Ever embarrassed by video game excesses?

Josey Wales

I've been playing The Darkness II recently and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm only about an hour in but I can see myself sticking with it to the end. It has though got me thinking about how excessively violent it is and about the amount of bad language. Normally I don't mind violence or language in games but there is something about the level of it in this game that is irritating me.

I have my consoles set up on the living room on the main TV so my wife will at some stage sit down and see me play through a game. This is the first game I've played in front of her that is making me self-conscious. So much so that I shut it down once I got to the next checkpoint last night.

Stabbing dudes in the face in Assassin's Creed seems so tame in comparison. Anyone ever feel like this or have a game they have a real problem with?

saiint

nope

because its a GAME
you shouldnt feel embarrassed , unless its like gta and theirs nude girls going around everywere :L thats when your wife should start worrying
if anything cursing or killing in a game is nothing unless you have very low tolerence for cursing at all and unless you think a game actually makes you think you want to kill someone after watching you kill someone in a game 1000's of times over and over again (unless your mentally ill)

but i dont mind
me family , my friends , my gf (she hates games anyway) , and their familys
dont care
the world is changing
infact the only people now a days who would have a problem with it are people from 2 generations ago since their more old style. although my granda does have a sense of humor when it comes to playing mario :L now thats when i get embarrassed

GRMA

Yeah there are some games that I dont like because of stuff like that, GTA San Andreas was one of the main offenders. That was a glorification of gang culture -you can be sure that influenced gobsh!tes into going out and doing similar. I'm not talking about anyone on here btw After I realised that young americans were probably inspired by the game to join local gangs the enjoyment went out of it for me.

Plus try explaining to someone who knows nothing about games that you just killed that hooker to get your money back lol

By and large I think sex is unnecessary in games. Anyone remember Farenheit where you you make the character thrust in the missionary position by pressing the analog stick forward? That was unnecessary. Just have them go into the bedroom and close the door

In a more general sense on the whole I'm embarrassed by computer games depiction of women, scantily clad and big boobed usually.

Zillah

GRMA wrote: »

In a more general sense on the whole I'm embarrassed by computer games depiction of women, scantily clad and big boobed usually.

I groaned in embarrassment at the lady card collecting in The Witcher.

aN.Droid

GRMA wrote: »

Yeah there are some games that I dont like because of stuff like that, GTA San Andreas was one of the main offenders. That was a glorification of gang culture -you can be sure that influenced gobsh!tes into going out and doing similar. I'm not talking about anyone on here btw After I realised that young americans were probably inspired by the game to join local gangs the enjoyment went out of it for me.

Plus try explaining to someone who knows nothing about games that you just killed that hooker to get your money back lol

By and large I think sex is unnecessary in games. Anyone remember Farenheit where you you make the character thrust in the missionary position by pressing the analog stick forward? That was unnecessary. Just have them go into the bedroom and close the door

In a more general sense on the whole I'm embarrassed by computer games depiction of women, scantily clad and big boobed usually.

I started the Limerick chapter of the grove street gang. In fairness all we did though was jump up and down on our bikes trying to get to the next level so we could jump higher.

Lordhogo

I would consider your situation to be fairly similar to if I was watching a gory horror like SAW for instance and a family member walked in. The only difference I see and yes it is a major difference is that it is often your decision to make those excesses happen. Wouldn't you feel uncomfortable if a toddler walked in while you were watching a bloody gunfight on t.v. or in a movie.

When I had seen just the title I had thought you meant am I embarrassed when I play games in excess. As in when I tell a friend I happily spent 3-4 hours last night on my Xbox, sometimes I am embarrassed.

degrassinoel

Josey, sounds like you need a mancave

Retr0gamer

Been embarrassed by gaming quite a bit. The first time I remember it was the infamous scene in FF8 when the guys discuss how they had all known each other from birth but forgot because of their GFs. It was so bad that I felt embarassed for ever thinking these FF games had good stories.

Another moment was the laughing scene in FFX. It was such a cringe scene that I was praying nobody would walk in and see what I was watching.

I've had this same feeling a few times mostly with the MGS series. In MGS2 when Otacon was crying or when the bomb disposal expert revealed he could actually walk the dialogue was so awful that I felt embarrassed that I was playing this game and again was hoping nobody would see me playing it.

Happened again in MGS4, actually it happened a lot in that game. The cutscenes, dialogue and over the top stupid action bits were so terrible that during each cutscene I was praying nobody would see I was playing it. It didn't help that they were so long. In fact my brother walked into the room during a dreadful cutscene in the game (raiden stopping that big ship single handed) and my friend called over to see the game during the end of chapter 3 with Ocelot on the boat. These are some of the worst cutscenes I've ever experienced in a game and I actually went bright red because people were there to see my play that crap!

Heavy Rain was another offender, bad dialogue, ropey acting and the really immature use of nudity had me embarrassed.

I'm not sure what it is that gets me embarrassed, I guess I like games a lot and I'm always trying to justify why I like them to people that think they are a waste of time so when I see a high profile game like MGS4 or Heavy Rain which is doing everything wrong and totally justifying why these people don't understand videogames and see them as a throwaway from of entertainment that I get embarrassed. I don't mind at all when a game is just daft like Devil May Cry or Shadow Warrior but when a game is being serious and doing it terrible I have a problem.

