Compared to its single player component , Ascensions multiplayer received a lukewarm reception from most but Sony Santa Monica believes that Ascensions online option deserved a closer look.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein says if industry continues to make games that glorify guns, Congress could step in.
Violent games are a negative influence on young people, US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) argued at a recent event. As reported by the ), the policymaker said this week in San Francisco that if the game industry continues to make games that glorify guns, Congress may step in.
Feinstein said these games play "a very negative role for young people, and the industry ought to take note of that."
Her argument came as part of a discussion regarding potential legislative action that could be taken following December's schoolhouse massacre in Connecticut where a 20-year-old killed 20 children and six adults being taking his own life.
The shooter was reportedly a "."
"If Sandy Hook doesn't do it, if the knowledge of these video games this young man played doesn't, then maybe we have to proceed, but that is in the future," Feinstein said.
New legislation over the sale of violent games in the US would face an uphill battle. In 2011, the Supreme Court an attempt to legislate violent game sales in the US.
Feinstein is not the only politician to criticize violent games in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. Last month, US Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-DW) said the industry must lessen the "" in games.
XMNR: California Senator Dianne Feinstein is currently pushing federal gun control legislation in the U.S. Congress which has become a hot topic since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings last December. The senator had some words of warning for the video game industry though during an appearance before the Commonwealth Club on Wednesday.
For those who feared that the God of War: Ascension multiplayer experience would be thrown out into the wild and abandoned, you'll be happy to learn that the team at Sony Santa Monica Studios are now prepping the game's second big online update, fixing random bugs and adding new features. The game has only been out for a few weeks, so that sounds like some pretty decent support, if you ask me.
Posted by Vincent Napoli // Designer, Sony Santa Monica-
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to run their Blades through my poor little champions skull every night in God of War: Ascensions brutal multiplayer mode. After a long day of work, there is definitely something to be said about gutting and impaling people into the wee hours of the morning!
BioShock designer Ken Levine says for better or worse, violence as a story device has been used since "the dawn of narrative."
In the wake of the December Newtown, Conn. shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, Ken Levine has responded to the ongoing violence in games discussion. Speaking with NPR's radio program, Levine said violence being used as a narrative device is nothing new.
"Violence, for better or for worse, is#133;going back to the dawn of narrative, is a part of the story teller's toolkit," Levine said.
Levine then brought up an example of his childhood, explaining that he had a tough time making friends growing up and so he spent a lot of time playing Dungeons & Dragons. At the time, this game was linked to murders and suicides, though Levine said it did not have a negative effect on him.
"I think there's a couple questions here. I remember when I was a kid; I was not a very popular kid. I was a nerdy, little kid. And I didn't have friends because I wasn't very good at socializing," Levine said. "And I found Dungeons & Dragons and if you remember, back in the 70s there was this big human cry about Dungeons and Dragons; kids were going off and killing themselves and disappearing into caves. And that happened with comic books and that happened with rock and roll music."
Interviewer Tom Ashbrook then interjected, pointing out that in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting, the loss of life was immediate and overwhelming to the world at large. Levine responded to this, saying for him, games were a shield, in a way, from violence.
"My point is, for me personally, games were a way around being 'that kid.' I'm not speaking as a scientist here; we can argue the science, but I'm#133; not the best guy to do that," Levine said.
"I think the other point is they call them first-person shooters; F-P-S. There's the F-P, the first-person aspect of being, inhabiting a character's role," he added. "And then there's the S part, which is the shooter part. And I'm not sure that they're necessarily one in the same."
BioShock designer Ken Levine says for better or worse, violence as a story device has been used since "the dawn of narrative."
In the wake of the December Newtown, Conn. shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, Ken Levine has responded to the ongoing violence in games discussion. Speaking with NPR's radio program, Levine said violence being used as a narrative device is nothing new.
"Violence, for better or for worse, is#146;going back to the dawn of narrative, is a part of the story teller's toolkit," Levine said.
Levine then brought up an example of his childhood, explaining that he had a tough time making friends growing up and so he spent a lot of time playing Dungeons & Dragons. At the time, this game was linked to murders and suicides, though Levine said it did not have a negative effect on him.
