Why must every game revolve around making my balls feel big?
- Thread starter Zhukov
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I'd say because a lot of games (if not all) are a form of friendly competition. I'm not just talking about computer games here, even the most basic of childhood games has at it's heart an element of competition. Between two or more people these games result in both a winner and a loser, allowing both parties an even chance of winning. Between one person and an AI opponent the outcome needs must favour the human player, as success only matters to that one side. Therefore since the human element is playing - as it were - with a stacked deck, this results in a feeling of over-achievement or badass-ery.
Or because game devs are pandering to immature power fantasies. I'd like to believe my first reason had merit, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm talking bollocks and it's the second reason that holds true. In an effort to make my case just a little bit more credible I would point out that this feeling of 'I can take on the world' is usually only delivered in single player campaigns. Multiplayer games in which people play against people ditch the feeling of invulnerability in favour of making you just as vulnerable as everyone else, hence removing the feeling of badass-ery.
Or because game devs are pandering to immature power fantasies. I'd like to believe my first reason had merit, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm talking bollocks and it's the second reason that holds true. In an effort to make my case just a little bit more credible I would point out that this feeling of 'I can take on the world' is usually only delivered in single player campaigns. Multiplayer games in which people play against people ditch the feeling of invulnerability in favour of making you just as vulnerable as everyone else, hence removing the feeling of badass-ery.
At least in Mass Effect you can choose to be a buff, thirty-something year old black guy instead. Hooray for variety. I like mine to be a mix between Hulk Hogan and Samuel.L.Jackson.
Sure it's overdone but companies don't like taking risks, at least not big ones by actually focusing on something other than the brutal slaughter of your comrades.
Sure it's overdone but companies don't like taking risks, at least not big ones by actually focusing on something other than the brutal slaughter of your comrades.
Accurate:
Assassin's creed
Batman Arkham City
Dead Rising
Dead Space
Overlord
Global Agenda
Mass Effect
NeverWinter Nights
Torchlight
Just Cause
Bioshock
Borderlands
Half Life
Not sure if accurate:
Cave Story?
Evil Genus? (in an abstract way)
Inaccurate:
Alan Wake (not blank slate)
GhostBusters
Lego Batman
Psychonauts
Back To The Future series
Indian Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Monkey island
Aquaria
Braid
Machinarium
Osmos
World of Goo
Gary's Mod
Magic the Gathering
Plants vs. Zombies
Portal
Worms
Costume Quest
Left 4 Dead (Though I'd ague it really is)
Team Fortress (at least when I played it)
Now, I'm going to call BS on your comment about "your protagonist gets increasingly powerful" because if we take games in an abstract sense then there should always be a linear progression and increasing difficulty that creates a gradual build in power. The build in power may be you getting better at mechanics or the character getting a shinny new hookshot (Legend of Zelda fits the description too) but there is always a gradual build overtime. You mind as well say the three act structure is a juvenile power trip because it builds to a climax. This can be used as a bad thing but in general its just part of how a game works. As for your comments about blank slate characters, Stop playing shooters, stop playing RPGs. Shooters are build around blank slate mechanics of you as protagonist and RPGs have a core mechanic of player interaction that requires a blank slate character. If you stop playing those generas you should see less of this issue. It won't go away entirely but it will help things. (Can't help you with badass though as games are generally designed to make players feel good and will border on this issue unless you play games that rely on other emotions, like survival horror.)
Assassin's creed
Batman Arkham City
Dead Rising
Dead Space
Overlord
Global Agenda
Mass Effect
NeverWinter Nights
Torchlight
Just Cause
Bioshock
Borderlands
Half Life
Not sure if accurate:
Cave Story?
Evil Genus? (in an abstract way)
Inaccurate:
Alan Wake (not blank slate)
GhostBusters
Lego Batman
Psychonauts
Back To The Future series
Indian Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Monkey island
Aquaria
Braid
Machinarium
Osmos
World of Goo
Gary's Mod
Magic the Gathering
Plants vs. Zombies
Portal
Worms
Costume Quest
Left 4 Dead (Though I'd ague it really is)
Team Fortress (at least when I played it)
Now, I'm going to call BS on your comment about "your protagonist gets increasingly powerful" because if we take games in an abstract sense then there should always be a linear progression and increasing difficulty that creates a gradual build in power. The build in power may be you getting better at mechanics or the character getting a shinny new hookshot (Legend of Zelda fits the description too) but there is always a gradual build overtime. You mind as well say the three act structure is a juvenile power trip because it builds to a climax. This can be used as a bad thing but in general its just part of how a game works. As for your comments about blank slate characters, Stop playing shooters, stop playing RPGs. Shooters are build around blank slate mechanics of you as protagonist and RPGs have a core mechanic of player interaction that requires a blank slate character. If you stop playing those generas you should see less of this issue. It won't go away entirely but it will help things. (Can't help you with badass though as games are generally designed to make players feel good and will border on this issue unless you play games that rely on other emotions, like survival horror.)
