Game of Thrones tones down sex and violence for gamers?

Game of Thrones is getting the video game treatment, but are gamers being short changed on the game's darker themes?

[Sanetoshi]

I'm not surprised. Some of the stuff the TV series gets away with at times is rather shocking. People are much more critical of such content in games, so it's harder to get away with it in this medium.

[bunt-custardly]

Interesting you say this, when games are slapped with rating stickers and are supposedly more corrupting whereas TV has no such bounds rather than the "contains scenes of violence and a sexual nature" before the show begins.

I love this series and think Peter Dinklage's character Tyrion Lannister is excellent.

[Pintheshadows]

Tyrion is magnificent. He sounds like Victor Meldrew which, in my eyes, is brilliant.

[Baka-akaB]

except TV shows do have some bounds . You wouldnt be seeing Game of Thrones as it is , on fox or ABC . Only on cable tv

[SephirothX21]

There should be no bounds whatsoever on TV or in games. Next they'll want bounds on our imagination. Once a game or tv program has a mature rating, it should be aloud to have anything in it and I mean anything!

[bunt-custardly]

Totally agree with this. Mature should mean mature. Why does some board deem a bit of boob or graphic violence too much for "mature" people? It's condescending, patronizing and damn right wrong. The AO rating is an industry joke right now thanks to the ESRB and BBFC.

[Sanetoshi]

I'm not really saying there should be. Just that this isn't at all surprising because the fact of the matter is that there are.

[n to the b]

@bunt-custardly: exactly. to paraphrase Samuel Clemens, "censorship is like saying I can't eat steak because an infant wouldn't enjoy it"

[Lazy_Sunday]

That's because it's TV-MA, and it's hosted on a network you have to pay to access. The reason games won't get this content any time soon is because unfortunately, it's become mainstream for 12 year olds to access M rated material, and most likely companies want to avoid the flack they'd get releasing a game that could potentially get negative press. Who cares if GTA was rated M, the possibility that if you got a gameshark and looked for the Hot Coffee glitch is what caused the controversy (which is ludicrous in my opinion) as a game of M rated status should be able to have said content without the interference of 12 year olds (despite the lewd obscurity of those disturbing humping polygons). Can R-rated movies not show completely nude sex so long as it is from an artistic standpoint? Yes. Since there's so much work that would have to go into making the body movements subtle and not jerky like most, it would be almost an artistic feat to display character models having intercourse. The fact that we can't have that on an M-Rated game is completely absurd.

[ravinash]

Maybe if someone made a game intending to be M and had graphic nudity and sex in a game...then maybe someone will cause an uproar that M rated games have this...and then maybe people will realise and stop buying M games for their god damn 12 year olds!

[C_Menz]

Only because it is on HBO. HBO to me isn't really "TV" as it is more of it's own entity. HBO, Showtime, etc. can get away with more because its not basic cable and is a separate paid network which is why Dexter, Spartacus, and Game of Thrones are as explicit as they are.

[reznik_zerosum]

Game of Porns : Soft-Porn Soap-Opera with Dragons ! ( but i still love it ! )

[Bebedora]

I'd say the sex, porn, love scenes in the TV series of GoT is not even necessary. Just feels malplaced and wrong (to me).

To show they have that kind of emotions towards eachother is ok. Show two or three pokes and switch or such would be neough to give that kind of value to the story.

When it comes to games, an interactive medium, I think it could contribute more to the player (me).

[Hellsvacancy]

I know what you mean, ive read all but the last book Dance With Dragons (im halfway through it, its too borin though, i want to finish it before The Winds Of Winter arrives)

George R R Martin's just a pervert (imo) the sex scenes like you say hav NO relevance to the story, i guess the dude was horny whilst he was writin it, i listened to A Clash Of Kings on audio book, it wasnt too thrilling listening to Roy Dotrice actin the noises of a groanin whore i have to admit

I aint bothered about the game, i might rent it one day

[Bebedora]

"it wasnt too thrilling listening to Roy Dotrice actin the noises of a groanin whore i have to admit "

That was hilarious! Gave me a good laugh.

[ShadesMoolah]

Love the show, not sure if the game can,do it justice.

[Pintheshadows]

I'm so disappointed in Natalie Dormers boobs. I know that's off topic but I had to say it. I will play this game. My main hope is that it's decent although i'm not entirely keen on the idea of two separate characters.

