Jul
9
Looks like a Duck….
I just read a very interesting article over at Ten Ton Hammer regarding the M rating that Age of Conan. The premise of the article can really be summed up by what Cody says here:
Whenever I talk to my *adult* friends about Age of Conan, they’ll smile and nod as I rant and rave about the game, yet when I finish they simple say, “I don’t know, the game just doesn’t look like my cup of tea. I’m not into the whole massacring the village and raping the women sort of thing.” Each time I hear that response, I’m taken a bit aback.
…as soon as I read that, I said to myself, “You know what, I’ve noticed the exact same thing”. Come to think of it, I was watching some developer video interviews over at GameTrailer and some of the comments below the trailers said exactly that. I find that very…odd. Most “mature” gamers are screaming to get away from the immature culture that is clinging to some of their favorite games, like WoW. There are lots of really great people in that game that just roll their eyes up in disgust when they are forced to look at the forums or general chat. My impression of the “M” rating of this game goes beyond just the sex and the violence (….and let’s be honest, it’s more about the sex than the violence…). The whole atmosphere of the game itself is supposed to encompass the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s world…which is more than just the sum of its parts.
In the gaming industry, usually the rating of “M” is the kiss of death for most titles. Everyone who designs games wants to avoid it. The guys at Funcom are the first ones in my recent memory that are specifically striving for it:
Staying true to Robert E. Howard’s Conan lore has always been at the forefront of Funcom’s mind, which means risqué situations, foul language, and a just a smidgen of gory violence. Thus, the developers at Funcom pushed hard to reach the boundaries of the “M” rating, doing as much as the ESRB would let them get away with. In our interview with Jorgen at GDC, he even made mention that they would alter the game to be as explicit as possible to fit the limitations of whatever geographic area that they happen to be in.
I find this whole approach extremely refreshing and fascinating. As I mentioned before, we live in very conservative and hypersensitive times right now. How do I know? Well, usually the first indication is the arts. If our asses get too tight, the arts are usually the first to tell us to lighten the f&^% up….and we’re seeing it everywhere in music, traditional art (paintings) and yes, video games. Age of Conan will feel the heat for being sexually and graphically explicit. It will face the “concerned parents” that this game is being targeted for kids. It will face He Who Shall Not Be Named with a law suit of some sort (…if he’s not committed by then…). Bring it on I say…because we need to lighten the f&^% up.
D out.
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