I’ve been on quite a journey. The last eighteen months have been a complete rollercoaster while I try to maintain Nidzumi. I’ve been lucky enough to sample a lot more games than before and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity. Its come at a cost though as I feel like I’m starting too lose touch with the “common-gamer” when it comes to these, so called, AAA titles.
When Modern Warfare 2 was announced I should have joined in with my fellow gamer and get giddy for the next round of Call of Duty. In fact it was the opposite as I was overcome by a sense of apathy. Infinity Ward has clearly created a brilliant game but I was left thinking, “it’s just another shooter”. How much is it going to revolutionise or even slightly push forward the medium we follow and love?
Take Killzone 2 as a great case in point. For all intents and purposes Killzone 2 was a brilliantly polished title that really showed off the graphical power of the system. But after a few hours of mindless shooting while observing the generically unreleatable and meat headed characters awkwardly ‘act’ in-between the constant swarms of enemies, I felt lethargic and bored.
Now I can understand while people gravitate towards these experiences, as you know where you are with them. You know that every time you pop in a Gears of War, Killzone or Call of Duty you’ll be getting a solid game. But apart from a few technical accomplishments, how have these games moved our medium forward in anyway?
Despite the few moments in Modern Warfare, I barely felt any emotion towards the characters or the setting. I’ve never been in a war or anything close in this sunny suburb of good old England, so I’ve never really related or felt anything for these boilerplate characters. But then again these games have never really showed any emotion or humanistic traits except for Bro-ness and an incredibly over the top love of killing things.
It can be done though, don’t give up hope. Games like Bioshock use this accessible interface of a first person shooter incredibly well. They told an incredibly subtle narrative with unique and likeable characters inside an original setting.
You’ve got to wonder though, when will shooting someone or killing someone in a game actually mean something? That’s why I’m excited for games like Heavy Rain. Something that makes the characters and narrative the focal point rather than the amount of levels or weaponry on show. I’m not saying that all experiences should be like this but as far as I can see there isn’t a place for it in today’s market.
It just makes you think that despite all the advancements we’ve made within the medium with story, acting and graphics, we’ve still got a long way to go. There has to be a place for both types of action based content and thoughtout content as there is within the Movie Industry. You’ve got to wonder when will that happen to Video Games?
Maybe this is just a result of me becoming older. But I know for a fact I’m not the only one who is put off by developers playing it safe and making another muscle-bound shooter. Meaningful and thought provoke content is still only a small segment of video games and maybe there is a reason for that. But as a majority of gamers mature and get older, shouldn’t the content?
No Comments to When Will Gaming Mature? A Call For Thought Provoking Content
by Alex Watson
On August 8, 2009 at 5:08 am
The majority of current generation gamers are growing older, yes. But there’s always a new generation. Not only that, but dev’s need to make money; For the most part, it’s how they live. Smaller studios don’t have a lot to begin with, except ideas. That’s what makes Indie games so great. They take bigger risks, with fun ideas, because they have such big ideas and hopes of grandeur. Bigger studios, however, can’t afford the “hit and miss” strategy. Because they -need- to make money, they go with the tried and true method of “up the graphics, change the weapon stats, repackage, release to general public, wash, rinse, repeat”. Older gamers buy the game because they enjoyed the first, and hope the sequel brings enough to the table to make it worth it. New gamers buy it because it’s the latest ‘n greatest. I completely agree that gaming styles should mature with each generation; For example, series of games should mature, not stay the same. Until gaming takes a less capitalist path though, I don’t see much change ahead.
by ThisGuy
On August 8, 2009 at 1:21 pm
You know I’m seeing a trend where people are questioning the substance behind video games, and I’m glad it’s happening. It is all becoming a little to mindless, and I suppose some of those in the gaming community can handle so much.
In comparison to other established mediums, interactive entertainment is still young, and as such it will be a little while longer until the industry and it’s audience start searching for artistic efforts.
The strength of video games has been it’s greatest weakness that is, games are fun, and now the market is so over saturated amd coupled with the war I suppose triple A titles are the way they are.
I think the most important challenge for video games is this how does gameplay and interactivity create art form. I don’t think branching is the solution nor do I believe cut scenes are as well, how do we keep gameplay the main focus of expressing ideas, themes and narrative.
I’m excited to see it happen when it happens.
What makes video games the most exciting medium is the community, we’re wired to the people who make our games
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Now I need to keep studying so I can get out of UNI this year and hopefully join the industry.
by Al_Rascala (Reddit)
On August 8, 2009 at 10:37 pm
There have been games like this in the past, Deus Ex is the first to spring to mind, and presumably there will be games like that in the future. There are plenty of literary and cinematic equivalents to the Call of Duty or Gears of War series, but I’ve yet to read an article asking when literature or cinema will mature.
Just as the majority of books and movies are generic, so too are the majority of games. The ratio of deep to not may be different, but there are a host of different factors which contribute to this, one example being the higher costs of creating a video game.
So, in answer to the title question, It already has, or at the very least it’s already well on it’s way.
by likeagoodwomanshould (Reddit)
On August 8, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I don’t agree entirely… I can’t think of any games that are going to stand up as master works of art as do in literature or film. All the best games are excellent because they’re genre landmarks or game design landmarks or because they’re incredibly popular. Things like great stories or a visual language are all but completely absent. There are very very few examples to the contrary.
But I kind of think that’s how it should be at this point. Until some kind of technological baseline is reached, much as it happened for film when sound was added, there’s not going to be much in the way of artistry. That may be when photorealism and believable AI are achieved and the industry figures out how to produce those games for less money. Then art. We’re in the silent film era of games still, and we’re stuck having to watch the equivalent of Charlie Chaplin prat-fall and do amusing tricks.
by Al_Rascala (Reddit)
On August 8, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Photorealism isn’t necessary for art, nor is realistic AI. They can help, of course, but they’re nowhere near essential. A good story, on the other hand, certainly is. And while there may not be many great stories out there, they’re certainly not all but completely absent. Deus Ex, Grim Fandango, Portal, Fallout, and various Final Fantasy games, all great stories. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I would definitely class at least some of those games as art.
by Brian Shirk (BitMob)
On August 8, 2009 at 10:40 pm
There are already quite a few thought provoking games out there (at least to me), but most people choose to ignore them and buy games that are popular or “badass.” I agree that we could definitely use more, but unfortunately that won’t occur until the masses change (if that ever happens).