"The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it."

Dette er budskabet fra en af spilindustriens veteraner, Warren Spector, der for tiden arbejder på Epic Mickey 2. Ordene kommer i kølvandet af dette års E3-Messe, som han mener havde et for stort fokus på det voldelige element, og det var blandt andet spil som Hitman: Absolution, som fik hans edderkoppesans til at dirre. Han sagde følgende i et interview med gamesindustry:

"Well, my spider-sense is sure tingling danger, danger, Peter Parker! This is the year where there were two things that stood out for me. One was: The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it. I just don't believe in the effects argument at all, but I do believe that we are fetishizing violence, and now in some cases actually combining it with an adolescent approach to sexuality. I just think it's in bad taste. Ultimately I think it will cause us trouble."

Har han ret i det, han siger? Det vil tiden vise. Personligt ser jeg ikke umiddelbart problemet, da spil som Flower og Journey både nyder stor respekt og ikke mindst beundring fra spillere og kritikere. Der er masser af plads til spil, som ikke fokuserer på vold, men spørgsmålet er: Bliver det en dag for meget, og hvilke problemer vil det medføre? Jeg vil lade det spørgsmål være åbent, men det er i al fald en interessant tanke.

English version:

That is the message from industry veteran, Warren Spector, who is currently working on Epic Mickey 2. These words sum up his thoughts from this year's E3, which he believed had too much focus on violence, and it was games like Hitman: Absolution that got his spider-sense tingling. He said the following in an interview with gamesindustry:

"Well, my spider-sense is sure tingling danger, danger, Peter Parker! This is the year where there were two things that stood out for me. One was: The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it. I just don't believe in the effects argument at all, but I do believe that we are fetishizing violence, and now in some cases actually combining it with an adolescent approach to sexuality. I just think it's in bad taste. Ultimately I think it will cause us trouble."

Does he have a point regarding the violence in our beloved video games? Time will tell. Personally I can't really see the bigger issue, when games like Flower and Journey both enjoy respect and admiration from fans and critics alike, but the question remains: will this focus on violence become a problem in the long run? I'll let that question remain open, but it's definitely an interesting thought.