So maybe I am feeling a bit touchy about readers' response to the NYT column. Not that I mind being disagreed with or criticized for my opinions; I don't do what I do because I want everyone to nod and smile. I guess I just felt disappointed in the audience, when even those who stood on my side of the issue were busy on message boards flaming something else they didn't like about the column.I have felt this disappointment for some time, mind you, at the fact that whenever we as gamers on the internet have the opportunity to discuss anything at all of significance, we lapse into contentious flamewars.
I always feel like we end up injuring the very thing we're defending: our right to be considered a legitimate audience for a legitimate medium, our right to be considered as mature, responsible consumers, our right to self-regulate appropriate content, an entire kitchen sink of issues that ends up all chipped and powdered porcelain on the bathroom floor.
Since these are some of the things I care about, I feel I have a golden opportunity in addressing the core audience that comprises a lot of Kotaku's readership, so I used my feature to comment on it today. Excerpt:
We so desperately want “more choice” in games, more freedom, and more insight into how our choices impact the game world – and this is because we want to experiment. Human beings no longer live in an era where they must fight each other for social dominance, survive harsh elements or kill their food, but some lingering relic of that instinct probably persists, and it’s probably that itch that we scratch when we’re playing a violent game.At least, that has something to do with it. Another part is, I think, we enjoy learning about ourselves based on the actions we take in simulated environments. Of all the things we do in games, very little of it can safely, legally or literally be replicated in reality – we’ll never fly a spaceship, we’ll never save a planet, we’ll never sleep with a blue alien.
And obviously, not all the things we do in games, not nearly, could be construed as reprehensible. Gamers also love their peaceful Azeroth sunsets, their epics of aging mercenaries, their interludes of salvation.
But when we defend attacks on game content with “geez, it’s only a game,” then we’re also relegating those moments of meaning to mere two-dimensional thrills.
Most of all, I'm tired of hearing "it's just a game" whenever the conversation gets difficult, like when we're talking about Resident Evil 5 and the fact that the imagery is just a little bit uncomfortable to some of us.
41 comments:
I am sorry you got roasted. The comments in the NYT piece were unfortunately split along console loyalty lines and that brings out the trolls like nothing else. I would consider how many people *full stop* get quoted for an opinion piece in NYT. Not many at all, and you can be proud that you're considered influential enough to be heard.
Sadly the knee-jerk mocking dismissal is common to all fields: read a political forum, even a semi-decent one, and you'll see as much petty gibberish as on most gaming sites. We long for an audience that does not shut us down or laugh in our faces, and I think your contribution to the piece was worthwhile, important and a step forward for the discussion of gaming.
I think the biggest reason why "it's just a game " is used is that it allows there to be a defense without having the defender examine her own id.
Which is where the RE5 and GTA divereg I feel. RE5 seems to have been handled poorly from ignorance and perhaps some socially unaware internal fears. Rockstar seems on the other hand to basically tempt the player with being able to act out any dark desire they so choose with very little consequence in the game world. I've mentioned previously that Bioware has always been pestered to put in "evil" options (and hey in AD&D evil is nicely defined!) but as soon as the player was faced with what amounts to how a real operating world would react to such evil there were complaints that it wasn't a true option because being evil was "too hard!". Lets be honest that in many cases games are offering a powerless feeling group (yes we are often talking about lonely teenage males here) a way to feel all powerful.
This an also tie into the rather disturbing amount of violence and degradation in much porn, but hey that's really off topic.
It seems that the people who often use the phrase "it's just a game" are the same kind of people who criticise articles like this as "taking games too seriously". I kind of wonder whether it wasn't the common social perception that "games are for kids/fun" that have ended up brainwashing these gamers into being this way. Almost like some defence mechanism against that kind of ridicule, they embrace it and accept that games should just be seen as harmless, thoughtless, fun.
Or maybe now I'm thinking about it too much.
Thank you very much, Gareth. As I said, I wasn't offended by being roasted - I kind of expected it, and that's the sad part.
Robert - Maybe not so off topic in a dystopian future. Let's hope we stick to a path where it is off-topic.
Simon - There will always be a portion of the audience who are brain-dead, button-mashing kids, I'm sure, but I err on the side of having great faith in the majority of us. :)
"Whether or not you like murdering whores in GTA IV, we do ourselves a massive disservice when we fail to use that as a springboard to consider our own, and our community’s attitude toward women."
The problem, I think, is that gamers haven't been up against that kind of mindset. That would be a highly thoughtful mindset that might use the world of games as a discussion point.
Sadly, outlets like Fox News use games as a punching bag. I'm terribly guilty of repeating that "it's just a game", but I mean that largely as a "it's not technology capable of brainwashing your children into brutal killers".