Actually Duke Nukem Forever was another embarrassing moment for me. Every awful failed attempt at humour made me cringe especially when it was just plain offensive.

GTR63

Any time I picked up a playboy in Mafia II people seemed to be around to see the centrefold and my embarrassment. A lot of sex scenes in games, scratch that all are humiliating to watch, who thinks they are a good idea anyway.

Marsden

Sleeping dogs seemed fairly good until I had to sing Kareoke to a girl on date level, pretty lame and hard to explain to the wife why I was doing it. I'm still perplexed meself why they bother to put sh1te like this in games.

J. Marston

Marsden wrote: »

Sleeping dogs seemed fairly good until I had to sing Kareoke to a girl on date level, pretty lame and hard to explain to the wife why I was doing it. I'm still perplexed meself why they bother to put sh1te like this in games.

Karaoke in Sleeping Dogs is great. One of the better mini-games I've seen in open world games.

Sex in games is just weird. It's just strange and cringey in videogame form.

Josey Wales

degrassinoel wrote: »

Josey, sounds like you need a mancave

That is the long-term plan. I have permission to convert the attic into a home-cimema/mancave. Can't wait.

Skerries

I felt terrible when I was playing prototype because to stay alive you have to absorb the life-force out of ordinary people, it was alright later on when they became zombies tough
or when you possessed someone you were essentially killing them for their memories

Not The Real Scarecrow

+1 on the card collecting in the Witcher,but can't say Ive ever been embaressed by anything in a game.Usually play in the sitting room with the wife reading or on the laptop and anytime anything cringe worthy comes up ,we both have a good giggle about it(sex scene in Far Cry 3 being the most recent).
Only thing I ever remember being abit dumb struck about was a Serbian Movie, when he

Shagged the son and blood was squirting out of is bum

, was a quiet room after the movie was finished.
Oh, and Legend of the Overfiend was another one she wasn't too keen on.

Deano7788

The sex minigame in God of War. I was just hoping my family wouldn't hear when I triggered it.

mikom

The dates in San Andreas.
Good Jesus but they were painful.

zero19

Duke Nukem Forever. All of it.

Burkey0

Tidus laughing

Not the way it was done, it was meant to be forced (I think). The excess is just that it was kind of awkwardly loud

Retr0gamer

It wasn't the actors fault, look up the japanese version. If anything its worse!

Mr.Nice Guy

How about 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. The kind of game that gives the industry a bad rep, as noted by Charlie Brooker:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGC8fO8uAOA

Retr0gamer

Blood on the Sand is surprisingly decent. It's a load of nonsense but it knows it is and it very tongue in cheek about it and is a surprisingly playable load of nonsense at that.

Banjo

I play pokémon at my desk at work. I am beyond being embarrassed by games. Although the mother - son reunion in the finale of house of the dead overkill on the Wii did make me glance sideways to see if my wife was packing a suitcase. Oh, and once when I was walking around San Andreas dressed in a gimp suit and beating civilians to death with a 3ft long dildo for cash and car keys I did find myself questioning how I'd crossed the line without noticing that the line was there.

Harps

Bayonetta cutscenes..

Always turned the volume right down if there was anyone else in the house

krudler

any of the Dead Or Alive games

Duggy747

Any game that featured women wearing next to nothing and having horrible innuendo for dialogue.

Basically being fantasy sex objects.


Plus, any love / romantic scenes in gaming. The technology isn't there yet so don't make characters kiss, it's like putting a Barbie & Ken together with their stiffness.

krudler

Duggy747 wrote: »

Any game that featured women wearing next to nothing and having horrible innuendo for dialogue.

Basically being fantasy sex objects.


Plus, any love / romantic scenes in gaming. The technology isn't there yet so don't make characters kiss, it's like putting a Barbie & Ken together with their stiffness.

Uncharted is one of the few series that gets female characters right, witty, intelligent women who aren't purely there for T&A. How many other franchises have a middle aged woman as the main villain. Gaming needs to grow up big time when it comes to portraying female characters.

Funglegunk

Some hilariously bad video game dialogue (and voice acting) in this clip:

Shiminay

GRMA wrote: »

In a more general sense on the whole I'm embarrassed by computer games depiction of women, scantily clad and big boobed usually.

This +1000

When I saw Bayonetta I was mortified - the bigger the combo, the more of her clothes she removes? Who thought that was a good idea?

Potential-Monke

Most of my work colleagues get embarrassed for me knowing that i play games in general. That's what embarrasses me, that i have a large collection of friends who think gaming in general is embarrassing. The same group of friends who watch crap like the X-Factor, Jersey Shore, or any other tripe that's on tv these days.

Grumpypants

lots of Japanese games have shocking dialogue. MGS, bayonetta, V Chronicles to name a few that are just plain embarrassing. Dumb stories and aweful characters too.

But mainly its any sex scene they just don't work.

Reekwind

The best thing about Blood in the Sand is that it gave us this gem:


But yes, I fully agree with those complaining about the cringworthy depiction of women in games. Vampire:Bloodlines was a fantastic game but seeing a schoolgirl (or, more accurately, a model shoved into bits of a schoolgirl's outfit) draped across the game's box was just embarassing