Since videogames launched onto the market a great deal of fear has surrounded the consequences of what violent games can do to its players and what the repercussions will be of this play. From first-person shooter games to games like Grand Theft Auto, many videogames now feature disturbing violence. Many videogames and issues surrounding gaming have crossed over into cinema; an example of this is seen in Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s Gamer (2009).
Gamer follows death row inmate, Kable, who decides to take part in the slayers game where inmates are given a chance to compete in 30 battles for their release from prison. These slayers are implanted with nano cell technology that allows for remote access functioning. This remote access functioning allows for other humans to control the slayers and play them as they are set in a type of large-scale videogame setting. Keeping with the course's theme, Gamer demonstrates similar concepts raised in cyberculture works, specifically the issue of materiality. Like eXistenZ, (David Cronenberg, 1999) Gamer “offers no escape from materiality: the gaming system merges with the players’ nervous systems” (Hotchkiss, p. 24). This is because technology is implanted into the brain of slayers, fusing their body with the gaming environment. The slayer is a "voluntarily mutated cyborg" (Hotchkiss, p. 26). Their body becomes part of the videogame world. The object of the game is to compete in a sort of war setting, and to kill or be killed and arrive safely at the checkpoint to continue onto the next battle. Gamer is a great example of videogame violence blending with reality, however it seems recent years have also witnessed the gaming industry take the concept of play and violence too far into reality.
On October 31st 2007, the videogame Manhunt 2 was released onto the market, however the public had already heard a great deal about the game as it was scrutinized by media outlets prior to its release. The game grew such media attention because months before its release it was banned in Britain. The Britain Classification Body banned the game because
Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context, which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game. (Parfitt, B., 2007, para. 4).
The video game is the sequel to Manhunt, a game released in 2003. Manhunt 2 allows the gamer to be an escapee of a mental institution who embarks on a killing spree. The game was released on playstation and Wii, but it was the Wii version of the game that had many in shock. Wii asks the player to physically act out the motions of killing someone in the game. It is the player who must create the physical motion of stabbing someone with their Wii controller. The idea of creating the motion of killing had many question whether this was an acceptable game to be on the market because it offers a gamer an opportunity to simulate murder.
As disturbing as this game is, it does raise the question of what is acceptable gaming? Are first-person shooter games ok because players are not actually doing the motions of killing as the Wii game console asks the player? The media attention surrounding Manhunt 2 may just be the “great ambivalence over the transformation of human experience” (Hotchkiss, p. 18). It seems it was the fear of technology and the unknown that made so many panic over the videogame. It seems the closer we get to realistic technological experiences, the more disturbed audiences get, like the Uncanny Valley theory discussed last week in relation to Final Fantasy. Gamer and Manhunt 2 show the great possibilities of the gaming world, however Manhunt 2 illustrates that a more realistic aspect added to the gaming world, creating the motions of killing as opposed to pressing a button, will disrupt people’s acceptance of a game. Getting too real is going too far. Spectators are over saturated with disturbing violent media. Because of this many spectators are now desensitized to gruesome violence. Spectators would not consume violent media if they did not enjoy the spectacle and pleasure received from participating in these games. Manhunt 2 is merely the evolution of gaming, but it is necessary to keep in mind how far the gaming industry is willing to go to shock and keep gamers playing.
Check out the following links for information about Manhunt 2:
CBS Evening News YouTube clip discussing Manhunt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ExNxpob-_A&feature=related
BBC News Article- “Manhunt 2 release saga continues” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7209766.stm
MCV Article- “BBFC rejects Manhunt 2”
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