Thankfully I think this portion of the gallery is getting smaller and with pieces on games showing up in Variety, NYT, whatnot - the other might be get larger.
But then Fox gets Chicago to tear down GTA IV ads, and I take a deep sigh again.
Was there a second page? I couldn't spot the Leigh bashing, just two quotes. And the random use of the word "unrepentant." Which doesn't make much sense to me because they just suddenly use it. Doesn't follow any themes in the article or add content. Was he trying to say cinematics are bad for videogames? If so, he failed terribly.
Nah, this was emails I got, comments on Kotaku, stuff like that.
Josh brings up a point that was also brought up in comments to this article you posted on Kotaku: the use of "it's just a game" to mean "it's not going to turn you into a homicidal maniac". In that regards, I would say that the phrase can be used. The same can be applied to other media: "it's just music", "it's just a film", "it's just a book" - they won't turn you into the vilest of the vile.
Then again, the issue at hand is that the phrase is stated with the idea that it is no more than a mere piece of entertainment. This is a truth to a point - most games are not like Metal Gear or BioShock, where an obvious theme is being fleshed out. God of War is an excellent game but it is just that; it does not try to be more than the main aspect of the medium. This warrants another comparison: Die Hard is a mere action movie that does not perpetuate any philosophical/moral/etc questions but it is an excellent film.
In the case of the Resident Evil 5 race issue, I dislike hearing it be called "just a game". On the one hand, the game's purpose is not to bring about discussion of race relations. Sadly, the images it does convey can be interpreted in a manner that will shock some; though I personally think the whole issue is taken out of proportion.
Congrats on the NY times quote, though. A friend of mine linked me to that article, before I had seen it on Kotaku, and I saw your name. "Ha! I know who that is! And I read her blog!" is all that went through my mind. It's nice for a quoted person to not be a mere name. =p
Yeah, to play the other side for a moment, I think there's also a tendency to forgive video games for *anything* with such a dismissal, which might be a kind of learned aggression thing in response to the BatJacks of the world - but that reaction feeds into the Roger Eberts of the world who, in general, are just agreeing with the same concept when they state that games are subart.
In that sense, I'd say that the specific phrase is incorrect in any sense. And to be honest, I've generally made statements more like "thinking that a PS2 can install a cranial menu is akin to delusion" than simply "it's just a game".
We have to accept that there is a wide berth of conversation between fanatic dislike (Fox News) and fanboy adoration (87.2% of forum usage). As meager of an audience it may have, it's worth the conversation.
I hate to say it, Leigh, but I don't share your faith in the majority. I believe that intelligent, thoughtful, self-aware people are very much in the minority in this world. And while it's tempting to draw the conclusion that if we are intelligent people, and we share a passion for videogames, then the majority of people who share that passion must also be intelligent people, I just don't see a lot of evidence to support that.
Naturally, you'll have to judge my opinion on the following criteria: 1. I'm terribly cynical; 2. I could be a complete moron.
Since the "Aberrant Gamer" days, I've always admired your writing for considering the relationship between our subconscious desires and the themes and imagery in video games. I'm glad to see you continue this tradition at Kotaku, because it just might generate some fascinating discussion in the mainstream gaming community. Between you, Croal and Totilo, people might just start thinking critically about the games they play.
I also had to laugh at the LaLeighLuLeLo question in the Kotaku quiz today.
I also think that the knee jerk reaction is not specific to the gaming community. You can see the same behaviour on any news channel that provides a soap box for a personality to tell us we’re going straight to hell. It’s also great when news providers get lazy and just invite two supposed experts in such and such a field to scream it out over the air waves. I’ve even heard that this behaviour is common on university campuses where the loudest voice wins the most important contest. I would suggest that this behaviour is not a new phenomenon, but that the internet has provided a soap box for everyone.
As for RE5 I think the marketing for the game has been poorly handled. How could you create a trailer that depicts a predominately black populace being shot by a clearly large white man? And on top of that suggest that they are infested by demons and must be exterminated. Video game developers work in a medium that pulls heavily from mass media, and race issues have always be apart of that media. Even after N’Gai Croal mention that this trailer maybe viewed by others in the wrong way. What do they do? The developer releases a statement that the issue didn’t cross their mind, and they release another trailer with the main character’s voice saying, “I knew it from the moment I arrived … there’s no reason here, no humanity. Everywhere I look I find vacant stares. All I see is death.” And this statement is made after a quick shot of a mob throwing rocks at a body hanging from a post. How could anyone be surprised at the controversy created by these images, and no doubt the controversy that will grow upon release?
Capcom’s marketing department has done a terrible job with the ad campaign. But now that it’s been done the question is what do they do from here? I would suggest that they go back to the drawing board and cut a new trailer that depicts a broader context to the situation beyond white dude shoots black populace who are infected by demons - and for their sake, I hope there is a broader context to the story to pull from. The other thing is they need to market the hell out of the new female character and show that she has more dimension than a cardboard cut out.
