Little Sister “killing” in Bioshock gets media spotlight

 

Here’s an update about 2K Games‘ FPS masterpiece, Bioshock for the PC and Xbox 360 – and it’s about the attention the game’s receiving not only for its graphic depiction of violence and usage of drugs, but also about the moral decision you’re forced to make regarding the lives of the Little Sisters you stumble upon in Rapture.

The media attention comes in the form of an article by the Patriot Ledger. It talks about Bioshock as a game that breaks taboos by letting the player character kill enemies in the form and shape of little girls for Adam, an important resource in the game. The article also cites a murder case where videogames were allegedly involved – namely, the murder of 15-year-old James Alensen at the hands of 16-year-old John Odgren. John was reported to be  heavily into videogames, one of which is the highly-controversial Grand Theft Auto series.

The article also quotes 2K Boston President Kenneth Levine, with his statement of Bioshock being a game that presents difficult moral choices to the player. His statement, verbatim:

As a piece of art, we want to deal with challenging moral issues and if you want to do that, you have to go to some dark places. And BioShock certainly does go to some dark places.

While we can certainly agree that Bioshock does depict violence, it might be worth noting that you don’t actually get to “kill” the Little Sisters – choosing the Harvest option merely has the player picking the Little Girl up, then there’s a fadeout, and then you get the hefty Adam bonus. No violent scene of the thing actually happening displayed. Also, you can’t engage the Little Girl in combat, as they’re practically invincible with the Adam inside them.

Another fact is that the game actually rewards you more for rescuing little girls rather than harvesting them. For every four Little Girls you rescue, a pivotal character in the game’s narrative, Dr. Tanenbaum, will leave you a present of 200 Adam, as well as Plasmids you can’t get anywhere else (like the Hypnotize Big Daddy Plasmid, which lets you trick Big Daddies into fighting your battles for you). And let’s not forget that the ending you get depends on what you do with the Little Sisters themselves!

It’s certainly a good thing that the world is taking notice of the games – let’s just hope it doesn’t disintegrate into pointless debating and mud-slinging just like other events that has happened in the past. You can check out the entire article via the Read link below.

Buy: [Bioshock (Games for Windows)]
Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]

 

Here’s an update about 2K Games‘ FPS masterpiece, Bioshock for the PC and Xbox 360 – and it’s about the attention the game’s receiving not only for its graphic depiction of violence and usage of drugs, but also about the moral decision you’re forced to make regarding the lives of the Little Sisters you stumble upon in Rapture.

The media attention comes in the form of an article by the Patriot Ledger. It talks about Bioshock as a game that breaks taboos by letting the player character kill enemies in the form and shape of little girls for Adam, an important resource in the game. The article also cites a murder case where videogames were allegedly involved – namely, the murder of 15-year-old James Alensen at the hands of 16-year-old John Odgren. John was reported to be  heavily into videogames, one of which is the highly-controversial Grand Theft Auto series.

The article also quotes 2K Boston President Kenneth Levine, with his statement of Bioshock being a game that presents difficult moral choices to the player. His statement, verbatim:

As a piece of art, we want to deal with challenging moral issues and if you want to do that, you have to go to some dark places. And BioShock certainly does go to some dark places.

While we can certainly agree that Bioshock does depict violence, it might be worth noting that you don’t actually get to “kill” the Little Sisters – choosing the Harvest option merely has the player picking the Little Girl up, then there’s a fadeout, and then you get the hefty Adam bonus. No violent scene of the thing actually happening displayed. Also, you can’t engage the Little Girl in combat, as they’re practically invincible with the Adam inside them.

Another fact is that the game actually rewards you more for rescuing little girls rather than harvesting them. For every four Little Girls you rescue, a pivotal character in the game’s narrative, Dr. Tanenbaum, will leave you a present of 200 Adam, as well as Plasmids you can’t get anywhere else (like the Hypnotize Big Daddy Plasmid, which lets you trick Big Daddies into fighting your battles for you). And let’s not forget that the ending you get depends on what you do with the Little Sisters themselves!

It’s certainly a good thing that the world is taking notice of the games – let’s just hope it doesn’t disintegrate into pointless debating and mud-slinging just like other events that has happened in the past. You can check out the entire article via the Read link below.

Buy: [Bioshock (Games for Windows)]
Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]