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More Gore = Better Sales? Study Says "No"

January 19, 2009 in News comments 9

Since the dawn of video games, from parents to teachers alike, they've been deemed a bad influence on children and teenagers. Infamous games like the Grand Theft Auto series have been criticized over and over again from the public. Outcries and pleads from parents to end all this violence, saying games are nothing but killing simulations. Well an upcoming study says all of that is a myth and that gory and bloody games aren't always on gamers' minds.

A study to be published in the January 16th edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin indicates that violence and gore do not make games more attractive to players.

The report, produced by investigators at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. and Immersyve, a “player-experience” research firm, found that gore in games actually detracts from a game’s “fun-factor,” reducing player’s interest and desire to purchase it.
The Don via tech.yahoo.com »
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  • 0
    ShadowJ Jan 20, 09
    OK I am sorry but even just reading the first paragraph of that article made me believe they did this with a bunch of morons. Then again I may just have a hidden and buried pyschotic lunatic that loves blood and gore somewhere in my mind

    As soon as I get a game that features gore, I slide it to the max and grab "even more gore" mods just for the hell of it. Hell I even downloaded a mod that was portable to the PS3 for Unreal Tournament III that causes your opponents to explode into even more pieces and scatter blood and gore over your screen...even better when the slow motion mutator is selected.

    My point is...Gore alone does not sell a game, in fact nothing along within a game doesn't...however packaged with the right bits and pieces then yes...for example UT3 has decent gore to begin with...I am just sadistic and twisted and prefer even more

    However I am not aggressive as they have somehow linked with this and can't wait for Jack Thompson to sink his teeth into this little study
  • 0
    ShadowJ Jan 20, 09
    OK I am sorry but even just reading the first paragraph of that article made me believe they did this with a bunch of morons. Then again I may just have a hidden and buried pyschotic lunatic that loves blood and gore somewhere in my mind ¬_¬

    As soon as I get a game that features gore, I slide it to the max and grab "even more gore" mods just for the hell of it. Hell I even downloaded a mod that was portable to the PS3 for Unreal Tournament III that causes your opponents to explode into even more pieces and scatter blood and gore over your screen...even better when the slow motion mutator is selected.

    My point is...Gore alone does not sell a game, in fact nothing along within a game doesn't...however packaged with the right bits and pieces then yes...for example UT3 has decent gore to begin with...I am just sadistic and twisted and prefer even more

    However I am not aggressive as they have somehow linked with this and can't wait for Jack Thompson to sink his teeth into this little study ¬_¬
  • 0
    The Sleeping Dragon Jan 21, 09
    I agree with you there.
    Violence sometimes attracts me to a game, like the Mortal Kombat series, or God of War.
  • 2
    Koloth Jan 21, 09
    Then you two are clearly not part of the norm. While gore doesn't repel me it similarly doesn't add anything to attract me to a game either. The vast majority of the games I play end of rated T And have little to no gore in them. Not through any particular plan on my part to avoid gory games it is just what I like to play.

    I see the gory games on the shelf and they have very little appeal for me. And making them even more violent and blood filled wouldn't make me any more interested. You want to attract me, and apparently most people, give me a good story and some fun gameplay and you can keep the blood and guts.
  • 2
    Aussie Legend Jan 21, 09
    I'm 100% with the guy above me.

    Gore imo doesn't add anything, the only thing it does is repel some buyers (more likely youngin's).

    I don't mind games having gore, its when they go totally over the top and becomes rediculous is when I have a problem.
  • 0
    ShadowJ Jan 22, 09
    Well to be fair I agree with you Koloth, games like Manhunt do stretch things a little too far. Don't get me wrong, I have played Manhunt 1 and loved it but it was only several months after release. When first released it didn't attract me.

    However the gore found in games like UT3, Fallout 3 and so on will grab me purely because when I look down the end of the sniper scope, instead of seeing a body ragdoll with a perfectly intact head. I see brains and skull segments shatter and explode upon impact along with the ragdoll effects of a headless body hitting the floor.
    • 0
      Seeker X Jan 22, 09
      It isn't the ragdoll movement or anything like of the sort that impresses me...Fallout's gore is unreal to a certain extent. I *bleep*ing grin when I see chunks of an enemy's head flying off in slow motion and the detail of it is pretty impressive to me. Doesn't necessarily mean someone's a sadistic bastard or anything...but it works for me.
    • 0
      Koloth Jan 22, 09
      As an added element to gameplay gore can change the feel of a game. But as the focus of the game it becomes over done and can often ruin a game.
  • 0
    Aussie Legend Jan 22, 09
    I must say I have the same probably with over swearing in games...

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