Violence in games v. violence in movies - which is worse?

[HellHound]

I recently had a discussion with a friend about how I perceived violence in video games differently from movies - and I was wondering what you thought could be a factor?

EDIT: Sorry if the topic title is a little ambiguous, I am not sure how to ask the question in a way that would fit.

[Ad Bot]

[Shift Kitty]

Neither makes me uncomfortable, only real violence does.


But I can totally explain what separates the difference between video game violence from other violence.

Video game violence is supplementary to the gameplay. You're not necessarily looking for the violence. You're looking to challenge yourself. You're competing. The violence that comes from it is just to keep you immersed. You get a feeling of satisfaction not from the blood but the win. You overcame something that put up a fight.

Movie violence, you're just a bystander. You're watching people die for potentially awful reasons. You're just soaking up the violence, rather than the skill. There is no winning, just witnessing.

[Nonnel]

^ basically
only real life violence makes me uncomfortable. i perceive movie violence as a bit "heavier" than game violence.

[Tactical Nuke]

it depends on what the violent act is

[RedGajin]

definently violence in video games because often your playing the character committing the actual act, which has a bigger impact. if someone was going to be influenced by violence in media, i feel like it'd be more likely to be video games

[Planr]

i'd say video game violence is a lot less shocking to me personally, i mean because we're used to taking damage and damaging others as the player in a video game, versus watching our favorite protagonists in an epic movie get gruesomely wounded. in one situation we're in control and there's things we can do to change the situation, but when you watch a movie, you have no control or way to help the characters in the movie, so you feel helpless when they're severely hurt through violent acts. because of that i'd say movie violence is far worse, plus considering movies are specifically and specially edited to draw out emotion from the audience as much as possible, via tense music building up, insertion of sounds, and use of specific camera angles to make the violent moments much more intense. this of course can apply to video game cutscenes, but that's still to a lesser degree.

i mean let's be real, there's a ton of violence in video games and we see by volume much more of it, but because of the atmosphere of most games it's not as impactful. we all know that there's a big difference between sniping then t-bagging someone in halo or huntsman tauntkilling in tf2, vs a graphic torture scene in a theatrical film. one side is downright funny and entertaining and the other is 100% serious and emotionally impacting.

[Rally]

I have a lot of difficulty associating video game violence with real life. The closest I'd come to it would be Red Orchestra or Insurgency. stuff like Call of Duty or PUBG conveys no sense of reality to me because the weapon sounds are super unimpactful, there's never an interesting reaction to being shot or injured, and the blood is so theatrical that it's hard to relate it to real life. I think video games have a long way to go until they reach the level of very personal, emotional realism that movies can bring to the viewer.

[torin²]

I have a lot of difficulty associating video game violence with real life. The closest I'd come to it would be Red Orchestra or Insurgency. stuff like Call of Duty or PUBG conveys no sense of reality to me because the weapon sounds are super unimpactful, there's never an interesting reaction to being shot or injured, and the blood is so theatrical that it's hard to relate it to real life. I think video games have a long way to go until they reach the level of very personal, emotional realism that movies can bring to the viewer.

red orchestra is a loving ptsd simulator

[RedGajin]

I have a lot of difficulty associating video game violence with real life. The closest I'd come to it would be Red Orchestra or Insurgency. stuff like Call of Duty or PUBG conveys no sense of reality to me because the weapon sounds are super unimpactful, there's never an interesting reaction to being shot or injured, and the blood is so theatrical that it's hard to relate it to real life. I think video games have a long way to go until they reach the level of very personal, emotional realism that movies can bring to the viewer.

realistic horror games are generally what i think of. stuff like resident evil and outlast. stuff like gta and cod are just too unrealistic to really have any impact for me tho

[NotBomberguy]

only real violence impacts me