This morning I was watching The Wright Stuff on British breakfast television, a daily panel show featuring current news affairs, when I noticed the next topic to be discussed was about a 'computer game' called Detroit Become Human:

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Detroit: Become Human is the latest game to come from creator David Cage, a 2018 Sony PlayStation 4 exclusive title, that featured a scene of potential domestic child abuse when a new trailer aired at Sony's Paris Game's Week 2017 Conference. You can see the full trailer here:

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David Cage is no stranger to controversial subjects in his games. I've played Fahrenheit and also Heavy Rain and both of these games feature murder, the latter with a serial killer who kidnaps a child. So why is this new game suddenly on daytime breakfast TV? Because it's controversial, and without the controversial, off-screen scene, the game wouldn't have appeared on all of the mainstream gaming sites. So we all saw this a month ago, but only now is the printed press and big media catching onto it, because it's an easy target for a headline.

I'm no expert on what Detroit: Become Human is, but I gather from related media that it's a story-driven game with a heavy narrative, much like all of Cage's previous works. You play as an android and throughout the game are presented with game-changing decisions, but do you live through the story as an android would, or do you make the android 'Become Human' by making morally correct decisions as a human would, breaking the android's protocol, kind of I, Roboty. In theory, you could finish the game without even seeing this scene play out the wrong way. Choices given to the player are designed in such a way as to spark some kind of emotion from them. That is what this type of game is all about.

I've watched TWS on TV for many years, but today, with a headline like 'Ban Child Abuse Computer Game?' on the TV, I felt compelled to call the show and try and advocate as to why a scene like this in a video game isn't a reason to ban it. To my surprise, I got through!

Here is the clip of the entire discussion on the show today. If you want to skip forward to my call, I am caller number 1 at 05:50:

Mirror (UK):
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Before the call I had plenty to say, but under pressure, live on air, with only a minute to talk, I don't think I got my point across as well as I could have, but it did make me think about how non-gamers perceive people who do enjoy experiencing and playing video games. I also wanted to tell Matthew (the host) to watch The Last of Us Part II trailer that was featured at the same gaming show in Paris, and is also a Sony exclusive title. I think that trailer has way more for the non-gaming masses to complain about, than the scenes from Detroit: Become Human. I've also been obliterating hundreds of Nazis with my Schockhammer in Wolfenstein 2 recently, literally blasting them into smithereens, but I've not seen that discussed on TV.

Obviously, this is a touchy subject matter, but in my eyes, it is no different than watching a movie or reading a book. The movie Sleepers immediately came to mind when I was trying to think of comparisons from other media, a 1996 film featuring some of hollywood's top stars suffering from child abuse. Why is that ok, but Detroit isn't?

It makes no sense.


Detroit: Become Human is expected to release worldwide in 2018.

Detroit: Become Human Official Site

 

[MartinDocNewland]

Indeed, I guess rather than awaiting someone to present some arguments then someone is going to have to play devil's advocate. Hard to do against free speech, with most of us "getting" games and also being something of such limited harm potential (from a numerical perspective anyway) but not impossible, and may yield an interesting exploration into the degrees of such things. I would but apparently it is 3am and my feeble body needs sleep.

Edit


Please do. Thus far you have not provided a reason we can explore on why we should call for this game to be banned or otherwise prevented from going on sale.

I wasn't referring to the topic of this post, rather joking about his responce.

I really don't think its wise that I do as its been proven that no one is understanding what i'm saying and i'm sure for my own well being I don't want to put myself in a position again where every word I say is picked apart. That would be like me jumping into a fire knowing full well that its going to burn.

 

[kuwanger]

I really don't think its wise that I do as its been proven that no one is understanding what i'm saying and i'm sure for my own well being I don't want to put myself in a position again where every word I say is picked apart. That would be like me jumping into a fire knowing full well that its going to burn.

The problem is people do well understand what you're saying. They just don't agree with you. It's not about picking apart words, although that's certainly one way people try to demonstrate that others are wrong. It's not a matter of not explaining things well enough. If all of life and peace and agreement were a matter of dissolving miscommunication through further, clear articulation, we'd no longer have wars.

