whatever reason, in the same way some people are horror movie gore fans. MK is also one of the few Western fighting games left which have a different play style to other fighters like Street Fighter, UNIST, or Tekken which probably makes up the most of the playerbase that might fall in the less gore category.

Re: What It's Like to Work on Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat

#60
post #50

Seems 90s christian soccer-mom puritanism is making a comeback. I wonder how ultra violent gore action is somewhat passable but showing a bit of female skin is a no-no, US morals are funny.

What is soccer mom puritanism? I've never heard of that.
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