"I think there's a couple questions here. I remember when I was a kid; I was not a very popular kid. I was a nerdy, little kid. And I didn't have friends because I wasn't very good at socializing," Levine said. "And I found Dungeons & Dragons and if you remember, back in the 70s there was this big human cry about Dungeons and Dragons; kids were going off and killing themselves and disappearing into caves. And that happened with comic books and that happened with rock and roll music."
Interviewer Tom Ashbrook then interjected, pointing out that in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting, the loss of life was immediate and overwhelming to the world at large. Levine responded to this, saying for him, games were a shield, in a way, from violence.
"My point is, for me personally, games were a way around being 'that kid.' I'm not speaking as a scientist here; we can argue the science, but I'm#146; not the best guy to do that," Levine said.
"I think the other point is they call them first-person shooters; F-P-S. There's the F-P, the first-person aspect of being, inhabiting a character's role," he added. "And then there's the S part, which is the shooter part. And I'm not sure that they're necessarily one in the same."
BioShock designer Ken Levine says for better or worse, violence as a story device has been used since "the dawn of narrative."
In the wake of the December Newtown, Conn. shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, Ken Levine has responded to the ongoing violence in games discussion. Speaking with NPR's radio program, Levine said violence being used as a narrative device is nothing new.
"Violence, for better or for worse, is#133;going back to the dawn of narrative, is a part of the story teller's toolkit," Levine said.
Levine then brought up an example of his childhood, explaining that he had a tough time making friends growing up and so he spent a lot of time playing Dungeons & Dragons. At the time, this game was linked to murders and suicides, though Levine said it did not have a negative effect on him.
"I think there's a couple questions here. I remember when I was a kid; I was not a very popular kid. I was a nerdy, little kid. And I didn't have friends because I wasn't very good at socializing," Levine said. "And I found Dungeons & Dragons and if you remember, back in the 70s there was this big human cry about Dungeons and Dragons; kids were going off and killing themselves and disappearing into caves. And that happened with comic books and that happened with rock and roll music."
Interviewer Tom Ashbrook then interjected, pointing out that in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting, the loss of life was immediate and overwhelming to the world at large. Levine responded to this, saying for him, games were a shield, in a way, from violence.
"My point is, for me personally, games were a way around being 'that kid.' I'm not speaking as a scientist here; we can argue the science, but I'm#133; not the best guy to do that," Levine said.
"I think the other point is they call them first-person shooters; F-P-S. There's the F-P, the first-person aspect of being, inhabiting a character's role," he added. "And then there's the S part, which is the shooter part. And I'm not sure that they're necessarily one in the same."
BioShock designer Ken Levine says for better or worse, violence as a story device has been used since "the dawn of narrative."
In the wake of the December Newtown, Conn. shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, Ken Levine has responded to the ongoing violence in games discussion. Speaking with NPR's radio program, Levine said violence being used as a narrative device is nothing new.
"Violence, for better or for worse, is#133;going back to the dawn of narrative, is a part of the story teller's toolkit," Levine said.
Levine then brought up an example of his childhood, explaining that he had a tough time making friends growing up and so he spent a lot of time playing Dungeons & Dragons. At the time, this game was linked to murders and suicides, though Levine said it did not have a negative effect on him.
"I think there's a couple questions here. I remember when I was a kid; I was not a very popular kid. I was a nerdy, little kid. And I didn't have friends because I wasn't very good at socializing," Levine said. "And I found Dungeons & Dragons and if you remember, back in the 70s there was this big human cry about Dungeons and Dragons; kids were going off and killing themselves and disappearing into caves. And that happened with comic books and that happened with rock and roll music."
Interviewer Tom Ashbrook then interjected, pointing out that in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting, the loss of life was immediate and overwhelming to the world at large. Levine responded to this, saying for him, games were a shield, in a way, from violence.
"My point is, for me personally, games were a way around being 'that kid.' I'm not speaking as a scientist here; we can argue the science, but I'm#133; not the best guy to do that," Levine said.
"I think the other point is they call them first-person shooters; F-P-S. There's the F-P, the first-person aspect of being, inhabiting a character's role," he added. "And then there's the S part, which is the shooter part. And I'm not sure that they're necessarily one in the same."
