Mafia III's Story Works Because Of The Open World
Mafia III’s perspective on racial tensions in the United States is something rarely seen in games. Accordingly, some…
Another Day, Another Alarmist Warning Against Violent Games
Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a powerful statement about the effects of “virtual violence” on…
The Evil Within's Last Expansion Tries Really Hard, Fails
The Evil Within’s downloadable content has been...interesting, to say the least. The first two add-ons were…
Brutal Doom Mod Has Some Great Customizable Gore Options
Ah, Brutal Doom. The last place a gore-hungry gamer can go when drowning people in The Sims and exploding opponents’…
Sounds Like Batman: Arkham Knight Will Be Surprisingly Violent
The world raised an eyebrow when it was revealed Batman: Arkham Knight would be M-rated, since the previous games—Arkha…
Mortal Kombat X's Brutalities Are Gruesome
As Mortal Kombat escalated during its early years, the series introduced more ways to finish fights. Fatalities were…
After Two Decades, I've Finally Outgrown Mortal Kombat's Violence
It's taken Mortal Kombat X to show me how much I've changed since 1992.
The Kind of Video Game Violence That Disturbs Me
Hatred is a game about the wanton slaughter of people fueled by nothing but pure, well, hatred. Its trailer came out…
Shadow Of Mordor Studio Can't Replicate Players' Orc Problems
Last week, I wrote about a strange issue Shadow of Mordor players have been reporting since the game came out: Orcs…
Who Do You Most Regret Killing In A Video Game?
We've killed a lot of things in a lot of video games over the years. But not all video game deaths were created…
Video Game Violence That I Love
A whir, a pop, and then the head explodes. Ceases to exist, really. Ropy tendrils of gray-black goop spiral outwards…
Chlamydia And Slutty Clowns: The ESRB Rates This Fall's Big Games
We normally think of game ratings as little more than a useful marker of where we'll be able to buy a game, or whether…
Check Out Far Cry 4's Weapons
Nowhere in video games is the phrase "evolution, not revolution" more apt than in first-person shooters. As proof, I…
Science! Video Game Violence Makes You More Sensitive
After this thing the other week here’s some actual science proving actual things. Specifically: “’immoral’ virtual…
The Best Non-Violent Moments In Video Games
Violence in games can be great—not to mention really powerful, as we recently discussed. What about the other side of…
The Best Violent Moments In Video Games
There's really no getting around it: many, many games are about violence, and sometimes it can be a bit much. Kill…
Not All Kids Think Video Games Are Good For You
Now that YouTuber Game Dave and his army of young, free-spelling youngsters have weighed in on the console war, it's…
Video-Game Violence: What Does It Mean? I wrote an article about meaningful game violence as part of The New York Times'…
This Week In Video Game Hyper-Violence
Ever notice how violent video games are? Wonderful! Terrible! Your call, but hey, it's a thing.
A Game Where You Torture Someone Because They Want You To
Torture sequences in games are old news—many major franchises have included it in some capacity, from the classics like …