even old classics charcter swear like this

some times theres nothing left to do but swear

Copter400:
The right curse in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world...

But enough G-Man quoting. It's all about how profanity is used. I'd like to point to The Darkness here, a game which cursed more than a sailor on meth. For me, it didn't feel excessive or unnecessary; the way the Mafia in the game swear could be interpreted as a way of reinforcing the idea that the local organized crime scene has descended from being a family of honourable businessmen to a bunch of thuggie-druggies.

On the other hand, we have the fratboy [DROPPINGS OF A BOVINE MALE] that seems to crop up alot in any game with big ol' manly men. I've not had the pleasure of playing Gears Of War or Army Of Two, but that would just get annoying as hell.

Be glad you haven't played either they sucked although if southpaw wasn't so utterly useless in Gears I may have actually been able to enjoy the game a little. Army of Two was just plain worthless. When I got a good look at Cliff Blizinsky during the Gears 2 gameplay reveal it all made sense though. He dresses in a way that indicates that he is so in love with his appearance that he has to advertise it to the world. His get up just screamed "Look at ma pecs!!!!" worst thing is I can't help but wonder who he is advertising to. I could understand if he was walking down the street or something but not for a gameplay reveal, it's not as if chicks actually care about Gears of War 2. (I know there are some, indulge me ladies.)

All I can say here is one line...

SIT DOWN AND DRINK YOUR GODDAMN TEA!

I actually found myself annoyed with the level of profanity in GTA4, it shows sloppy writing to me, that every emotion or annoyance is conveyed through a swear. I don't really think its a big deal, but it makes me respect the characters less.

I really have no issue with swearing at all. In fact, I tend to swear more playing the game than the actual characters do.

Apart from the delectable GTA4, I can't think of any current games where there is too much swearing. As games generally involve macho guys getting shot at, it would sound funny if they were all saying "oh, that hurt. Jolly bad show" wouldn't it?

If profanity is done tastefully - yes that's a strange thing to say - then I don't see the problem, the problem arises when game developers or script-writers think that to convey an emotion like anger, the character needs to swear at least 2,347 times during that cutscene, which is just silly.

I was going to mention Scarface but I thought i'd dig something up;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_that_most_frequently_use_the_word_%22fuck%22

Interesting, these aren't games but some of the films on that list can be considered some of the greatest, clearly then profanity doesn't bother a lot of people. I think it's just as acceptable to litter games with profanity as it is to litter films with it.

Games need *more* swearing. As Kane's Wrath proved, you can build a successful franchise on genocide and slaughter, but you can't have even a single character use the word "bitch".

Blayze:
Games need *more* swearing. As Kane's Wrath proved, you can build a successful franchise on genocide and slaughter, but you can't have even a single character use the word "bitch".

Surely that's a little extreme. You can't really justify swearing on the basis of "We've got genocide.". Surely, a little less genocide would be preferable.

Swear words are just words.
I remember this churchy guy telling me before that it doesn't matter if you say a swear word, just that you mean offense. He made a point about how people can say 'Jesus Christ' in an offensive manner but that doesn't make the words offensive.
Anyway, who cares if video game characters swear too much because it's all fictional and so it doesn't matter. The only swearing they should be cutting down on is from 12 year olds playing online.

How about in The Longest Journey in which the use of profanity is used to make a point about the game environment? I haven't played it but apparently some people in the science world of Stark use a lot of bad language while in the magical world of Arcadia they do without them. Swearing in games can definitely add to the immersion as it can make the game world seem more authentic. Admittedly in some games its overused and can loses its impact and can become ridiculous (GTA, Barett in FFVII).

Gus Morgan:
seriously ? you believe anyone in existence ever has or ever will yell, "yippie kai yay motherfucker" when beeing shot? You need to put down the tv remote and get some fresh air.

1, have a sense of humor. 2, Watch Diehard 1 thru 4. 3, Play Nakatomi Plaza. 4, Profit???

Er, to number two, he never says that while being shot in any of the movies, except possibly 4. Not sure if that counts, but hey.

galaxygamer:
I've been playing video games since I was 9 years old. I am 29 now. As I grew up, so did the medium. As time went on, from then to now, I noticed in increase in swearing in video games. I think there is too much profanity in video games. Specifically, I think the "f word" is used way too often. I believe it is used to shock the game player into saying, "Hey, this game is bad-ass. That character just said f*ck." Of course, the same game that has all the F-bombs is totally shallow, poorly put together, and repetitive. "50 Cent" anyone?

Before I come off like a prude, I would like to say that I am not against profanity, including the "f word." I am just totally against the use of profanity as a means to try to shock the player. I'll never forget the first time I was playing "Silent Hill 2" and I was about to enter into a boss battle with Eddie, a rather large simpleton with violent tendencies. Before the battle, he was screaming at Harry, the protagonist. He said something like, "I'll bet you think I am a dumb piece of shit!" Now, up until that point, I have never heard a game character use a legitimate swear in my life. I thought it was so cool.

In that situation, that particular use of profanity helped build the character (before you killed him :D ) and the story. Since then, however, I have found that profanity, especially the use of the "f word" is just used to (try to) shock. Eddie screaming and swearing helped build his character, and the story of "Silent Hill 2." How many other instances, of swearing in a game, can people say help grow a character, or build a story? Like I said above, swearing just seems like a failed way to shock the game player. I think swearing, for the sake of swearing, should be removed from games. Now, swearing to build a character, or add a dimension to a story, is ok, but only sparingly.

I tend to ramble, so I'll end my little spiel here. What do you all think?
~~N

I find people trying to ban profanity alot more scary and offensive than said profanity.

