For this week's Chalk Talk assignment we discussed violence in video games. As we are all aware, video games are no stranger to graphic depictions of blood, gore, and other forms of violence. For years violent games have been targeted by political figures, censorship laws, and various groups (such as BCTF and MAVAV) in an attempt to purge gaming from these blood soaked pixels. Here's what GameSpotters had to say….

　　UniversalSigh: The ongoing debate surrounding the affect of violence on young people still echoes to this day. Before video games were brought into the equation it was television that suffered the blame, now it's video games that are falling under the scrutiny. …. read more.

　　Starshine_M2A2:There are some films and games whose message is nothing more complicated than to generate an emotional response. French cinema has been doing this for a long time with its extreme horror genre which includes seemingly pointless violence in films like Martyrs but when looked at closer, reveals a startlingly powerful message - in Martyrs' case it was the theory that violence can be a window into the afterlife.…. read more.

　　Gelugon_baat: Everything that happens in a video game, even if it is "inspired" by real-world occurrences, is ultimately not real. It is little more than a digital manifestation of the imagination of game designers, either completely fictitious, or described to them by their consultants. …. read more.

　　danny_dm_moore: Game creators need to take risks with the violence in games, there is room for it. The medium is growing so fast and so many people are wanting more mature stories within the titles being created that by necessity the violence must also mature.…. read more.

　　g1rldraco7: It's bad enough people think gamers are weird for wanting to be inside rather than outside and the fact that no one wants to be judged by what they play. I really hate it when they ask me these things and they're like 'really you must a disturbed person since you're buying this violent game …. read more.

The Peanut Gallery

　　A very special thanks to everyone who contributed to this week's Chalk Talk! To read all of the entrants, you can check out this link here.

Extra Credit

　　- Us and Them By: Pierst179

　　- Borderlands 2: Better Than The First Game? By: CamoBullo

　　- Not so fast, Sonic! By: Ryagan

Next Week's Assignment - Big in Japan

　　It is difficult to argue that Japanese game development has had a large impact on gaming culture as a whole. This weeks Chalk Talk in honor of the Tokyo Game Show we will be focusing on the contributions of these developers. How have their works helped to mold the games we play. Perhaps you will want to write on how Japanese console game development has been slipping over the years? However you choose to touch on this topic be sure to mark your blog as editorial and to sound off in the roll call thread here with your awesome Chalk Talk entry! Roll-Call.

Last week on Chalk Talk - Video Game Music: In Perfect Harmony