Violence and video games is a topic almost as old as time itself, and we’re all getting tired of hearing people discuss whether or not violent video games are a stimulant for violence & aggression. While the entire gaming community will probably answer that query with a resounding, unanimous “NO”, many analysts and therapists alike disagree. The comedic, critical duo of Penn & Teller recently tackled this topic in the latest episode of Showtime’s Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, and the outcomes of the so-called “investigation” might surprise you.

The first part of the episode is embedded above, courtesy of Kotaku, and the second & third parts are embedded after the jump. Everyone’s favorite Floridian makes an appearance in the episode, but unfortunately, they made him out to some sort of game-hating misanthrope, rather than the forthright, but misguided man he seemed to be when I heard him speak at SGC last week. While I enjoyed the episode, and thought they made a lot of good points, I could’ve done without the crying kid at the end. Luckily, no one at his age probably watches or even gets Showtime, or the kid would be teased for life.

Now all those Thompson supporters can be shut up about violent FPS games making players violent. Research has shown that driving and even table tennis games make players more agitated and aggressive.

Dr Simon Goodson and Sarah Pearson of Huddersfield University recorded the physical and mental changes of thirty gamers, aged 18-45, when playing Xbox 360 games from three different genres: driving, first-person shooter, and a table tennis game.

The results showed that the driving games caused the greatest changes in heart rate and brain activity related to aggression, with the FPS game inducing the smallest changes. Oh yes, table tennis games make you more aggressive than shooters.

Dr Goodson and Sarah Pearson commented: “Previous researchers have made sweeping generalizations about the nature of video games. This study is one of the first to use one of the latest games consoles that have a much higher level of realism.

“Surprisingly the results showed that the driving game made participants more agitated and aggressive than the game with graphic violence. Given the high levels of realism in modern games a re-evaluation of the relationship between video games and violence is needed.”

Researchers at the University of Rochester have surveyed 2,670 frequent game players, as well and over 300 undergraduates, and found that violent content has no real effect on the appeal of a game. Using Half-Life 2 and a dev kit, the researchers made two scenarios for the participants: a “violent” one where the player had to kill things with a shotgun, and a “non-violent” on where psychic powers were used to do the same thing, although it was “more like a game of tag” than a deathmatch.

Guess what? The groups had no real difference; there’s very little to suggest that increasing violence increases enjoyment. The lead researched adds that this should be noted by game developers: making a game more violent won’t necessarily make it more fun.

Of course, violence is still fun- if, for example, Left 4 Dead’s zombies simply disappeared as opposed to tearing apart in a bloody mess, I’m sure there would be plenty of complaints. Likewise, the VATS messiness in Fallout 3 certainly adds something to the game. Still, the researchers have it on the nose- good game first, violence second.

Metronews via Kotaku.

Controversy is brewing over poll results featured in a What They Play article featured earlier this month.

The poll, published in a story titled “Parent’s More Concerned About Video Games than Alcohol or Pornography” generated significant attention from the video game media as well as mainstream news outlets.

Representatives from What They Play told Ripten.com that the polls had been taken from visitors and members of their own community. The veracity of the poll results and the article has been called into question by readers as well as Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica.

“We need to look at this data a little more critically than the way it is presented by What They Play; it doesn’t tell us what “parents” think, it tells us what readers of this particular blog think,” Kuchera wrote in an article published Aug. 12. “This was simply a survey on the site, so not only is it impossible to tell if respondents even have children, but whether these numbers are in fact a truly representative population other than What They Play readers.”

According to Tom Byron, vice-president of marketing at WhatTheyPlay.com, those results were taken from their own community of readers and visitors, a poll created to foster discussion and debate in their community.

“The results were interesting,” Byron said. “We weren’t trying to make a push-poll or seem like we were setting anything up.”

Byron, along with director of corporate communication Tom Sarris, regularly run polls for their website. Both admitted that while the have experience polling within the advertising and public relations fields, they have no professional polling training or experience.

“What we had hoped we do was start a discussion,” Sarris said. “The overriding intent was a snapshot what our community was thinking on these subjects.”

Unfortunately, the experiment escaped the laboratory. The poll was picked up by videogame bloggers and websites, including IGN, Joystiq, Kotaku, The Escapist Magazine, and Games Industry.biz.. Even the mainstream media got a hold of the poll. CBS games news carried IGN’s coverage on the story to the CBS website. The LA Times also ran the story on their website.

MediaWatch UK, self-appointed guardians of decency in entertainment, have suddenly registered Wii’s Mad World on their radar – and they’re not too chuffed about it.

“I hope the British Board of Film Classification will view this with concern and decide it should not be granted a classification,” says John Beyer, MediaWatch UK president. “Without that it cannot be marketed in Britain. What the rest of the world does is up to them. We need to ensure that modern and civilized values take priority rather than killing and maiming people.”

“It seems a shame that the game’s manufacturer have decided to exclusively release this game on the Wii,” he added. “I believe it will spoil the family fun image of the Wii.”

