Why we should take games seriously

I am skeptical about the overall value of games. But I can also admit that my skepticism probably comes from growing up on the fence between the era of the written word as the significant valuable media influence, and today's age of video, film and games. Each generation will only advance their acceptance of new media so much before the next generation has to take over with bigger strides.

From a gamer who's only read a couple economics-based books, this comes as a small surprise. But it is, still, about time.

We don't need cultural pundits to remind us of the value of our cherished medium especially when they say that games lack storytelling prowess. I think games undoubtedly have proven they have storytelling prowess that's comparable to other mediums. In fact, the real dillema still is countering rich story with enough gameplay. There is also the space for games that have nothing to do with story really but rather _experience_ like a Kattamari. My cultural snob girlfriend who loves dragging me to (rather boring) ballet became so hooked on Kattamari that she beat both before I ever got a chance to play either. Or hey, Nintendogs. That is unique in the medium.

One thing that made an enormous impact upon film as a medium was the establishment of a serious branch of criticism - in the 60s French critics turned filmmakers advanced the auteur theory and also suggested that the best way to comment upon the artistic implications of a film were to make a film.

That is totally lacking in the world of games today. It would be a giant leap forward for the medium and its respectability if we could find indviduals who could write lucidly and sharply about games beyond the categorical merits we associate with game reviews.

The reception of the past two Metal Gear games is a case in point - had those been merely movies we would have - no shit - theoretical disserations by scholars in colleges getting grants to write about the underlying meta narrative themes and the breaking of the fourth wall in gameplay / also alluding to the hidden auteur within the stealth action genre. There was hyperbole, but very little actual critical deconstruction - a lot of "why the hell am I Raiden and this is confusing" though.

And ultimately another problem is that critically acclaimed games don't break through as hard as they should.

The problem with real cultural legitamacy for games is a control accessibility issue (which Nintendo are hopefully maybe going to help some) and the glut of moronic, sequel driven, licensed crap out there.

Walking the show floor at E3, a gamer who has literally grown up with games from typing in Basic at the age of 5 until now, I couldn't help but feel that mid level and corporate management thinks of the gaming audience as a bunch of moronic, undersexed males. Maybe if they didn't pander to that audience it wouldn't be that way.

The industry is going to have to reconcile itself with a massive audience of girls now in their teens who have made shojo manga the fastest growing book market in the US in decades - these girls have got a yen for the Japanese aesthetic, spending money, and are computer literate. They're the American cousins to the market Final Fantasy X is aimed for. I hope in some ways as they grow older and play games they fix the industry. Part of it would be getting them in there with jobs other than PR and coordination.

And one thing I am absolutely convinced of - stores that are primarily retail aimed at gamers wouldn't even get me to step inside if I were a girl.

does anyone else find the picture choice a little random?

I guess it might help to mention the numerous Black & White references in the original story.... I'll see if I can work one into OP.

Laughing Man,

While some films are art and commerical product, some are only art, some only commercial product, but society has learned to accept that there may be art in there. Therefore we have all the variety of film criticism, from film school diatribes in forty chapters, to the B-, F+ style of local newspaper reviews. Games are seen in society now as merely commercial product. This might change. But consider what would have happened to the artistic assessment of film if Blockbuster and DVD had come *first*: commercial product, no art.

San -

That's exactly what happened in film history.

Movies were considered a carnival sideshow huckster medium for the masses, unfit for high culture but with regard in certain quarters and people beginning to experiment wildly.

The high regard of film really only begins in the 60s, full stop.

Games are pretty much in exactly the same space except they haven't been marginalized into exhibition in carnivals and fairs and the like. They are a fully blown mass market phenomenon. And also the demographic they target is a lot more consistently narrow.