The Guardian has a nifty infographic of violence in the top 50 video games sold in 2012. Just over half are considered violent if "cartoon violence" is excluded.
posted by ersatz on May 1, 2013 - 73 comments

Bioshock Infinite (previously) has been hailed as brilliant by many but others, even while enjoying it, have questioned the way the game deploys violence and whether this limits the audience that may otherwise have enjoyed the fascinating narrative put forth by the game. While not directly implicating the game's violence others have suggested that Bioshock Infinite might be the last of a dying breed (the Triple A, big budget, narrative game) due to the lack luster returns of such fare in the face of cheap, accessible indie and mobile games.
posted by sendai sleep master on Apr 4, 2013 - 249 comments

"In its original form, Double Dragon is, if nothing else, a game in which Lynyrd Skynyrd fights to rescue America from The Ramones, The Village People, and Grandmaster Flash." - Dan Whitehead of the Gameological Society on Double Dragon and how gaming reflects a culture's changing relationship with the urban landscape.
posted by EatTheWeak on Feb 21, 2013 - 56 comments

Jeremy Norman, an avid gamer for nearly 30 years, says violent games may have had nothing to do with shooting tragedies, but they no longer "provide an entertaining release." Norman was a reporter during the Virginia Tech shootings and now has children a few years younger than the ones killed in Newtown. "I don't want to explain to my son why daddy is shooting the guys on the television. Why that's okay, but when it happens in real life, people cry."
posted by winecork on Dec 20, 2012 - 181 comments

"Video games have for so long been like, 'Look, war is when you go in and kill people who deserve to die, because they are destroying the things that you love—and have fun.' It was such a strange disconnect for us going into this project that we had allowed war to become such a spectacle-based entertainment, and we wanted to make a game in our medium that spoke to the truth of war just like every other medium had done." Warning (,although all the linked articles state as much, all links include spoilers for the videogame Spec Ops: The line) [more inside]
posted by sendai sleep master on Sep 1, 2012 - 44 comments

US Supreme Court finds Cali. law restricting sales of violent videogames to adults violates First Amendment. [more inside]
posted by modernnomad on Jun 27, 2011 - 93 comments

Bullestorm is a rather silly FPS from People Can Fly, focusing irreverance, violence, points for ridiculous achievments and fun fun. It's marketing campaign has included the meta-game "Duty Calls", which savagly skewers it's equally violent but far more self-serious competition such as Call of Duty: Black Ops. Naturally, Fox news has freaked out and started a campaign against it, including a claim that it will cause rape. Rock, Paper Shotgun responds. FOX responds to the response. RPS responds to the response to the response, with a summary of the debacle so far.
posted by Artw on Feb 21, 2011 - 119 comments

Why the Supreme Court should rule that violent video games are free speech
posted by Artw on Nov 1, 2010 - 193 comments

In 1977, Nolan Bushnell allowed Gene Landrum to bring Chuck E. Cheese [yt] to life as a family-friendly access point to Atari games. This, perhaps, explains the pizza. [more inside]
posted by batmonkey on Dec 31, 2008 - 17 comments

Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked - Henry Jenkins (previous discussed here) points out errors in the myths we here about videogames and those who play them. It's nice to hear intelligent commentary that doesn't run along the lines of the usual messages.
posted by Dantien on Dec 13, 2005 - 71 comments

The Daily Herald is running a piece on Violence and Videogames, and to any person who plays games, it may marr their opinion of the Daily Herald for a while. In fact, Steve from www.HardOcp.com (november 18th link) wrote the author a letter to explain that what he wrote doesn't hold weight in the real world. "If a parent wanted their children to develop attitudes like Gary Ridgway, the confessed killer of at least 48 women, these games might provide a good training ground." Seems to me like the author doesnt play video games, especially considering there are other games besides first person shooters. "Video games are expected to reach $20 billion in sales this year. That is a sizable piece of the growing economy everybody is hoping for, and it works directly against what most parents want for their children." A little opinionated, but so am I. What do you think?
posted by Keyser Soze on Nov 18, 2003 - 44 comments

"In the game, the player plays the role of a character called The Postal Dude. He lives in a town where there are all kinds of people, white, black, skinny, fat, straight and gay. You can play the game in a passive role without killing anyone," Desi said.

"We are not political," he added.
posted by donkeyschlong on Jan 23, 2003 - 17 comments

Steal cars and kill prostitutes for points The fourth instalment of the popular Grand Theft Auto video game has become the fastest selling title of all time in the UK. In its first five days on the U.S. market, GTA:VC sold 1.4 million copies of Grand Theft Auto. Entertainment Weekly rated it No. 1 on its 10-best-game list for 2002. But unlike most video games, where the player represents a hero struggling against evil, Grand Theft Auto invites players to pose as a vicious criminal named Tommy Vercetti. Tommy earns money for his crimes, which include running over pedestrians, hiring and then murdering prostitutes, and killing other gangsters with guns, Uzis, swords and Molotov cocktails. Unsurprisingly, the game has its critics and protestors. Real life crimes have been linked to it. Well, MeFiers, is a society ever justified in banning something like this video game?
posted by orange swan on Dec 24, 2002 - 39 comments

'At 52x CD-ROM speeds (27,500rpm) disks shatter in a "rain of plastic particles". Is technology spinning out of control? "I haven't experienced an exploding CD but did have my copy of Neverwinter Nights somehow levitate out of the CD holder and bury itself in the nether parts of my machine with a nasty metallic thunk" Are these violent video games a danger to society?
posted by asok on Dec 10, 2002 - 24 comments

"After weeks of reviewing hard hits that have resulted in a bevy of fines, the NFL has decided to review the video game industry." When all else fails, blame video games. [from ESPN.com]
posted by eyeballkid on Dec 5, 2002 - 43 comments

Columbine parents sue game makers Claiming computer games partially at fault for Colombine killings, parents of victims have brought a law suit against game makers...will this be viewed as unprovable cause of the shootings or bring about a study of relationship between violence and games?
posted by Postroad on Apr 25, 2001 - 18 comments

Indianapolis minors can't play violent videogames anymore.
posted by skallas on Oct 13, 2000 - 10 comments

More Stupidity.
Now when little Billy goes to get that violent video game he can check out the latest issue of Juggs Magazine too!
posted by Nyarlathotep on Jul 13, 2000 - 14 comments

Violent Media is Good For Kids Interesting theory that viewing violent media, reading comics and playing bloody video games is actually cathartic for kids. Not sure it's valid, but it's interesting.
posted by brookish on Jun 30, 2000 - 1 comment