Moral issue with Console Lightguns? (1 Viewer)

[Tony Whalen]

(I thought about posting this in the Game Hardware forum, but I'm not actually talking about the hardware itself... mods feel free to move if needs be...)

So I popped in an XBOX demo disk last night. (The one with the 007 demo) And up flares an ad for a new lightgun that works with the SilentScope games, amongst others. It features a kick-back function to simulate recoil. It also breaks down into a pump-action shotgun. Either mode works with lightgun-compatible games...

"COOL", says I!

My wife looks over, watches briefly, and says "now THAT, I have a problem with."

I was perplexed. She has no issues with me playing GTA3, or any other violent games. Hell, she agrees with my stance on those games. (Keep in mind we don't have kids, so I'm the primary game-player in the house...)

I pointed out that lightgun games have been in the arcades for a VERY long time. Hell, arcade games with attached guns have been around longer than VIDEOgames have. (I remember the old black-light-lit Hogan's Alley style games with popup targets! )

But she stands firm that she has a problem with this XBox lightgun.

Weird. So "shooting" a video-game character with a weird-shaped controller and an "A" button is okay, but not if it is shaped like a gun? (That said, I wouldn't buy it for a kid...but I wouldn't buy GTA3 for a kid either...)

So what are YOUR thoughts about lightguns for console gaming?

 

[Erik.Ha]

Does it come in an UZI version??? If so I WANT IT!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Not realistic enough.


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Some parents are quite happy buying their boys toy guns, others do not believe in it. This means the latter parents' boys have to resort to shooting each other with sticks.

(true story - my sister believed in the "no toy guns" mantra until she bought her son a set of Legos and first thing he built was, you guessed it, a gun)

 

[Max Leung]

Does the silent scope gun have a little LCD display in the scope just like in the arcade version? Got a link to the specs?

I enjoy the lightgun games in the arcade, but damn, they are expensive! I'd love to have one that works on a widescreen progressive-scan rear-projection CRT HDTV...

Morally? Well, the only valid targets in these games are cute fluffy animals (ducks, rabbits, deer, bears, etc), terrorists, violent criminals, and innocent-but-unfortunately-undead individuals!

 

[MarkHastings]

Explain it to her like this...

The gun controller is the equivalent to a real gun that shoots bullets, whereas the weird-shapped controller is the equivalent to a detonator that can blow up massive sized bombs.

In reality, the detonator seems MORE violent than the gun does.

It's all a matter of perspective.

 

[Tony Whalen]

No on both counts, as far as I'm aware. All I know is it looks rather interesting. Even if it is bright green.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Didn't the 'Super-Nintendo' have a shoulder-fired bazooka styled lightun?

TOP FIVE LIGHTGUNS:

5. The Photon: A bright orange alien hairdryer of a lightgun.

4. The Super Nintendo Bazooka.

3. Silent Scope. Arcade: A light gun with functional scope. Video-game assassin traning reaches new heights! (Urban myth suggests that beating the game on super-hard mode gets you a 'nightvision' upgrade)

2. Lazer-Tag 'saturday night special: Grand-daddy of all light guns.

1. Captain Power's Lord Dread's DreadWalker. Not just any lightgun, but a whole friggin Metal-Gear styled walking tank, complete with action figure!

 

[MarkHastings]

Tony, the other question for your wife is "Would it matter if the gun was shaped like a cute and fuzzy bunny"?

 

[StephenA]

Good thing she was with Elvis when he used his "lightgun" on his TV.