Do we have too much of a 'victim complex'?

[OurGloriousLeader]

It seems to me that a lot of the time, a post or article will pop up, here and elsewhere, about how violent games etc are ferociously condemned by the neo-con media, Daily Mail and the rest, and how this degrades games as an art form yada yada.

But I don't think games get it all that bad anymore. I remember the furore around GTA, and there has been nothing like it since, even Manhunt got off better. Condemnation is restrained to an article in the paper, a minute long interview (I saw that hilarious one on FOX news about Mass Effect, where they drew in some random feminist writer to complain about the sex, and a video game reviewer asks 'Have you actually seen or played any of the game, miss?' 'Well, of course not!' rofl) on TV.

In fact, I would what is truly degrading games as both art and entertainment is the indifference. Most non-gamers, when asked about games, couldn't care less. Mindless violence and kiddy platformers. And to be fair, that's what the majority of games are.

 

[Monkeybone]

Who's 'we' exactly?

 

[Alex_P]

I think it's stupid how so many video-game fans seem to react to anything and everything with "No! Games are about pure fun! Nobody ever takes anything away from a game or learns anything from it or thinks about it at all!"

That's exactly what keeps games from being taken seriously in the first place.

-- Alex

 

[Splitter]

we, the gamers I believe.

 

[Monkeybone]

Ah... Well, I certainly don't feel insecure about videogames. It's just the latest media fad, I'm sure there's been more deaths related to kids trying to emulate WWF than videogames. Some kids are just pretty damn stupid, just watch the youtube videos of the retards chucking an aerosol can in a fire and smacking it with a club. That's called natural selection, it's a good thing.

Do I as a gamer feel the stigma of being a victim? No. I'm a survivor, I've played doom as a youth (for all of twenty minutes before I got bored) and didn't shoot up my school, I deserve no less than three escorts delivered to my door post haste.

 

[Splitter]

I think people need to remember that games are going to be different, same with films, books, music.
Just because you have games like Manhunt, doesn't mean all games are based around violent psychopathic murder sprees, likewise just because you have games like Barbie Horse Adventures, doesn't mean all games are purile drivel.
Thats like saying that all films centre around violence because of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

[OurGloriousLeader]

I think it's stupid how so many video-game fans seem to react to anything and everything with "No! Games are about pure fun! Nobody ever takes anything away from a game or learns anything from it or thinks about it at all!"

That's exactly what keeps games from being taken seriously in the first place.

-- Alex

Yeah, it's interesting. I think a lot of people enter 'defensive mode!' really easily whenever there is criticism of their chosen thingy. Actually, that's quite obvious. Yay for obviousity!

 

[Shade Jackrabbit]

I think it's stupid how so many video-game fans seem to react to anything and everything with "No! Games are about pure fun! Nobody ever takes anything away from a game or learns anything from it or thinks about it at all!"

That's exactly what keeps games from being taken seriously in the first place.

-- Alex

Yeah, it's interesting. I think a lot of people enter 'defensive mode!' really easily whenever there is criticism of their chosen thingy. Actually, that's quite obvious. Yay for obviousity!

Where would we be without it

Probably still using lead pipes for our drinking water supplies.

 

[Dahemo]

In fact, I would what is truly degrading games as both art and entertainment is the indifference. Most non-gamers, when asked about games, couldn't care less. Mindless violence and kiddy platformers. And to be fair, that's what the majority of games are.

I see what you're getting at here, and on your point about the decline of mass media hysteria to the more controversial offerings from the vaults of Rockstar and their ilk, I can only agree, you're supported by a severe lack response by even the tabloids to various games of the last two years. I seem to remember GTA: San Andreas garnering some attention but nothing that would raise the dreaded talk of bans.

However, I have to disagree with you both on your assertion that public indifference is affecting games adversely, and that games as a whole can be boiled down to any kind of sweeping generalisations (at least, ones that don't involve the words "stimulus" and "input").

Firstly, games are struggling to find their feet as a mainstream medium. Yes, it's a multi-billion pound industry, and yes, this has been the case for roughly a decade, but the mentality is still very insular, that we as gamers belong to a niche group of society. Yet with the advent of casual and social games this stance seems somewhat flawed, more people are becoming involved in gaming than ever before, and instead of milking the tired cash cows for the fanboys and executives, and start to direct some of this vast revenue into development. The day that smaller software houses begin to re-appear will be a joyous day for us all, as this constant amalgamation of companies is leading to a stagnation of the industry, and is crushing the potential that the young people currently piling out of higher education could bring to the table, specifically as the first humans to have been born into a truly technological age.

On your other point, I hope this was just a stab at those outside the community, as either you've made a very poignant satement in regards to the subject matter, or you've unintentionally highlighted one of the main perceived issues with the industry, which I've just rambled on about for half a page so I won't bore you further.

I must admit, there is potential out there, some developers are showing very tentative signs that they're moving in the right direction, but I can't help thinking that a few more disappointing E3s will come and go before we finally start getting somewhere as a community, as an industry, but perhaps more importantly, as an artform.

 

[Monkeybone]

Dahemo> I liked squaresoft a lot more than I ever did Square-Enix. You ever know they made a sequel to Brave Fencer Musashi? Now he looks like some waif-like androgynous anorexic who's balls to the wall bland. What do we do? It's what appeals to people now a days.

 

[blank0000]

yup, we do tend to get gamers that victimize themselves