8 ms·

I must admit, I don't understand the appeal of the most violent video games. I recently read "The Last of Us Part II" described as being "about [...] the awful

by pansa2 6y ago

I must admit, I don't understand the appeal of the most violent video games. I recently read "The Last of Us Part II" described as being "about [...] the awful things that humans can do to each other" [0]. Why would I want to spend my leisure time experiencing that? How is that entertaining? [0] https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/dec/23/the-15-best-video-games-of-2020 https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/dec/23/the-15-best-vi...

gruez 6y ago
Is it any different than any other forms of art (eg. movies, tv, books) that depict human cruelty?
- afandian 6y ago
  I agree with you, and the GP. Hyper-realistic movies depicting human unpleasantness aren't much different to hyper-realistic games depicting human unpleasantness. Why do people enjoy spending their leisure time experiencing that? It's not a rhetorical question.
  - gruez 6y ago
    >Why do people enjoy spending their leisure time experiencing that? It's not a rhetorical question. I don't think anyone's watching the show specifically for the unpleasant scenes, it's just that the unpleasant scenes enhances story/drama aspect.
  - sosborn 6y ago
    I enjoy movies that make me uncomfortable because of the self-reflection they tend to induce. Those films don't make me want to treat people poorly, they make me want to be kinder.
borepop 6y ago
>Why would I want to spend my leisure time experiencing that? How is that entertaining? As another commenter above noted, it's a form of wish fulfillment and imaginary transgression, which is particularly appealing to teenage boys, since virtually all forms of actual aggression are off limits. Sports are the only arena where boys are allowed to be physically aggressive in real. Other than that, we have an entire group of young people who once would have been learning to hunt and kill and defend their clan but who now have to sit around and do very little besides read, write, and stare at computers. Arguably it's a positive thing to have less violence, but it leads many young men to wonder why the hell their bodies are strong and powerful. In video games, they at least get to pretend that there is some utility to being able to be forceful.
jjice 6y ago
The same reason we read stories like Hamlet, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill A Mocking Bird, etc in school. So much of what we read has to do with awful things people do and a reflection on that. In the case of video games, there are some that are mindless violence, but The Last of Us Part II is an example of a game that reflects on those and show the real outcome of what people can do to each other and how evil and pointless it can be.
scotty79 6y ago
> "about [...] the awful things that humans can do to each other" > [...] How is that entertaining? I know what you mean. I have the same feelings, but restricted to depictions in my native language of people hurting each other in psychologically realistic ways. I'm not bothered with any physical violence especially voiced with English dialogues. They somehow seem cartoonish to me. But I pretty much have to avoid all Polish movies because they often use those really unpleasant themes. They are made because they have audience. I have friends who love those movies and themes. I tried to find out, what exactly appeals to them in those themes and best I could get out of them was that those brutal themes are somehow more 'real', that they expose how people 'truly' are. And that somehow has a value for them. Probably morbid fascination pays a part in this too.

by pansa2 6y ago

gruez 6y ago

Is it any different than any other forms of art (eg. movies, tv, books) that depict human cruelty?

afandian 6y ago
I agree with you, and the GP. Hyper-realistic movies depicting human unpleasantness aren't much different to hyper-realistic games depicting human unpleasantness. Why do people enjoy spending their leisure time experiencing that? It's not a rhetorical question.
- gruez 6y ago
  >Why do people enjoy spending their leisure time experiencing that? It's not a rhetorical question. I don't think anyone's watching the show specifically for the unpleasant scenes, it's just that the unpleasant scenes enhances story/drama aspect.
- sosborn 6y ago
  I enjoy movies that make me uncomfortable because of the self-reflection they tend to induce. Those films don't make me want to treat people poorly, they make me want to be kinder.

borepop 6y ago

>Why would I want to spend my leisure time experiencing that? How is that entertaining? As another commenter above noted, it's a form of wish fulfillment and imaginary transgression, which is particularly appealing to teenage boys, since virtually all forms of actual aggression are off limits. Sports are the only arena where boys are allowed to be physically aggressive in real. Other than that, we have an entire group of young people who once would have been learning to hunt and kill and defend their clan but who now have to sit around and do very little besides read, write, and stare at computers. Arguably it's a positive thing to have less violence, but it leads many young men to wonder why the hell their bodies are strong and powerful. In video games, they at least get to pretend that there is some utility to being able to be forceful.

jjice 6y ago

The same reason we read stories like Hamlet, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill A Mocking Bird, etc in school. So much of what we read has to do with awful things people do and a reflection on that. In the case of video games, there are some that are mindless violence, but The Last of Us Part II is an example of a game that reflects on those and show the real outcome of what people can do to each other and how evil and pointless it can be.

scotty79 6y ago

> "about [...] the awful things that humans can do to each other" > [...] How is that entertaining? I know what you mean. I have the same feelings, but restricted to depictions in my native language of people hurting each other in psychologically realistic ways. I'm not bothered with any physical violence especially voiced with English dialogues. They somehow seem cartoonish to me. But I pretty much have to avoid all Polish movies because they often use those really unpleasant themes. They are made because they have audience. I have friends who love those movies and themes. I tried to find out, what exactly appeals to them in those themes and best I could get out of them was that those brutal themes are somehow more 'real', that they expose how people 'truly' are. And that somehow has a value for them. Probably morbid fascination pays a part in this too.