It’s not really a shame though, because Wii is in need of more decent third-party titles. Meanwhile, UK national the Daily Mail has got hold of this and is now in hysterics, claiming that parents are “horrified” yet they utterly failed to consult any parents on the matter. Great journalism, that.

They also hail it as the “most violent videogame ever”, conveniently forgetting they paid Anne Diamond for her opinion of Resident Evil 4. She came up with the corking, “This game shouldn’t be sold, even to adults. It wallows in violence for violence’s sake.” She’ll probably expect Platinum Games and Sega to face charges themselves if she gets hold of MadWorld.

I think it’s kind of funny, then I think it’s kind of sad. I’m not surprised at this line from the paper, which is by far the most sensationalist and inaccurate of all the UK nationals, but the watchdog shows itself up something famous.

They clearly haven’t registered the imminent release of Manhunt 2 in the UK (28 August) which is far more violent, far more graphic, and so far hasn’t destroyed the Wii’s image in the US. Nor have they considered that MadWorld is pretty much a guaranteed 18. They don’t seem to be content unless the BBFC’s is anything other than a banhammer.

Nintendo, surprisingly, takes a more balanced approach. “Wii appeals to a wide range of audiences from children and teenagers to adults and senior citizens, anyone from five to 95, as such there is a wide range of content for all ages and tastes available,” says a spokesman, who craftily qualifies this justification with, “The game is not made by Nintendo but by Sega.”

Source: Daily Mail

While talking to British music magazine NME about knife violence in the UK, Oasis lead guitarist Noel Gallagher suggests that video games are helping corrupt our youth.

When asked about the role of video games in rising violence, Gallagher was quoted as saying –

“People say it’s through violent video games and I guess that’s got something to do with it. If kids are sitting up all night smoking super skunk and they become so desensitized to crime because they’re playing these video games, it’s really, really scary.”

I’m disappointed that Gallagher feels the way he does, and not just because Wonderwall is an amazing song. It wasn’t that long ago that politicians and the media claimed that rock ‘n roll music was corrupting our youth. Video games are simply another scapegoat, just like rock ‘n roll and comic books, so I would hope that Gallagher would consider that before jumping on the bandwagon.

Source: Play.tm

Can any game deliver the experience expected after seeing the above image? Viking is a game which sets out to do just that, but can it live up to the “brutal, limb-severing combat” as promised on the back of the case? Hit the jump, click “Read more” or sneak up behind me, press X and cut me in two in slow motion to find out.

In Viking, you play the role of Skarin, a beefy Viking with a ponytail. Skarin is called upon by Freya, the goddess of Asgard, to help her defeat Hel, Queen of the Underworld, and prevent the world from being plunged into a dark age in which Hel will rule all the land.

To do this you must fight Hel’s Legion across three large, open maps. Your main objective is to free your allies from various captive states and convince them to join with you in battle. Sometimes they will join with you freely. Other times they will ask a favour of you, such as talking to somebody, taking out a watchtower full of enemies, or freeing other allies. Once you have enough people fighting on your side, you can go to battle.

These battles are the epic moments the game builds you up for. You take the men you have freed and tackle the might of Hel’s Legion. Sometimes this takes the form of an ambush, but at least once per map you are treated to an battle of impressively epic proportions. With hundreds of Vikings fighting on both sides, you must fight your way through waves of enemies to claim victory over the battlefield.

As you travel across the open world maps, you will discover more jobs to do, be they discovered by you finding them as you walk around, or from talking to people. Using a handy mini-map to keep track of your location and objectives you will never be lost as to what to do next. You also don’t need to worry about tedious travel times across the world as there is a very useful transportation system built into the world in the form of Leystones. These glowing stones allow you to jump to any another discovered stone instantly, saving a lot of otherwise dull travelling time.

The jobs themselves all feel fairly similar, from freeing a group of men trapped in a quarry surrounded by Legion, to freeing a group of men trapped in a brewery surrounded by Legion. There are a few exceptions to the general formulaic “go to location X, kill all the bad guys”, but they don’t too venture far from the mould.

As well as building your army, you will also be tasked with calling on several dragons to help you during your battles. Sadly, the dragons don’t do anything apart from fly around your base camp when you’re not in a battle, but it might tip the difficulty curve a little too favourably to the player if you could call a dragon-strike in on demand.

Not that a dragon-strike is needed, however. Using your trusty sword and axe your enemies will more often than not be no match for you. The few times I ended up in trouble were usually the times I accidentally wandered into a group of a dozen or so Legion.

The combat itself is very traditional of the third person action-adventure genre, using two buttons for attack– one big and slow, one small and quick. There’s also a button to defend and a button to dodge. As you progress, you will learn moves which get more complex and powerful. They will also be surprisingly useful, much more so than I have found in other games with similar combat styles (I’m looking at you, God of War).