No, we quite well understand. You believe we're wrong. We believe you're wrong. It's right that you have no reason to continue to explain yourself. You simply will not convince us you're right any more than we can convince you that you're wrong. That's why tolerance is a key part of life. You have to accept that people do understand well enough and still don't see or believe things the way you do. Any attempt further is merely trying to come up with an excuse on the why.

 

[Navonod]

Yeah sounds like me but its not me. I don't want to get this wrong but i'm guessing that was a personal attack on your part?

Again this is why I just can not take you seriously. Have fun "Searching for the Truth". lol

 

[Deleted member 408979]

The point of the game is to SAVE the girl, not to abuse her.

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

I'm more puzzled people still watch these awful live shows than what they're saying about a gam-- Sorry, about a title. A title.

The media has always been like this, they want drama, paranoia and scaremongering as that's what they rely on to attract viewers.

 

[r5xscn]

You should have said If you ban anything that's against your norms, then there won't be any entertainment for you. Because even Telletubies which is an innocuous game got criticism as being gay. There are a lot of other games which are worse than child abuse. I wonder what the TV show will say about Bully, where child abuse and bullying is as bright as the sun in a day.

 

[MartinDocNewland]

The problem is people do well understand what you're saying. They just don't agree with you. It's not about picking apart words, although that's certainly one way people try to demonstrate that others are wrong. It's not a matter of not explaining things well enough. If all of life and peace and agreement were a matter of dissolving miscommunication through further, clear articulation, we'd no longer have wars.

No, we quite well understand. You believe we're wrong. We believe you're wrong. It's right that you have no reason to continue to explain yourself. You simply will not convince us you're right any more than we can convince you that you're wrong. That's why tolerance is a key part of life. You have to accept that people do understand well enough and still don't see or believe things the way you do. Any attempt further is merely trying to come up with an excuse on the why.

OK then lol

 

[KingVamp]

I looked up the definition of media. Basically, a means of communication that reach or influence people widely. Which is exactly what video games do. Narrow views notwithstanding.

The two main arguments here are, video games being different than other media and complete censorship.

The only argument of video games not being like books, tv and movies seems to come down to "because it just isn't", which isn't a convincing argument. Not that is an excuse to banned and censor things anyway.

We already have a rating system, if we completely ban things from fictional media, not just video games, base on "my feelings", where does it end?

 

[Taleweaver]

<opening post>

Okay...I'm seven pages late (timezone stuff), but I gotta congratulate you. I started out at the beginning of the 'news', and all I could think of was "why doesn't anyone notice the 18+ label?". They're doing a debate about people that shouldn't play the game in the first place who might do the complete opposite of what you as the protagonist are supposed to be doing in the game in the first place (which would be like banning super mario bros because it might inspire people to steal princesses ).

...and at that 5:50 mark, you ask exactly this same question. For this, I can't but applaud you with all my heart. Thank you.
Admitted: I sort of anticipated that kind of answer, but I really hope the audience draws the right conclusion: those ratings aren't there for show.

And what kind of rhetoric do they use? "Is it entertainment?". "Yeah, sure...if you consider Schindler's list, the deer hunter and 1984 to be entertainment. Or more to the point: no. Not all games have to be entertainment...the medium is mature enough to allow for some thought provoking experiences rather than the mere "fun" aspect of it."

 

[Deleted User]

As long as the game is fun

a david cage game? fun? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA aw man thats funny

 

[Deleted User]

Wow... if these people even played v.g. then it was like 30-40 yrs ago in arcades...
"It is bad for kids!" -"but it has 18+ rating on it!" -"but do you agree younger teenagers play it?"
(A moment of facepalm)
If thats your case then all horror movies, porn, cigarets, most of shonen anime, lottery, cars etc should all be banned. And books with sensetive topics- god forbid!
Please give the same treatment to all other topics and stuff
Also- why child abuse and rape are considered worse then killing people (at war or otherwise)? When someone is dead- he's DEAD. its over. Cant change it, cant fix it. When someone is abused as a child or is raped- it may be traumatic, you may get some damage and serious stuff. But you arent dead. There are people who suffered from one of those and did something good with their lives afterward. Not so about murder and killing. So why games where you kill people (at war or otherwise) or books with this topic are ok while a game where there is a theme of child abuse is not ok? You dont see anything, you dont do anything bad...
Edit- add nazi documentaries to the things that should be banned if this game isnt ok. Killing innocents, war, antisemitism and many other bad stuff. But nobody wants to ban this, right? Seeing the bad is done for making you stronger. Not for making you also bad.

