Why is there so much death in video games?

[Raguna]

Personally, a lot of people seem to think graphics are everything these days, though some developers like Falcom proved you don't need high-end graphics to play a terrific game.

Amen to that.

[Deejilator]

I pretty much agree with everything that's been said already and can't really think of much to add. I will say, though, that I had never heard of the phrase middle-class game before but I really like it. I think that it's a really good way to describe the games that I've enjoyed and that I look for. I like a big "AAA" title every now and then but if I really looked at the games that I would call my favorites pretty much all would fall into that "middle-class" area I believe.

[AweOfShe]

I think this resonates with me most. The whole "middle class game is dead" concept. It's getting to the point where you're either a low budget niche/indie title, or a AAA blockbuster, and the gap between the two is ever-increasing. This is part of the reason why I'm not really looking forward to next-gen. I expect even less variety and unique titles, but fortunately the PC has plenty of games now and upcoming to keep me occupied. WiiU might also be good since it will probably be noticeably less powerful than other next-gen consoles and might pick up some interesting/unique games, but given how people wrote off the Wii this gen, it probably won't make a difference. And most of those sort of games will probably end up on the 3DS (and maybe Vita) anyway. With big question marks for localization, because us westerners hate portables.

Full agreement here. Though, I think I'm looking forward to the next-gen less, mainly because the ratio of unfinished games being released/locked content on-disc will probably be a bit higher than it is now. :P

I always thought that the limitations of lower-powered consoles were pretty helpful in the creativity of the older-gen games. Because they were so weak, devs always had to think of creative ways to compensate for that lack of power. Nowadays the only thing holding a dev back is their budget. :l

That isn't to say devs nowadays aren't creative. I'm sure they have a lot of potential, but they're always stuck in the safety-net of what sells now.

[Ivy]

I read the topic title and thought it was a topic about games where you love the characters and then they all start dying off

that said,

Another point would be that games like Call of Duty sell by the billions because people like to murder other people, but can't in the real world as they are too afraid.

NO no no no, you're sounding like one of those anti-video game advocates. That is not why people play big-name broshooter games, there will always be the extreme cases where that may be the reason for a person but for the huge big part, no that is not why they sell billions.

[Shizuka]

Life and death is the sweetest game human life can possibly come up with.

[Adrian-kun]

Life and death is the sweetest game human life can possibly come up with.

Wow, that's quite poetic.

[321jassman]

We live and we die. Who knew?

[Fabrizo]

Life is a game and then you die.
Also the one with the most toys/money when they die wins. (and by toys I mean yachts, sports cars, personal jets, etc.)
But you don't have to win in the end to have fun.

[Ringwraith]

Conflict is the easiest to make a game around, and as such killing things usually is the solution to what to have a basic mechanic.
As for the focus on it, it's not necessarily about the actual killing itself, and more like solving a problem, thus it's about winning.
Something like that anyway.

Besides, were you listening to those lyrics of Dishonored's version "What do you do with a Drunken Sailor"? It's not exactly a 'nice' world it's in.
Although you can go through the game without killing anyone apparently, as there's even non-lethal solutions for dealing with your assassination targets. Not to mention you're somewhat penalised for being messy, unless that's what you were aiming for.

[perrandy]

Life and death is the sweetest game human life can possibly come up with.

there's nothing sweeter about death,just saying....