Again it’s great to see the video game industry looking to film for direction and not learning the right lessons. If the film industry was faced with this same controversy I think they would have kicked the marketing into high gear and done a better job of shaping the introduction of this product. I think the controversy right now is not bout the game but the perception the game has been marketed as.
"I have felt this disappointment for some time, mind you, at the fact that whenever we as gamers on the internet have the opportunity to discuss anything at all of significance, we lapse into contentious flamewars."
I know you're not just talking about games here. I'm active in politics (volunteering time at food banks, registering people to vote, support certain candidates so by the end of the day my lovely wife bats her eyes at me and say "Honey, go shower - you smell."
But sadly, as the infamous Penny Arcade comic shows, "Anonymity + Audience = Dickwad". Look at any political forum, just as an example. You think PS3 versus Xbox flame wars are nasty? Watch as people bring up the same tired points that have been disproven ("Candidate X is a tax and spend liberal!" "Candidate Y wants to draft your children into more wars!" )
I think it's just people's nature. They want attention, they want to feel like they're "winning" - and in the end, nobody is really enlightened. Sometimes comments are great, like when someone points out explanations of technology or economic or historical background or pointing out - with evidence - bald face lies (just to get a little political, like the arguments that during hurricane Katrina there were no oil spills from off shore rigs, when satellite photos show - oil spills).
Sadly, too much of the time, it just becomes a contest of who can piss further onto the snow. And then nobody wins.
I couldn't agree more with what you're saying. Those "flamewars" are only encouraging those exact things we complain about all the time. Instead of giving each words in serious discussion, people throw them at each others heads or just gulp their meaning down by saying "it's just a game".
But I think that's just one of those side-effects of the internet. Movie boards are much worse, but their medium has been established as an artform already, so they can pretty much say whatever they want. The "widely respected videogames" topic is an eggshell.
The ability to drink wine does not make you a sommelier. The ability to read does not mean you are well read.
We (thoughtful gamers) are in a very difficult position. As we try to explore the potential of this medium we love, we are perpetually bombarded with media nonsense from without, and gamer ignorance from within. And in some ways, those internal flames cut more deeply than the external ones. Because the community that surrounds a space like SVGL knows how difficult it is for Gaming to be taken seriously. And after all, what progress can be made if we continue to be a house ?
I think Josh said something very important though - "We have to accept that there is a wide berth of conversation". As much as we would hope that all gamers would share our thoughtful, open minded, intellectual perspective on gaming, it will never be the case. Most of the world thinks that Grapes of Wrath is too boring. It doesnt make Steinbeck any less a writer, or those who read his work any less justified in their pursuits.
The the lowest common denominator will always exist. But your piece in the New York Times is evidence that the separation is starting to occur between those that see "just a game" and those who see something more. It has happened with every medium, and video games will be no different.
I'm sure the flames are irritating if not hurtful, because they hit that sore spot that any thoughtful gamer has. But if it is any consolation, you have the thanks of this entire community. Because it is people like you Leigh, who are helping to give voice to that new conversation - to represent a fraction of the gaming population that sees something a little more than just entertainment.
We're getting there. Keep the faith - and thanks for elevating the conversation.
The article is a good read but didn't have much relevance to me personally. I can't remember ever seeing the 'it's only a game' excuse, but I think that's because right now I've got better things to do with my internet than read the elocutions of semi-literate, over-entitled teenage boys (although I understand how my feelings would change if I was actually writing the article that prompted the comments).
As previous posters mentioned movies and politics can trigger the same kind of stupidity. The difference is that gaming enthusiasts are just far more sensitive to it's existence because they think it might compromise their image. Which, to be fair, it might, but there's no way to resolve this 'problem' so I don't see any reason to worry about it. Once gaming achieves greater acceptance people can stop worrying about how others might interpret the standard of discussion.
Just remember, many of these people spitting fire and brimstone in forums won't even remember what they posted in a week.
Flame wars are just a game.
It's important to remember how few people comment on the articles and stories they read. You have a vocal minority of people with nothing better to do than argue, while the majority simply read articles then:
A) Go back to work
B) Get dinner started
C) Read the next article
D) Get ready for bed
E) Any other number of things normal people do when they're too busy to argue over what game or console is or is not better.
And on and on...
Sadly, it's easier to remember the mean comments over the nice ones.
But still, I think you're the cats-pajamas.
Consider that every person who says it's just a game get furious when a politician slanders the next Rockstar product. So why do these gamers fret if it's just a game?
