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The recent increase in video game violence is generally viewed as a sign that video games are maturing, becoming more adult-orientated. It's true that the rise in blood and gore reflects an audience that is "growing up", but I think to call it maturity is a misnomer. To me, what really shows that video games are maturing is the coverage of deep, often time emotionally stimulating concepts which parallel those in our world. Games that cover topics like religion, racism, and sexism are good examples of games "growing up." To me, the discussion of deep social and psychological issues feels like a step up from the 8-bit days. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for enhanced visual detail.
Starting back into even the 16-bit days, with games like Final Fantasy IV, we can see the RPG genre leading its brethren into the land of mature concepts. Death became more than just a character disappearing from sight, or a Game Over screen. Instead, when your characters 'died' they left forever; the story continued without them. Ideas like friendship and loyalty were developed and soon became a necessity for any story-driven game. Later entries in the genre, such as Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger, refined this concept and expanded on it, leading to deeper stories and subject matter.
Fast-forward to the 32-bit era - specifically Final Fantasy VII. Here we have a combination of content maturity and graphical maturity coming together to make, as it’s considered by many, a very emotional game. The death of Aeris, made more real and touching by the improved graphics of the Playstation, touched and shocked many players like never before. Final Fantasy Tactics, also released on the Playstation, delved deep into the bottomless discussion hole that is the topic of religion. The way its plot centered on religious corruption was, although not entirely new, more thorough than in previous console generations.
Of course, the games that were mentioned above are not the only games that can be used as examples of gaming maturity, but the for the sake of my point I'd like to move onto the current generation of RPGs. Suikoden III worked with the idea that good was not necessarily good, and evil was not necessarily evil. With fighting between races and peoples, each with their own motivations and justifications, it was hard to distinguish who to root for: the Zexen Knights or the Grasslanders? Even the obvious "bad guy", Luc, is given his own angle to which players can at least realize that there is no clearly drawn line between right and wrong. In short, Suikoden III, among others, clearly steps away from traditional storytelling and towards a more complex and developed fantasy.
Racism is sometimes touched upon in video games, with varying degrees of success. An example of this can be seen in Final Fantasy X. Although personally I think it was a bit underdeveloped, Square Enix cast a new light on religious persecution with the introduction of the Al Bhed race. Through character interaction and major events players were able to see the hate and prejudice that stemmed off of disagreements over religious ideals. If you overlook Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy X also gave the gamers a taste of an ending that wasn't perfect or ideal, but bittersweet. When we leave the world of Spira, the main character is not embracing the main female lead, but instead the two are separated. Still, the land was saved and so in a way the ending was still satisfying. Despite this, it wasn't perfect; there was no childish storybook ending.
So basically, what I hope to point out is that as we all begin to play the games of the next console generation, we shouldn't be looking at fancy graphics or more violent game play to indicate that video games are "growing up." To me, the future lies in even more mature issues. I have yet to see many games cover such topics as abuse or rape, and discussions of sexual orientation - or a lack of acceptance thereof - are equally absent in current games, but five or ten years from now that may not be the case. Tastefully and responsibly done, such a game would really show that games have not only matched movies and television in popularity but also maturity.
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