Comments on: On the Immorality of Gameplay http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/ Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:33:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Bonnie Ruberg http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-66068 Bonnie Ruberg Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:24:31 +0000 http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-66068 Hmm, I really need to go back to <i>Shadow of the Colossus</i> and check it out in that light... Hmm, I really need to go back to Shadow of the Colossus and check it out in that light…

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-65364 Jeremy Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:03:43 +0000 http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-65364 On Splicers vs Zombies: I actually find killing Zombies to be more morally queasy for the player than killing Splicers. Killing Splicers can be pretty much morally absolved by the need for self-defense (which I'm not sure anyone would argue against) and the capitalist-anarchist milieu. The fact that they are more humanized than the zombies would suggest that the Splicers have some sort of culpability in their homicidal tendencies—and from that, some sort of life forfeiture. It doesn't so much cast judgment on the player that they so readily kill the Splicers as it casts judgment on the milieu that would necessitate such a thing. Zombies, to me, bring about all those messy issues of dehumanization—literally, in this case. That, if you extend the thinking further, does bring you face to face with questions such as, "At what point is does a human lose his humanity and therefore his right to life?", the line between human and non-human, and when a person goes from being one of "us" to one of "them". Zombies may seem like an easy, morally-neutral enemy on the face of it, but if that were truly so, those melodramatic scenes where characters try to figure out what to do when one of them has been bitten wouldn't have any urgency. But then again, I'm a Romero fan. I just like zombies. Not that this hasn't been suggested before and by many people, but I think "Shadow of the Colossus" is still the prime example of moral ambiguity in games, especially in how it shades your action by refusing to give context to the gameplay mechanics. It's much more interesting than the "Good or EViL!!!" mechanics of games like KOTOR or the Little Sisters of Bioshock. On Splicers vs Zombies: I actually find killing Zombies to be more morally queasy for the player than killing Splicers. Killing Splicers can be pretty much morally absolved by the need for self-defense (which I’m not sure anyone would argue against) and the capitalist-anarchist milieu. The fact that they are more humanized than the zombies would suggest that the Splicers have some sort of culpability in their homicidal tendencies—and from that, some sort of life forfeiture. It doesn’t so much cast judgment on the player that they so readily kill the Splicers as it casts judgment on the milieu that would necessitate such a thing.

Zombies, to me, bring about all those messy issues of dehumanization—literally, in this case. That, if you extend the thinking further, does bring you face to face with questions such as, “At what point is does a human lose his humanity and therefore his right to life?”, the line between human and non-human, and when a person goes from being one of “us” to one of “them”. Zombies may seem like an easy, morally-neutral enemy on the face of it, but if that were truly so, those melodramatic scenes where characters try to figure out what to do when one of them has been bitten wouldn’t have any urgency. But then again, I’m a Romero fan. I just like zombies.

Not that this hasn’t been suggested before and by many people, but I think “Shadow of the Colossus” is still the prime example of moral ambiguity in games, especially in how it shades your action by refusing to give context to the gameplay mechanics. It’s much more interesting than the “Good or EViL!!!” mechanics of games like KOTOR or the Little Sisters of Bioshock.

]]> By: Bonnie Ruberg http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-65311 Bonnie Ruberg Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:33:37 +0000 http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-65311 Sadism in general is a big part of gaming--even with it comes to <a href="http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2006/02/06/interactivity-and-sadism/" rel="nofollow">puppies</a>... Sadism in general is a big part of gaming–even with it comes to puppies…

]]> By: Punning Pundit http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-65265 Punning Pundit Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:45:26 +0000 http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/29/on-the-immorality-of-gameplay/#comment-65265 One of the weirder moments in my gaming career came while playing KoTOR (2?). After killing tons of "Dark Jedi", I came to the boss-- and tried to turn him from the Dark side. It suddenly hit me that I only cared about the souls of the villians-- not their death squads. This seemed really wrong. I mean, if killing is bad, and turning people from the dark side is good... But killing is a fun mechanic. So we're left with 2 choices: Zombies or Nazis. Anything else is evil... One of the weirder moments in my gaming career came while playing KoTOR (2?). After killing tons of “Dark Jedi”, I came to the boss– and tried to turn him from the Dark side. It suddenly hit me that I only cared about the souls of the villians– not their death squads. This seemed really wrong. I mean, if killing is bad, and turning people from the dark side is good…

But killing is a fun mechanic. So we’re left with 2 choices: Zombies or Nazis. Anything else is evil…

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