God I'm tired of this censorship especially in video games. Swearing in video games is not going to make you swear anymore in the real world, just like people think violence is going to make some one more violent in the real world it just won't really happen. Plus what is wrong with swearing in video games is saying what the fuck really offensive to you. even if it's not directed toward you. everyone swears get used to it. A character that does not swear seems less real thus making a story plot worse. i would rather hear a soldier yell fuck then say fudge it just help makes the story more realistic thus making the game better because the closer related to a character in a video game the more motivated you are in finishing that game. Now i am going to say this if a character uses fuck every two seconds so you don't understand what there saying that will ruin the story some, but it still brings out their character like i said and if it does fit their personality i am fine but even if it didn't im still going to play and enjoy it. I you don't like swearing in video games either and it gets you that mad then go turn in whatever you have and get a wii lord knows that game has enough content to make a 5 year-old to never come out of their room.

The_root_of_all_evil:

Blayze:
Games need *more* swearing. As Kane's Wrath proved, you can build a successful franchise on genocide and slaughter, but you can't have even a single character use the word "bitch".

Surely that's a little extreme. You can't really justify swearing on the basis of "We've got genocide.". Surely, a little less genocide would be preferable.

I'm just saying that it sucks to have such a double standard on the two issues. You can have mass murder and warfare on a global scale and nobody bats an eyelid, but the minute somebody says a naughty word, that's when people have to start protecting the children from such a *bad* influence. And if the game's got nudity in it? Don't even think about getting a rating.

I'm one to agree with expletives being taken as they come. If the game is set in a damp, depressing town of grey, then it comes as no surprise that everyone swears. That being said, I also enjoyed some bright and colourful games where profanity never existed. Swearing can be used for character definition, but let's not forget that there are other ways to build character, of course, but having the character using obsceneties is something that should always be considered. I mean if you want to please the angry-bandwagon-jumping-mothers society then you shouldn't include it one bit, but a lot of protesting parties are no more than a group of loud-mouthed hypocrytes that seem to need a false sense of achievement.
Swearing can be used to excellent effect. We, as level-headed gamers, should be able to judge whether a script is badly written or not, whether character development is plausible or not and whether or not the game in question actually needs bad language.

Ideally, words are just that. The problem is, people get offended, now I consider myself to be difficult to offend in that manor and de-sensitized to most things people can say to me, but if I so much as mention the word cunt or fuck, some people are deeply shocked and offended, which is strange to me.

So there will always be that problem of who you can offend, and who you can't.

Dalisclock:
Cartman: What's the big deal? It doesn't hurt anyone. Fuck Fuckity Fuck Fuck Fuck!

I agree wholeheartedly.

I thought the amount of swearing in the totality of Half-Life 2 was sufficient.
Speaking of which, both Breen saying 'Ohwhatsthis? Put it over there' and 'Oh S#!t' made me laugh.

I think, yeah, games are starting to swear a whole lot more, but most of the stuff in society today is swearing and becoming more violent. Maybe we need games with good story lines that don't involve "realistic" amounts of violence?

Realism.

I go to high school, and if I had a dollar for every instance in which I heard the word 'fuck' in one day I'd be richer than my entire country. Hell, I'd earn a million dollars off of my cousin alone.

Games are getting real and more real as the years go by, and excessive swearing is definately real. I don't use those words often, but at least 90% of the world does.

Besides, how can you expect to drive down the road in GTA and not hear swearing? Especially if you drive anyway similar to me...

Welcome to 2008. Get used to it.

The OP is not talking about censorship, and he isn't particularly offended by swear-words. Rather he finds himself annoyed when they are used cheaply and improperly, detracting from the experience rather than enhancing it. He seems to feel this happens all too often in videogames. It's a road I've been down myself. It can actually break my immersion in a game, causing the feeling that good dialog and story telling have been abandoned in favor of the cheap thrill that "the F word" invokes in children. It's frustrating that I felt forced to paraphrase the original post, but too many people failed to comprehend it on the first read-through.

Apologies to those who disagreed with the OP, and expressed it the right way. You really can disagree without being a cock. No apologies to the big-bad strawman hunters around here. Who brought up censorship? Give me a break.

I don't mind profanity. I do mind profanity purely for profanity's sake.

I don't mind the occasional swear word if it's used in the right place.

But what i realy fucking hate are the fucking people who think that it's a fucking good idea to put a fucking curse infront of every fucking noun all the fucking time.

I do feel, particularly in the case of GTA SA, that some games need an optional profanity filter.
I get some aweful looks from my mum if she overhears that game.

I agree with Danny above, GTA:SA, although having loved the previous GTAs, I felt 'removed' from it, partly due to the gangsta setting, and partly because no-one I have ever met talks like that, with a few f's in every line of dialogue.

I'm not anti swearing, but as people have said, there's time n place, I love a lot of stand up comics, who use it to their advantage, and then you see other comedians who seem to have made a career from just swearing, instead of crafting it into a routine which needs it.

I remember reading the case of Roy Chubby Brown , a famous 'blue' comic from England, who was in court for assault after hitting a man with an umbrella after he refused to stop swearing in front of children at the beach. His act features swears going into the hundreds, I'm sure, but he knows its suited to places where people have chosen to hear it.

To balance things out, its the same reason jehovahs witnesses bug me, dont knock on my door and waste my time, I know where the church is when I need me some jesus. Or buy some TV space, and advertise ' God - now with 30% more beard! '

I think if you're going for a realistic tone, then sure, swear away, people do. Don't do it for shock value, and for god's sake dont over do it. But if i was confronted with headphuqery by ghosts or being shot at, personally, i'd swear my lungs out. Its all about context really.