Red Dead Redemption Deadly Assassin
Why is Mature Game Content so Controversial?
In the world of video games, ratings are important. The ESRB rating system is used to rate the material within a video game and help the buyer know what is in a game before you purchase it. This is partly done because children and young people make up a large amount of the gaming population but it is also done for anyone who monitors what they play and wants to know a little more about what content is found in their games.
So why is it that mature game content is such a controversial issue? Here are some reasons:
• Games are still seen as child’s play for a large part
• Violent game scenes are believed to cause violence in the players
• Shocking scenes are often believed to be done just to gain attention to the game
• More blood and gore is believed to be done to entice younger audiences
• Sex scenes and sexuality is often believed to be done to entice younger audiences
Because mature games is still viewed to be controversial, it’s often a big step on game developer’s part to add mature content into video games.
The Difference in Adult Games and Games with Mature Content
It should be noted that there is a difference between adult games and video games that simply have mature content. Some video games are created with only adults in mind. They are often sex games or matchmaking games in which the sole purpose of the game is for adults to roleplay or interact with one another. These are different from other games with another main focus that just happen to have some mature content thrown in.
Prominent examples of the latter for currently popular and upcoming games include:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Halo Reach
Killzone 3
Red Dead Redemption
Grand Theft Auto IV
Heavy Rain
God of War III
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Crackdown 2
Mafia 2
Type of Mature Content
There are different types of mature content and some things which are classified as mature content may not really seem all that mature at all to certain gamers. For example, it all lies in how we define “mature”. The ESRB describes it as:
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
The ESBR also describes Adults Only (AO) games as:
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
However, there are some games that fall below these ratings and still contain adult or mature themes such as regret, remorse, repression, self-doubt and self loathing, abandonment, social anxiety, loneliness, and other emotions that would be difficult for a younger gamer to understand. Sometimes adult-oriented issues are portrayed in a video game that may be lacking intense violence or sexual themes and therefore, is not rated M or AO by the ESRB.
Mature Content in MMORPGs
There are some arguments about mature content in MMORPGs. Some believe that when it is relevant to the storyline, this mature content could be an asset to an MMORPG. Due to roleplaying that is included in these types of games, it often makes more sense to have mature or adult content in them than in other games.
An example of this that really stirred a lot of controversy was Age of Conan. This MMORPG brought nudity, brutal violence as well as foul language from the NPCs at any and every opportunity. While it wasn’t a “sex game” on any level, it did include a lot of sexual aspects that didn’t necessarily need to be there in order to complete the storyline of the game.
The “adult age” that Age of Conan was supposedly going for seemed to attract more underage people than anyone else. Most adults who played found it bearable once you get past the noob levels full of low level female characters running around topless. There was a setting option to turn back the gore levels if you prefer not to see so much blood. As for the language of the NPCs, while not offensive to many adults, it did seem forced and out of place. It was as if Age of Conan was trying to make a statement in the gaming industry and just trying to push the envelope to see how much they could get away with.
The Future of Mature Gaming
If we base it on current entertainment trends such as the movie, music and television industries, we can expect that we will see more and more mature game content being produced. Rockstar is a fine example of a gaming industry that is pushing that as far as they are allowed to take it, often with controversy on their heels.
But when it’s all said and done, does an “M for Mature” rating really equate to a quality game for mature players? Not from what we can see. While adult games and sex games will always exist for those of age who choose to play them, we want to see something more in the Mature game genre.
When so-called “mature” content is used simply as a marketing tool and when it becomes gratuitous and without a valid point in the game, it’s just excessive. Many gamers are also requesting the option to skip or block out mature-type content from their games so they can “opt-out” if they would rather not see this type of material but they still want to experience the rest of what the game has to offer.
Mature gamers are tired of the fluff and the exploitation of profanities, sex, nudity and violence just to get attention through controversy. We want to see the future of mature gaming bring us high quality games with a real attention to detail and themes that will capture the adult mind and really make you think about the game long after you have walked away from the computer or console. This is what mature gaming should really be about.
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Where Do I Find Mo Van Barr In Red Dead Redemption?
I pre-ordered Red Dead Redemption (Playstation 3) from GameStop and I got the Deadly Assassin outfit as one of the add-ons. The last objective I need to complete to get the outfit is “Capture or Kill Mo Van Barr”. The tracker places his location in Armadillo and the fact that it says “capture or kill” led me to believe that you have to collect a bounty on him when it comes up in the game. However, I have beat the game and done countless bounties (some of them a couple of times over), but still no bounty for Mo Van Barr. I also took to lassoing some of the Walton’s Gang members that hang around in the Armadillo Saloon to no avail. Where and how do I found Mo Van Barr?
Mo Van Barr is a bounty posted in Armadillo. There have been many bugs with this if you take too long to get his bounty. Some of the more serious bugs.. make you out of luck if you want him to finish the pre-order.
Everybody that has encountered this problem is being instructed to work towards the ‘Legend of the West’ outfit because it gives twice the dead eye– Until they make a patch to fix this.
They are working on a way to solve the problem now– but if you can’t get his bounty, you may be one of the unlucky bugged players.
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Red Dead Redemption – Deadly Assassin Pre-Order Outfit