Will Hatred Cause a Rash of Violence?

Hatred is a third-person shooting game created by Destructive Creations, a development house operating out of Poland. The game is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of next year, and for the time being it is only going to be released for Windows. The game is expected to be violent and gory.

This sounds like a description of just about any mundane game that comes out these days, but for some odd reason, Hatred has stirred up yet another controversy in gaming, right on the heels of #Gamergate. Is it because there are no female or transgendered protagonists? Is it because the game will only be released to the PC Master Race? Is it because it's a third-person shooter rather than another first-person military shooter clone? Well, that could be a part of it, because instead of taking out tangos, players will be going on a rampage slaughtering civilians in this game, or at least this is what is being said, and critics are saying that this will cause impressionable behavior and real-life violence.

This is an argument that has been debated for years now (centuries actually, if you include media other than the relatively new entertainment form of video games). In one of my university elective classes, I wrote a paper explaining how I believed that video games were not the root cause of school violence. In more recent years, I have been reading more about society and "the redpill', and I now believe and have observed how the media can effect the minds and opinions of both young and old. However, I still firmly believe that violent video games will not cause gamers to go on Elliot Rodgers-esque killing sprees.

The real causes of violence run much deeper. These causes can be intense depression, hopelessness, lack of parental involvement, and much, much more, but playing games alone is not going to cause people to want to act out what their virtual avatars do on screens in reality. trust me. I did a lot of gaming in my day, and playing games did not make me want to go on a rampage; it only made me want to play more and sit on my ass accomplishing nothing of real value, but I had fun. Parents should be involved in their children's lives, making sure that they know the difference between virtual violence and violence in the real world, and that real actions have real consequences. Adults that want to go berserk because they cannot get laid or whatever should learn game, take measures to stop being a social degen, maybe even travel to some place where they'll have an easier time with the women. Putting an end to violent games will not solve these problems (except to the degree that social degen nerds that are out of shape with no job or social skills might be forced to go outside and develop themselves, but this could apply to "acceptable" games like Candy Crush and the like too).

These days, when a lot of games are heading to be polite, colorful, politically correct, and trying to be some kind of higher art, rather than just an entertainment – we wanted to create something against trends. Something different, something that could give the player a pure, gaming pleasure. (Quoted from the developer's website).

With games like Depression Quest being released, I'd have to agree with the above statement. It seems like the creators may have dabbled in some redpill reading, maybe the 48 Laws of Power. Looking at the trailer (watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrX7G-1xPLs), they must have adhered to the Sixth Law of Power, since it certainly has gotten a lot of attention. I must say that I am intrigued myself.

Personal Finance Software on Steam? What Now?

I was browsing the Steam sales today and came across a program called You Need a Budget 4. At first, I thought that it was some kind of indy game, you know, one of those hipster meme humor games.

To my surprise, this is not a joke at all. This is a legit budget program. I guess it will help people, especially those that like to squander their money on every single game that Steam puts on sale, but it was quite a shock to see a non-game application available for purchase. I wonder if this is a marketing ploy to get more people to install Steam (which is required in order to use the program), then suck them in to buy more games. if this is the case, then they certainly will need to get on a budget!

End of the World T-Shirt Sales

So, the end of the world is nigh. Tomorrow, December 21, 2012 is the end of the Mayan Long Count.

If you're like me, you're probably skeptical about this whole situation and take it for granted that we'll be around to see 2013. If so, then you ought to buy a t-shirt commemorating your survival of the end of days. 

These t-shirts are on sale with a reduced price until 11:59 PM on Saturday, December 22nd Pacific Standard Time, so if you're willing to take a leap of faith, you can get one with the reduced price! Prices will go up by $5.00 USD after the deadline, so make your order now!

You can order your "I Survived The End Of The World" t-shirts at The Imperium Shop.

#1reasonwhy: Women and Game Development

So, I was browsing Twitter earlier this evening (well, yesterday evening now), and I came across a hashtag called "#1reasonwhy". At first, I thought that this was just another post by Tweeters with "swag" that will only live once, you know, #YOLO. I was wrong; the tag is about the lack of female representation in gaming and game design.

I got into a bit of a debate about the target audiences of most games, which would be young White males. Of course, logically, if companies want to make money, they should target this general audience since they make more money off of it than targeting ethnic minorities or women. There is also the argument that targeting these groups may alienate the majority, or worse, offend minorities and women if the game came off as exploitation. The latter portion of the second argument leads back to the initial cause of the tag: lack of representation in development.

If there were more women or minorities in game development, then perhaps characters that fall into these groups would not come off as one-dimensional or stereotypical, and these groups would not feel offended or exploited by how they are represented in games. I am not a woman, so I will never know the feeling of a woman that feels underrepresented in the field, but I can somewhat relate since I am not a White man.

I am, however, a man. By nature, I am a masculist and opposed to hard feminism. I am a young, heterosexual man with standards, and yes, I like sex. In society, I see a march towards denying men the right to want attractive women, while women have the right to want attractive men. I stand against this. I am not of the school of thought, however, that a woman has no place in the workplace, and in said workplace, that they should be victims of sexual harassment (the same goes for men too though). I also believe that if a woman can be effective at a job, then she has every right to compete for or hold that job in my book.

I am not exactly a bleeding heart liberal though. I do not believe that it is my purpose in life to fight other people's battles at the expense of fighting me own. I am not a conservative either. I tried that back in my college days to fit in and didn't get a $100 prize or hot Japanese wife, so I think that I'll stop playing that game too. You won't hear me telling you to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" to blow off the fact that people can indeed be victimized. I believe that victims do exist, but it is the victims' duty to stop being victimized, and in some cases it might be up to said victims to take the boots and the straps to those that victimize them.

I say that to say this: society will not change overnight, but with a good skill set and the tools that are available (often for free), you can put something together yourselves. Not a programmer? No problem. As I stated in my previous post, there is more to game development than programming. Sound designers, voice actors (and actresses, of course), story designers, and even choreographers have found jobs related to the development of games. If you have an idea or a dream to get into the field, pursue it. Try to find like minds and network. It may be a long shot, but it is possible to put something together, and maybe even start your own company!

If you need more inspiration, then check out the hashtag #1reasonmentors. Women are getting their act together and networking; if only Black men would do the same.