The violent video game debate is not new to anyone. Every time a new “GTA” or “Call of Duty” comes out, all kinds of concerned mom groups feel the need to spew their comments of “violence begets violence” on all forms of media.
On Oct. 16, a trailer for a new video game hit the Internet, and in the words of the game’s developer himself, it has caused quite the “shit storm.”
“Hatred” is a game made by a small group of developers in Gliwice, Poland. The game focuses on a terrifying main character with long black hair and a full-length trench coat.
The trailer begins with his monologue of a complete hatred of the human race and how he is going to “put in the grave as many as I can.” He calls it his “genocide crusade.”
Then the rest of the trailer is scenes of the trench-coat wearing, Columbine-like character massacring innocent people on the streets. There are screams of terror and pleas for mercy. At one point, he even sticks a gun in a woman’s mouth and pulls the trigger.
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It’s really intense, guys.
So, as you can imagine, it’s been causing quite a ruckus on the Internet. I don’t think it’s the violence that is getting people going, but it’s the fact that violence is the whole point of the game.
There are plenty of violent images in very popular games. In “Grand Theft Auto V”, you can choose to do nothing but mow down pedestrians and go on a killing spree if you feel so inclined, but that isn’t the point. There are missions and objectives and an elaborate storyline.
“Hatred” has no storyline. It has no point other than to kill, and it’s really freaking people out.
I watched the trailer, and initially thought that the developers were a bunch a sick fucks and that anyone who would be interested in the game had some seriously deep-seeded issues.
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But the more I researched, and even looked at the games that I, as well as my 16-year-old brother, was playing, I realized what a hypocrite I was. Why should the context of the killing justify the killing? Regardless of the situation, virtually blowing someone’s head off is still virtually blowing someone’s head off. Different means to the same end don’t change anything.
Jarosław Zieliński, the CEO of Destructive Creations and the brain behind “Hatred”, was not at all surprised by the response the game received. Zieliński said that he has been playing games like this for most of his life, and knew that “Hatred” was something he always wanted to make.
He said that Destructive Creations knew this was the type of game that the team was making and they did not have to invest any money on marketing for because it would get a ton of attention.
“We’re this small company from the middle of nowhere and all the world heard about our game,” he said.
Zieliński seemed unfazed by the negative comments. As an animator, he feels that the strong reactions are a testament to the good job he and his team are doing.
Via: NY Times
“This game is definitely not for everyone and we know that our target is quite tight, but it happens that there are a lot of people who are waiting for this. Much more than I even expected,” Zieliński said.
Zieliński also made a very poignant point. He said that most of the response came from the US, both negative and positive. But, he correctly pointed out that over in Europe, mass killings and school shootings are something they rarely, if ever, have to deal with. Over here, it sometimes feels like we can’t go a week without one.
“And maybe that’s the reason why we [the game developers] don’t give a single fuck about this because we don’t have such things here,” Zieliński said. “For example, we wouldn’t do a game where action takes place in Auschwitz because this is something tied with our history and our culture.”
For them, this is something completely made up and make-believe. It’s not something in their daily headlines. For Americans, it’s a little bit more of a sensitive topic.
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Sometimes it feels like the older generation tries to use violent video games as a scapegoat for all the senseless violence going on in our country. If video games really created cold-blooded killers, than I would know a long list of friends and family who should probably be kept very far away from firearms or any sort of weapon.
Even a guy who creates a video game like this has his limits, though. There is no killing of children or animals in the game. (Blowing people’s heads off is fine, BUT PLEASE GOD DON’T HURT THE PUPPY!)
Zieliński realizes that the game is offensive to some people and he strongly advises that it be for adults only.
“For me, someone who would let a kid play our game should be sued for irresponsibility,” he said.
Zieliński said that if everything goes according to plan, the game will be out sometime next year between April and June for PC.
Feature photo courtesy of: Motherboard