 

[shango46]

Here is my 2 cents: If you don't agree with what is in the game, don't play it. It's like gay marriage, just because your opposed doesn't mean anyone is forcing you to marry someone of your same sex. There is a rating system in place to help people make an informed decision about the media they consume, so if you see that M rating (or pegi18 or whatever rating system is in place in your country) and you are easily offended, don't buy it. And if your worried about kids playing it, then don't blame the developer/publisher, blame the parents who let the kids play it. That's the real child abuse issue here. And if your worried about it being an outlet for mentally disturbed adults using it to justify abuse on children or whatever else they may do, its the underlying mental issues at blame and any number of things could set those off, not just a PS4 game. A book didn't get John Lennon killed, mental illness did.

It seems to me that this is just some twunt looking for sensationalism, not actual change. Where was he with GTA? RDR? Manhunt? MW2? Has he lobbied anyone to try to change the rating system or get certain content banned? Not that I have found by (barely) looking it up. It's just the idiotic ramblings of a behind a desk ratings addict. Even that wackadoodle Alex Jones would do more than just run a crap show if he felt so strongly about it. And besides, if there was no market for this kind of "Adult" game, does anyone think it would see a release on a mainstream console like the PS4? No, it would be something only relegated the forums of some perverse website.

Grow a brain, then use it you shrill.

 

[Foxi4]

I would hope that child abuse is okay in video games because they're works of fiction, they depict fictional events, and even games with basis in history depict historic events in fictional fashion. It baffles me that issues of violence, child abuse, sexual abuse and the like can be freely depicted in books due to their veneer of artistry, but they cannot be depicted in video games or else the developers face backlash and the game receives inflated ratings which affect sales. I still remember the controversy over Hotline Miami which featured a scene which depicted rape and the massive campaign if moral preening that followed. Here's a thought - if you don't like the content, why are you consuming it? Games have ratings for a reason and I truly cannot think of anything that shouldn’t be depicted in a video game. Even if a game depicts child abuse, so what? It's a fictional child, where's the victim here? Child abuse happens in real life, it's despicable, that's a good reason to include it in video games, which I consider to be works of art, not an argument against doing so. As for the question of whether this is entertainment or not, yes, yes it is - so what?

 

[leon315]

It's just a game! IT'S JUST A FUCKING GAME!

P. S. So apparently people are okay with people who smoke weeds, and kill prostitutes to get money back in THAT FAMOUS GAME, but they can't accept a wonderful trama videogame?! LMFAO

 

[tri_fin]

Interesting topic but not due to game but really that you expect some form intelligence from such an awful show. I think any chat based day time show as brain mulch for total morons but that is just my own personal crap. I guess that is not entirely true but I am genuinely shocked that you thought a phone call to a day time show about child crimes would get you anywhere. Programs like that are just there to reconfirm peoples' already bigoted ideas. To me your credibility went out the window when you said you watched it before. I never have and therefore free to judge it based on my own fucked up opinions about what the show is actually like. Haha, I am hypocrite like you (yes, you)! xx But the show is shite, so is that paper and you are a dumbass for knowing about them!

 

[gamesquest1]

this is just an extension of our old friend jack Thomson and his video games cause crimes mentality, at least in his case the aim if the game was actually commit crime, here its just that a crime is committed in the same world and you can try to prevent it which is a completely different kettle of fish

imho ignorance and hiding of a common issues only serve to allow people to ignore it and pretend it doesn't happen, and when that happens victims are ignored by those that could have stepped in as the world is geared towards the "nah, that doesn't ever happen really" not in our amazing society

 

[DinohScene]

I purposely punch and shoot children in games, if possible.

Fucking people, they're just a collection of polygons and pixels!

 

[bjaxx87]

It's also not okay to abduct women and force them into marriage. So Super Mario Odyssey should get banned as well!

 

[TankedThomas]

It's almost as if fiction isn't real. Shocking, I know!

 

[Supster131]

a david cage game? fun? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA aw man thats funny

I've never played a Quantic Dream game, but I've heard good things about their previous games. That and Detroit: Become Human looks pretty cool so far.