Bioshock creator Ken Levine believes that when people bought his fps titles, it was because they wanted to shoot things.<\/p>\n
“One of the reasons there’s been a lot of violence in video games is because it’s relatively easy to simulate,” said Levine.<\/p>\n
“Generally, there’s an easily perceivable market for it. I think the reaction to the violence is more an expression of people building confidence in the industry’s ability to express itself in more diverse fashions.”<\/p>\n
Levine’s Bioshock, itself a fairly violent game, has sold over 6 million copies – a feat that would not have been accomplished without the in-game brutality. Levine said he would not know how to make a non-violent version of the game, and it “would have been odd” to play.<\/p>\n
“I assumed people were coming for the shooting when we made [BioShock] originally. I think now we have a little more confidence, especially when you don’t have to appeal to 8 or 10 million people if you can just digitally distribute things like you can now,” he said, adding that this could lead to more “niche” titles that appealed to smaller audiences.<\/p>\n
“I think that’s what you’re seeing in games now is we realise we can experiment more because we don’t have to hit such a broad common denominator.”<\/p>\n