.Zhukov said:
Because I love this song.
.
Now in all seriousness, they think that they cater to a specific demographic. THIS is how they perceive us, at least most of the major developers. We keep buying these games, we continue the myth. Other developers with different games suddenly have great sales - the trend can change.
You know the first game I see on my Shelf? Jumping Flash.Zhukov said:
Considering I have that there and I love it, it should be obvious I am not a very big fan of this gen at all. What you described in your post is almost all that's left with the selections we're currently getting on the consoles. If a game is not Gears of War, Halo or CoD, it's trying it's damnest to be them at least in aesthetics. Developers aren't entierly at fault here. Now that everyone has been bought out by horrible companies like Microsoft and EA, those machismo fantasy games are the easiest to get green-lit. To those suits, this is the entire audience for gaming:
And with the numbers machismo games pull in on the consoles, they might just be right, or right enough that any other group is now an inconsequential minority. this is probably why Nintendo originally abandoned the gaming crowd. I really wanted to like the wii, I even defended it up till now. But after seeing it die with a whimper like it did, I can't really defend it anymore. It was a console for children and parents(and grandparents), and I totally understand now why Nintendo decided to focus on that crowd.
I can only be so dishonest about my beliefs.Abandon4093 said:
I love that game. That was like, the first PlayStation game I ever played.xPixelatedx said:
Yup, I still remember when it was up to play on displays at Circuit Cities, and that was months before the PS1 even came out. Played through the whole game recently, and it's still just as good as ever. The only thing lacking is 'the visual wow' it had when it was new, but fun is fun and that's timeless.LilithSlave said:
There are things that someone dislike that are just not their taste. And then there are things people dislike that they thing are related to a larger thing. Such as people who like Rick Santorum.Abandon4093 said:
Personally, I see this trend as being connected to a bigger problem. It's feeding machismo desires in an industry full of guys who shout homophobic, racist, and sexist slurs over the chat.
A little bit of power fantasy isn't a horrible thing. But the direction of the industry creating things like God of War killing things randomly as if it is glorious, and then having a bunch of women fawn over him in bed, is becoming far too commonplace and feeds an unhealthy mentality. It normalizes something that should not be normalized.
Oh, and I certainly don't like calling people "man-babies".
"Oh my goodness, someone disagrees with the prominence of something in the media even though it's just a game! What a hysterical "Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children" type. I think I'll post a video!"
Let the strawman argument fest begin!
Let the strawman argument fest begin!
"Juvenile power fantasy." If you choose to see your gaming collection that way, I pity you. Even the simplest of games has so much more to it than you are choosing to see. Hell, a massive portion of Fantasy and Sci-Fi anything fits your incredibly broad definition of Juvenile power fantasy.
Because they're so god damn small.Zhukov said:
Burrrrrnnnn
Also they don't your just using a few unrepresentative examples for the sake of making a rant thread.
Video games are fantasies.
Video games are about power ( every meanigful mechainc hinges on the players overcoming an obstacle or challenge.)
They can't not be power fantasises. They can be lesser fantasies if they are ridiculously fucking easy (That Game Company) or have basically no meaningful interaction (Tale of Tales) but they remain fantasies about power.
So aesthetic matches the mechanics. Why do most big time gamers have a lesser interest in sports games. It's the mudane aesthetic. If you aren't inudated with NBA you won't care much about bald black man #1. The aesthetics of videogames, with simulations of war, are generally perfect for what they accomplish.
So the reason some people don't want these "power fantasy" aesthetic and other people do, all boils down to nietzschean philosophy. Slave morality versus the master morality and the Overman.
Video games are about power ( every meanigful mechainc hinges on the players overcoming an obstacle or challenge.)
They can't not be power fantasises. They can be lesser fantasies if they are ridiculously fucking easy (That Game Company) or have basically no meaningful interaction (Tale of Tales) but they remain fantasies about power.
So aesthetic matches the mechanics. Why do most big time gamers have a lesser interest in sports games. It's the mudane aesthetic. If you aren't inudated with NBA you won't care much about bald black man #1. The aesthetics of videogames, with simulations of war, are generally perfect for what they accomplish.
So the reason some people don't want these "power fantasy" aesthetic and other people do, all boils down to nietzschean philosophy. Slave morality versus the master morality and the Overman.