14 DAY TRIAL // In most cases, when violence in video games is discussed you can never get a straight answer as to whether it is or it isn't a bad thing for you. There are several points of view to analyze the issue from, but Hideo Kojima's latest interiew may just answer the burning question for everyone. It was none other than Ubisoft's Jade Raymond who interviewed the man behind the Metal Gear series.
According to 1UP.com, the latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu (translated by Develop) reveals Kojima's viewpoints as far as game development goes. On the side comes the inevitable subject of violence, which he clarifies with a brief, yet quite interesting statement:
"I don't think there are many games that tackle violence head on," said Kojima. "When you hit someone or inflict pain, faces get disfigured for example, and I want to make games that show that sort of thing." But why? Why would Kojima want to do that sort of thing? Rockstar yes, but the Metal Gear creator...?
But Kojima goes on explaining why it is so crucial that violence is shown in its most realistic form when we're talking video games: "If you don't see the pain, you can't understand what you've done, and you'll pass through battles without taking responsibility for your actions. I don't want to ignore that. I want players to think, even if it's just a little, about what violence and war are."
So what Kojima is saying is that showing violence the way it is, within the appropriate context, may actually prove to be a good thing, rather than a bad influence for which games get banned, they get AO ratings and so on. The man clearly has the realistic result in mind. This is what I was waiting for a very long time. Finally, the opinion of a man who actually implements the violence within a game...