Video Game Gore: Gibbing, Meat, & the Moral Implications

Video game gore has been a topic of discussion and debate since the early days of gaming. From pixelated blood splatters to realistic dismemberment, the portrayal of violence in games has evolved significantly, raising questions about desensitization, artistic expression, and moral responsibility. This essay examines the historical context of "gibbing," explores the diverse ways video games depict gore, and considers some interesting moral implications and considerations of gaming gore.

The Origins of 'Gibbing' in Video Games

The term "gibbing" is a callback to the 1990's PC first-person shooter boom, a phrase originating from the excessive gore found in early FPS games such as Doom and Quake. In these games, an enemy character, upon taking sufficient damage, would explode into a mass of dismembered body parts, or "gibs". This visual effect, while crude by today's standards, was revolutionary at the time, contributing to the games' reputations for intense violence and dark humor. The speaker is highlighting the silliness of video game gore, and the WORD “gibbing” perfectly encapsulates the over-the-top nature of this video Game carnage.

It’s important to note that "gib" as a word existed long before video games. It’s a word that has been used in cooking, referring to the organs of a bird, also with origins in metallurgy, referring to a piece of metal machined to hold other parts. But neither of those is the origin for the FPS shooter gib.

Depending on the video game and your personal taste, video game gore can range from goofy to disturbing. The speaker seems to hold the opinion that 90's gore is typically more goofy than disturbing.

Defining the Gib: From Recognizable Form to Gory Parts

Getting "gibbed" meant going from a recognizable human or humanoid form to a scattered collection of gore. This transformation often involved copious amounts of blood, flying limbs, and chunks of flesh, all rendered with limited graphical capabilities that, in retrospect, can appear more comedic than frightening.

Even with its goofy style, the impact on players and the culture surrounding first-person shooters cannot be understated.

The speaker also brings up an important point that isn’t often Mentioned, and that’s whether the word is spelled gibbed or jibbed. The speaker refers to the Id software co-founder Adrian Carmack, who referred to gibbing using the hard G sound, implying that the proper root is giblets.

Although there are many spellings, the word’s overall popularity is tied into what the speaker refers to as boomer shooters, or FPS games in the style of the 90s, which have had a surge in popularity in recent years.

Evolution of Gore in Video Games

As video game technology advanced, so did the ability to portray gore with greater realism and detail. This evolution has led to a diverse range of artistic approaches and effects. Some games opt for gratuitous, over-the-top violence, while others employ gore more strategically to enhance the narrative or create a specific mood.

Examples of games with varying degrees of gore include Shadow Warrior, Quake III Arena, Doom, Rise of the Triad, and Quake. This has also led to more ethical conversations.

Regardless of the style used, the inclusion of gore always begs the question, where does it come from? The next part of the video delves into the question from where in history video game gibbing came.

A Meaty History: Origins of Gibbing

The origin of video game gibbing comes from the meat industry, namely the offal of birds: the organs, the gizzard, the heart and the liver. According to the speaker, this also comes from Adrian Carmack, one of the co-founders of ID software, who is credited with coining the term for the effect.

Before gibbing entered the video game lexicon, however, it referred to a piece of material or metal machined to hold other parts in place. In older cookbooks, it also referred to gibbed herring, prepared in a specific way. Modern dictionaries will tell you that gibbing means to castrate.

In Hunter S. Thompson's book Songs of the Doomed, a character quips, 'These people have no balls... they've been gibbed - like cats.' Meaning, gibbing refers to being castrated. The video seems to imply that the true origin of the phrase came from the meat industry, a special sort of kill. To look at what gibbing means in practice, the speaker shows various clips of old and new first-person shooters.

90s First Person Shooters: What it Means to be Gibbed

In Doom, killing enemies with standard weaponry results in their death and falling over.

Sometimes, if you deal enough damage in one shot, the enemy will explode, their model turning into viscera, to become giblets. This is what Adrian Carmack termed gibbing, a special sort of kill.

The speaker also notes that it might not be ‘gibbing’ but rather ‘jibbing’, although in popular use, most gamers typically opt for the hard “G”. As these boomer shooters grew in popularity, so did the term gibbing, but getting gibbed in video games started to fade by 2005. The speaker also adds that artist Errant Signal also maintains an excellent series, Children of Doom.