I'm tired of the "it's just a game" line

[TonyVonTonyus]

If it's "just a game" then every single classis piece of literature is "just a book" and Citizen Kain, the Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption are "just movies". Games are just as important for portraying a story or experience. Just because it's not written down over several hundred pages or can't be viewed in a cinema doesn't mean it,s not an art form.

 

[Nouw]

In the term 'it's just a game', game is something that is non-existent and shouldn't be wasting your life and energy. In that phrase, game is just entertainment and something that shouldn't be taken seriously. Well that's how I see it anyway >.>

Fuck that, if I get pissed because I lose in a game I'd expect the other person to understand that I cared about it. Note that I never throw/threw a controller or anything physical, just y'know feel bad inside.

I love it when people act like assholes in online games and say "dude, it's just a game" when confronted.
It's the greatest thing ever.

Or saying you had a force field up. (I hated those kids growing up) Want a force field? Buy Halo.

No, get SC2 and play Protoss.
For seriously.

If you're implying that Starcraft did it first, watch StarWars!

 

[Snotnarok]

So by the logic you're presenting, everyone should critically analyze every game they come across and anyone who defends it should have to conform to realistic standards to defend said game, even if in the games reality things do not work the same?

How would you answer this then

Q-In Bad Company 2, how do you revive someone who just got hit by a 100 bullets to the mouth with a defibrillator?

The only POSSIBLE answer is "it's a game, and that's how the game mechanics work". Because seriously there's no realistic explanation, the man wouldn't have a face never the less a heartbeat after any amount of voltage through him.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

People just need a clearer perception and understanding of games. Games are just games, its how they affect people that matter. The Mona Lisa is just another canvas with colors on it, but its the people who give it meaning that matter, in this case, the person that gives the game meaning is the player, how you react reflects on the game. Again, lets take paintings as an example, they are admired as works of art because of time and culture. Truth is, games just need time to mature as an art form before people start taking it more seriously. I bet music wasnt taken seriously when it first started out.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

So if someone kills my friend in Halo. I should call the police on them?

 

[Daedalus1942]

Well I do agree with it being misused when using it as an excuse for the lack of quality of one of the elements of the game, with that said it is a perfectly used line when used with a person who is pissed off because he lost in a game.

Or when a certain someone is complaning about how unrealistic Dead Space 2 is -.-
-Tabs<3-

 

[Daedalus1942]

If it's "just a game" then every single classis piece of literature is "just a book" and Citizen Kain, the Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption are "just movies". Games are just as important for portraying a story or experience. Just because it's not written down over several hundred pages or can't be viewed in a cinema doesn't mean it,s not an art form.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is just a book.
A damn good book, but a book nonetheless.
Lord of the rings is just a book saga. Hitchhiker's guide is just a book.
I love the Dune series to death but they are just books.
-Tabs<3-

 

[Brawndo]

Also, OP have you watched Extra Credits at all, they usually talk about video games as a cultural medium and how games are more than "Just games". seems like something you'd be interested in.

It's actually my favorite feature on this site now, more so than ZP. Personally, I like analyzing things I spend my time on, no matter what they are. And lots of people agree with me, otherwise we wouldn't have things like wikias, imfdb, and the like.

 

[Littlee300]

Acceptable moment: cussing after losing a game save
not acceptable moment: Ranting for half a hour because you hate a game.

Edit: Game stories can be made up by idiots in 5 minutes sometimes.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Indeed. We should say "it's fictional; if something bothers you, just imagine it's in a really strange parallel dimension".

Now, movies and books both do THAT.

 

[Lady Larunai]

I use that line when people are sore losers..

 

[Lady Larunai]

WHEN SOME KID PISSES ME OFF, YOU DON'T SAY "IT'S JUST A KID!"

the parents of those children use that line all the time -_-

 

[USSR]

I lost the game

Shame.
Now I have to remove your genitalia with a rusty spoon.

OT-Oh, how I agree..
I cannot wait for the day our society will be taken seriously.

 

[Thaius]

I agree. To call it "just a game" is an insult to anyone and everyone who takes them seriously as a hobby, art form, or career. I freakin' hate that.

 

[FalloutJack]

I don't say it's "just" a game/movie/etc. I leave out the just part.

You see, I understand that some people take these things seriously, and that people want to consider it all an art-form. Sure, why not? Movies are a performance art and games are graphical art in motion with interactivity. Yes, I see it.

But the other end of it is that when you take it too seriously, you gotta roll that devotion back with a double-shot of reality. Movies and games and such are not technically real life even if they're meant to be as real in function as our own world. They are still an idealistic view painted by the nature of the plot, because narrative has power over this world. You still must separated it from our world, because we have no script and the director is - at best - a being beyond our comprehension.

 

[timeadept]

I wish people would stop saying this too. though it usually comes after "what? you want games to be PERFECTLY realistic? so you want to wait 5 months in a hospital after being shot once before they let you back to the front?" No... but i think that being able to fall 3 stories and land without a scratch and or get up and walk away with a broken leg is a bit ridiculous.

Ok so often what i mean is that cretin things break immersion, and yes it's hard to define what is different about these immersion breaking mechanics as opposed to those that are required to keep the game fun. But really their argument is that it shouldn't be realistic at all? i think one of us is completely missing the point.

 

[astrav1]

So are we supposed to say that it was the game that caused that Bat-shit dude to go postal? I understand where you are coming from, but I also think that there are reasonable situations for it.

 

[timeadept]

WHEN SOME KID PISSES ME OFF, YOU DON'T SAY "IT'S JUST A KID!"

the parents of those children use that line all the time -_-

That is quite true, and another thing... THE KID NEVER FREAKEN LEARNS IF YOU DON'T HOLD THEM RESPONSIBLE!

oh, um... let me clarify this too. If your excuse is that they're a kid and don't know any better, they will NEVER know any better if you do not hold them responsible for that stupid shit they just pulled!

Now lets apply this to games... GAMES WILL NEVER GET BETTER IF THERE IS NO PRESSURE TO DO SO!

 

[The Sandvich]

I think it's time to bring in another Yahtzee quote (well, in this case, a paraphrase):

You could say "Well, it's just a video game", but that's no excuse. Was BioShock just a video game? Was Schindler's List just flickering lights on a wall?