@chris
I think many gamers who flip out whenever politicians or the mainstream media launch attacks against videogames, do so more out of a fear of anti-videogame legislation being passed, and less out of a desire to have their favorite hobby legitimized.
Its like people shouting "First Amendment!" in defense of pornography. Do most of those people honestly view porn as a bastion of American freedom? Probably not. They just want to be allowed to watch porn, and they want to make sure that there will always be new porn available for them to watch.
Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy--I'm certainly not likening videogames to porn. But hopefully, you get my point, which is that I love porn. No, wait. That wasn't my point. Nevermind.
Video games fall into the realm of "mediums that can't grow up" just like cartoons and just like comic books. People that are not into them will always think they are for kids and ignore them until some adult content shows up. Its funny because most of the entertainment made for kids is by adults and every now and then some adult material will slip in that will go over kids heads like Bugs Bunny cross dressing or black face jokes in Tom and Jerry cartoons.
I haven't read anything kotaku in ages, so I've missed everything you're written there, except this one.
It was like peer pressure towards sanity. I now see why you were so excited to work for them, aside from it being a big site. You're changing the community from the inside. Not that anything else you write isn't on the 'inside', just that Kotaku is a rather mainstream gaming site if that makes any sense at all. I don't really think of it's as a thinking one, or rather people don't usually read it to have things to think about. Still worth reading of course.
That article is probably a lot more influential then articles in academic journals for example. Even if they are very interesting and progressive. eg eludamos.
Not that this is relevant to you, but I moved countries, so sorry for not reading your stuff in ages. I promise I'll be a diligent regular reader again :) Thanks for fighting the good fight hehe.
Tim, how DARE you move countries!
And yeah, you're understanding my excitement. I will go to war for us every day with greasepaint under my eyes!
Mr. Darkness brings up an interesting point. Maybe video games don't need a Citizen Kane. Maybe they need a Sandman.
And yeah, Tim's got the right of it too, I think. The more people talking sense in high-profile . . . venues? Publications? There's a better word for this.
Anyways, I heartily and whole-heartedly support people talking sense to a large audience. And I don't even mean "talking sense" in the sense of "saying things I agree with." But talking about the roots of the issue instead of the symptoms. So whichever side of the issue you're on, by the end of the article and the discussion you think about something a little differently.
In short, rock on, Leigh.
Thank you. All of you. You guys make it all worth doing, every day :)
If I learned one thing today, it's this:
Justin likes porn.
God Bless America, and Goodnight.
I said I "love" porn, Chris, not "like". Clearly, you missed my point. ;)
Saying something is just something ala a book,game, film is just a cheap way of trivializing it reserved for people who have nothing more of merit to say on the subject. Everything has subtext. Would an intelligent person say an ICBM is "just a bomb." while this is an extreme example the logic holds up.
:)
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Leigh, I have to tell you that you look slightly stoned on that new picture. I can almost hear a sleepy voice saying: "heeey, how you're doin'?".
I instantly felt at home.
One of my favourite little quotes is from V for Vendetta: "Ideas are bulletproof". Anything that communicates ideas to the masses has to be taken very seriously indeed, especially when there is very little control over what that idea may be.
It's a cracking article, as always. We can only hope that when people's eyes are finally opened by the ideas that they don't spend their time poking at them instead of seeing.
p.s. I am so disappointed that your name isn't pronounced "Lay". The fun I was having with that in my head. You in a tracksuit, slouching around at home = Casual Lay. You not around for a while = Lay Off. Your boyfriend = Lay man. Hesitation? = Lay er. Convoluted postdoctorate measurement of weight? = Professor Lay ton.
*sigh* I need to get out more.
Juan,
Sorry to disappoint! I generally don't get stoned.
Del,
I guess I'm just very disappointing today, neither a stoner nor a Lay.
I guess the thing that bothers me is how situational and specific complaints about Resident Evil 5 are.
So let's change the scenario. Let's put the game in...Ireland. And have an English guy slaughtering irish zombie villager people. Hmm...nobody's complaining...
And yet, socially, it's the same damn thing.
Hey, I'm complaining! ;)
Irish zombies would still just end up in the pub, bothering no-one.
We'd probably end up as mummys rather than zombies anyway. You see, even before we die, we're already pickled.
Games stories and their challenging nature as well as C&C (that's choice and consequence) have all degenerated over the years. As gaming has attracted a wider audience and become less of a pastime solely for nerds. The systemshock 2 to bioshock transition while looking prettier and garnering a larger corner of the market suffered a dumbing down and that's natural. The wider medium will be less intelligent and thought provoking as it becomes more mainstream and accepted because as sad as this is to say the wider mainstream of people aren't hugely intelligent or seeking to immerse themselves in thought provoking issues in their spare time.(sorry if this seems like a bit of a troll.)
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