My Thoughts on "Hatred" and Violence in the Games Industry

Hello everyone reading this, I am Chist, maker of overly wordy blogs about Dragon Age, and tweeter of twats. This time I'm actually talking about something I think matters, so bear with me, I've been up for about 21 hours, and am on the verge of passing out as I type this.

So the article about Hatred being pulled and put back onto Steam has come out, and honestly, I feel Valve did the wrong move putting it back up. Now before you get your panties in a bunch trying to compare the violence in this to violence in other games, let me explain myself

Hatred isn't a game you're meant to enjoy, don't kid yourself. It's an ugly, disgusting piece of work meant to incite self hatred and anger, made in response to the developers being called PC. There's no joy to be had in Hatred, and I doubt the developers even want it to succeed. Their goal isn't to make a message, it's to change the perspective the public has of them, and what better way than making a game so disgusting that game distributors want no part in it? I theorize that pre-launch controversy is the sole purpose of the game, and will be shocked if the devs give any post-launch support, assuming it even launches.

I am not shy in saying that I feel these developers do not deserve to make this game. Hatred has the potential for something very important; bringing meaning back to violence within gaming. Let's face it, violence is an intrinsic part of gaming at this point. You can't go five steps in the game section of your local stores without spotting a game with some form of it. We're cold to it, desensitized, it's just another part of of the works. What Hatred could have been was a groundbreaking commentary on this. Instead, it's just developer posturing. If it's going to be like that, I don't feel it should be made in the first place.

Now I've seen this game compared to slaser flics, and other games, and you just can't do that. The glorification and context of the violence is completely different, and comparing games to movies is a fallacy. It's like comparing a statue to a painting, what makes one thing good can easily make the other bad. But especially the context changes things. In most games, you are not the aggressor, and you have reason to defend yourself(typically war, or hostile invading lifeforms). In Hatred, you're just a guy who went crazy and decided today is the day. Not comparable situations in the slightest. Nathan Drake being one of few exceptions, the man's a monster.

I would continue my thoughts beyond this, but I'm becoming too tired to comprehend what I'm typing and keep finding half written words I need to correct. Discuss if you want, keep things light, don't hate me for my opinions, I just felt like sharing them in blog format since this would be a little silly to post as a comment.

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