This is where the game begins to shine very strongly. The combat never ceases to get old, even after killing hundreds of enemies, it’s still amazingly fun. Most likely because of the slow motion fatalities you can use. When your enemy is near dead, missing an arm or some other important body part, you get the option to kill the guy with style. Slicing a man in half and watching his entrails fall out has never quite been as much fun.

The first time I was able to pull off one of these fatalities I let out an audible “oh, wow… haha”. You know. the kind of noise you make when you watch a Rambo movie? Something so gory (yet awesome) happens and you become a little shocked. yet mildly bloodthirsty for more? In Viking, when you cut an undead Viking’s head off, then take both his arms off in one swift move, in slow motion, with lots of blood, it does feel good.

Happily, you will be doing a lot of these fatalities, as well as a few well-made quick time based finishing moves. Viking is clearly taking a page from God of War’s book on “How to make bosses die much more enjoyably using quick time events”, which is fine, because it works.

Sadly, they also seem to have taken a page out of the “How to make everything you ever want to do require you to press a single button rapidly” book. Anything from opening doors or freeing prisoners to summoning dragons seems to require a rapid button press and it gets old quickly. It also never quite detracts from the game, but becomes an annoyance you get used too.

As well as the standard set of moves, you also gain a few fatal stealth moves. I know I probably shouldn’t use the word stealth in the context of a videogame, very few people respond well to it, but in Viking it works. Your character will automatically go into a stealthy (by Viking standard) hunch, allowing you to sneak up behind enemies. If they don’t see you, and you get close enough, you can take them out in one swift slice. Practical and fun, if occasionally annoying when you get caught.

Besides combat, another area where the game shines is with its graphics. Initially, the game looks very average. Nothing stands out as looking stunning. The character models have a nice level of detail in, but they don’t bowl you over. That is, until the game shows its trump card.

During the large battles, or if you happen to chance upon an enemy army, you will see literally hundreds upon hundreds of NPCs on screen at once, many more than I have seen before. This comes at a cost of a few framerate slowdowns, but it is definitely worth it.

Another aspect of the game which is noteworthy is the lack of in-game loading screens. You get one at the start of the game but no others. Where you would expect to get one, when you warp to the other side of the island for instance, you simply don’t. This keeps you within the game and let’s you continue unhindered on your mission.

The audio is fitting for the game, yet like a few other aspects, does not seem to rise above average. The orchestral score found within battles does help instil a feeling of grandeur, but never quite pushes you over to true epic-ness.

All in all the game is best described as a cross between God of War (for its combat), Crackdown (for its open world) and Dynasty Warriors (for the large scale battles). If you enjoyed any of those games, you will likely enjoy Viking, and it’s a must buy. Although I would recommend not playing it for long periods of time, due to the mildly repetitive nature of the tasks, the payoff the game gives the player in the form of satisfying combat and mighty battles makes the game well worth it.

Bully: Scholarship Edition hits shelves in the US today (it’s out 7 March in the UK) on 360 and Wii, and (who would have thought?) someone’s pissed about it.

It’s a bit like Harry Potter– another school year starts and you know the shit is going to hit the fan. This year at Bullsworth Academy said “mud” is being flung by an international coalition of Teacher’s Unions spanning Canada, US, Britain, Australia and the Caribbean, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. Canadian Teacher’s Association president Emma Noble told them:

“We’re asking retailers to be responsible. Yes, they can sell it [Bully] and make a buck out of this, but is this the kind of marketing that they want to be [doing], selling games that glorify violence?”

“What it does is it encourages kids to target other kids, to be a bully with other kids. This doesn’t help us as teachers in the work that we’re doing at school. It also targets teachers at the school as well.”

Not that there’s a great deal that hasn’t been seen before, since Scholarship Edition is an updated version of PS2’s Canis Canem Edit – which Take-Two says has some new single-player missions, multiplayer games, as well as updated graphics, dialogue, and music.

I can’t imagine that a few new missions are going to fundamentally change the game, and as for the minigames – footage is already making the rounds. Non-violent is the polite way of looking at it.

Source: Globe and Mail

In an interview in Famitsu magazine, he says:

When you hit someone or inflict pain, faces get disfigured for example, and I want to make games that show that sort of thing.

If you don’t see the pain, you can’t understand what you’ve done, and you’ll pass through battles without taking responsibility for your actions. I don’t want to ignore that. I want players to think, even if it’s just a little, about what violence and war are.

It’s good to hear a heavyweight getting behind the industry for producing mature content, but it’s also clear to see that he means this with a caveat. Earlier in the interview he stated that he doesn’t think many games tackle violence head on.

He reinforces this point by adding: “I think there are fewer developers around today who think about making a good game.” Manhunt 2 and its ilk aren’t getting any love it seems.

As for Kojima’s vision; Metal Gear’s well established penchant for existential debate means we’re going to get a fair dose on the morals of war, but facial disfigurement? Is this some curious new IP brewing in his brain? We can’t wait.

More to the point, why is he being interviewed by Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond?

Read the interview here.