[h311rais3r]

I just had to laugh lol

[pr0digyZA]

They are the same as they were in the tudors.

[clarkjudo]

"Game of Thrones tones down sex and violence for gamers?" By toning down the sex and violence shows maturity. This also removes needless distractions so that the story of the game shines through.

[Baka-akaB]

How so ? The sex and violence is an integral part of the story this time , in both the books and tv serie .

What's the point of removing dark and twisted aspects of a dark and twisted plot ?

[bunt-custardly]

Well said, look at Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clark) and how she grows as a character from being abused by her brother and her husband. The sexual themes are a big part of the game, it's the way they are perceived which requires a bit of maturity.

[Baka-akaB]

Precisely , even the sex scenes of a few characters with whores (like Theon Greyjoy with a whore , or on the boat to Pike) , wich could easily pass as the gratuiteous ones , are in fact a mean to delves deeper into the psyche of some characters , and are rather revealing .

[kneon]

Actually I find a lot of the sex and depravity adds nothing to the story, it seems like it's really there just for the shock value, both in the books (read them all) and the TV show (watched them all, bought the bluray set).

[BakedGoods]

"By toning down the sex and violence shows maturity."

You mean it's more mature to ignore the role human sexuality plays in people's lives? That sounds like the *immature* way of handling it.

[MidnightSpecial]

What I'm wondering is why it's ok to have the sex and violence in the series, but not ok to have it in the game. It would surely cause another uproar and spearhead yet another attack on the industry.

As Baka-akaB says, they're integral to the story, and a game based on the books should surely take the same approach or the fans may well be disappointed.

[Ness-Psi]

I personally think game of thrones (tv series) is dragging it's heels a bit, they seem to be padding it out with porn and child killing.... WHERE'S MY GODDAMN DRAGON'S!

[kneon]

Have you read the books? The series follows the books quite closely. Except that in the books some of the porn is child porn given the ages of the characters.

[FlashBack]

Hint: Dragons aren't flies, they need time to grow, getting it so far? Good.
Child killing- Why don't you go watch that episode again and try to understand it. Reply with the results.
Porn- Well, ok , so i agree with this one, the girl in the boat....

[Baka-akaB]

and at the way the season 1 unfolded too , it was "dragging its heels too" then all of sudden major sh*tstorm

[Ness-Psi]

lol i suppose some of you missed the sarcasm boat. but in all honesty i'm enjoying the show would like to see more with the elisy (not sure how you spell it) and her dragons and the guy who is helping her. (sorry cant remember their names) also hope we get to see the wall guard fight some white walkers.

[KontryBoy706]

long it's not toned down in the actual show I could care less

[Genecalypse]

First off the show adds needless sex scenes that werent in the book, so dont act like its supposed to be like that. Thats just HBO trying to add gratuitous shock value, not to say theres no sex in the books, there is. For instance the character 'Ros' (the whore) shes not in the books and was created specifically for the show, and what is her purpose? Being in and around sex scenes. Im fine with less time spent on sex

[Baka-akaB]

They probably just wanted to put a familiar face on whores , instead of just random ones . Those sex scenes with whores were still overall there .

The biggest addition i've seen so far , was them saying outright with Renly and Loras , what was easily there but only implied . Wich they werent wrong to do , as it would go over the head of some viewers

[bunt-custardly]

The point is, the censors stifle creativity. If I recall Mr Dinklage when accepting an award mentioned that HBO were amazing to work with because as a rarity in the industry they allowed for creativity hence why we have the show in the first place. We'd never get anything like this on the BBC in the UK no matter how well it was produced.

Why should there be people out there that hold the creative arts back for a supposed greater good. It just makes having ratings meaningless. Efforts would be better spent on education so that parents were more informed about what games youngsters are playing and more importantly so that M for mature equals mature not some meaningless sticker dictated to by people who think they can redefine its definition.

Oh I'm just repeating myself here.

[stubbed_out]

Toned it down!? We gamers are the most animal of all audiences, how dare they tone it down!

Give me Soldier of Fortune and some porn.

[Jason143]

so no trophy for banging a relative hmm no penis in the face every 15 minutes. Sounds good to me. The show is garbage with so muich sex thrown in it. I see fat people who arent in a relationship hooked on it