There's been a lot of talk about censoring games and there are many people for it and many against it but what happens when censorship invades our games? Believe it or not it already has.
When you go out and purchase a movie or a CD heck even a book there's curse words as well as explicit scenes. In a book you read about the scene but in your head you imagine it. Now these forms of entertainment cost money any you are paying for your entertainment. Cable television is the exact same thing only it is a bit more regulated. However there are a few channels that will say the word Fuck as well as a few other select words. Comedy Central after a certain hour will go all out with curse words and I am not complaining about that. I love that.
Regular TV however is becoming more censored than it used to be. For example before they could say words like: Bitch, God Damn, Jesus, Ass, etc. Now all those words are censored with just a silent word. That's fine since I'm not paying for regular TV I don't mind.
So if I'm paying for my entertainment why does it have to be censored? Am I not paying for it like I would pay for a movie or a CD which has a warning about watching it or listening to it. Yes it has a warning but so do video games. Yet video games are always the target for bad media and we all know that the media one example being Fox news where all they care about is ratings and won't even research the truth. Once the truth is out they won't even apologize for bringing us false news reports and these are the same people that cover the War, Economics, Crime, etc. How do people believe news reporters that lie is beyond me.
One thing you may notice is that censorship has been applied to games. When you purchase a music game like Rock Band or Guitar Hero you get the censored version of the songs. That's not bad but sometimes that could sound really stupid when there's a word that suppose to go with the song but it's not there. Now most of you will not mind but this happens for every other music game and like they say if you look for it you will find it.
Manhunt 2 was banned from a lot of places because it was looked as a murder simulator and received an AO rating. The developer had to go back to the editing room and make a few changes to make it pass with an M rating. Besides video games no other medium does that. If there's a sex scene in an R rated movie then that's OK, if there's a pot smoking scene that is also fine. There's even some drugs and sex references in PG type movies heck even in G rated movies there's some type of violence which will almost lead to someone being murdered but they're not because the Hero saves them. Still parent's take their kids to watch those movies and will not give it a second thought.
Developers today are scared to bring out content that might be too offensive to some and will have to go back to the drawing board in order to change a few things. CoD MW2 got some negative press because you can play as a terrorist and kill innocent people. Medal of Honor is already banned from being sold on military bases and people are protesting to ban the sale of the game because you can play as a member of a terrorist group. Six Days in Fallujah was dropped from publisher Konami because it is based on the Iraq and it was being met with criticism from certain groups and veterans. Six days if Fallujah is still floating around looking for a publisher but it's future is unknown.
Why should developers be afraid to put whatever they want in a game. They invest so much money into making the game for people to just come and want to change it or ban it from being sold on stores.
Violent video games aren't for kids and I agree. So this is where a parent's job comes in. Instead of ruining it for every body why not take some responsibility and teach your kids right and wrong or monitor what they are doing. After all isn't that what being a parent is all about? I pay for my entertainment just like everyone else in the world and I would appreciate it if I could play what I paid for without any censorship on my games. I watch movies with gore, violence, sex, guns and I listen to my music that curses and I expect the same when I'm playing my video games.
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