So, last week TotalHalibut posted his WTF is...? of Far Cry: Blood Dragon. In the video he stated that gaming shouldn't take itself so serious, as it had done with Far Cry 3, and should strive to provide shorter, less serious content without moral lessons in the story and so forth, as did Blood Dragon.
As long as we are talking about the content of the games, I feel he is right. Not every game has to be an intimate, tragic drama or a grand exposition on the human condition. Just like movies, there are the occasional grand and genius classics, but it's also nice to have your good old action flicks that are just there to entertain. Games need good mechanics and a solid, fun playthrough, that's all they need to be enjoyable and to provide an experience to the player. Nothing wrong there I think.
However, it does seem that one needs to make a distinction between the content of the game, and gaming as a medium. And when we talk about gaming as a medium, I don't think it's a bad thing for gaming to take gaming serious. Of course, video games are still games. And games will always be 'just games'. It's exactly what a game is, it's 'just a game'. But sometimes I wonder if gaming owes it to itself and society to try and be more than 'just a game'.
I'm not talking about gaming considering itself an art form or anything like that. Just gaming taking itself serious, for its own sake. For gamers to strive to enjoy something more than just shooting aliens and fancy graphics; For the gaming industry to consider it to be more than just a cash grab. For society to consider it to be more than just a lazy way of passing the time. If only so there can be proper discussions about gaming, instead of dick-weaving contests. (Yes, I'm writing this with last week's Jimquisition on gender issues in mind) You can't have a serious discussion about games if you don't take gaming, or the gamers themselves, serious and if they don't take themselves serious.
And although there is a distinction between the content of the game and gaming as a medium, can you always think the two apart? A musician and his music are two different things, but our perception of one will always influence the other. The same goes for gaming. There is nothing wrong with producing enjoyable content, but when that content is produced with a 'It's just a game'-mentality, the results are going to be disappointing I feel.
As long as we are talking about the content of the games, I feel he is right. Not every game has to be an intimate, tragic drama or a grand exposition on the human condition. Just like movies, there are the occasional grand and genius classics, but it's also nice to have your good old action flicks that are just there to entertain. Games need good mechanics and a solid, fun playthrough, that's all they need to be enjoyable and to provide an experience to the player. Nothing wrong there I think.
However, it does seem that one needs to make a distinction between the content of the game, and gaming as a medium. And when we talk about gaming as a medium, I don't think it's a bad thing for gaming to take gaming serious. Of course, video games are still games. And games will always be 'just games'. It's exactly what a game is, it's 'just a game'. But sometimes I wonder if gaming owes it to itself and society to try and be more than 'just a game'.
I'm not talking about gaming considering itself an art form or anything like that. Just gaming taking itself serious, for its own sake. For gamers to strive to enjoy something more than just shooting aliens and fancy graphics; For the gaming industry to consider it to be more than just a cash grab. For society to consider it to be more than just a lazy way of passing the time. If only so there can be proper discussions about gaming, instead of dick-weaving contests. (Yes, I'm writing this with last week's Jimquisition on gender issues in mind) You can't have a serious discussion about games if you don't take gaming, or the gamers themselves, serious and if they don't take themselves serious.
And although there is a distinction between the content of the game and gaming as a medium, can you always think the two apart? A musician and his music are two different things, but our perception of one will always influence the other. The same goes for gaming. There is nothing wrong with producing enjoyable content, but when that content is produced with a 'It's just a game'-mentality, the results are going to be disappointing I feel.
Also good to see plenty of people have the same idea in mind as well.
