serious games: ars technica looks at games that tackle the big issues

[prophetik music]

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/serious-games-issues.ars

serious games: ars looks at games that tackle the big issues

yet again, ars comes through with another really interesting article that i think a lot of you should read. some really interesting and thought-provoking things are talked about here.

thoughts?

[glasfen]

As with any artistic medium (some of this came up in another thread), video games will include references and instances of real world issues and problems. As video games are a relatively new form of entertainment, the focus is still generally on fun as opposed to "art" or political/social/philosophical purpose. This is probably due to the fact that most games today are made for profit and, therefore, are marketed towards wider audiences to maximize earnings.

As gaming becomes more integral to the Western experience (likely within the next generation) and software to easily create free or inexpensive and highly distributable games (as RPGM2K in the article) becomes more widespread, new niches will open up for artistic or avant-garde products. As the number of people exposed to gaming increases, the number of perspectives and, thereby, gaming preferences and desires follows. Artists like Luc Bernard will push this change as pioneers in the gaming industry, just as authors, poets, painters, directors, etc. before them moved their respective media in the same direction of diversification.

To sum up this all-too-lengthy post, it is the natural progression of video games to incorporate realistic, often controversial, themes as the medium comes of age.

[prophetik music]

i think that you've got a really good point - video games have grown out of the 2d platformers and are really starting to come of age as a medium of expression - particularly because unlike other mediums, like music, the act of understanding a game means that you play it, you're involved with it. as a classical musician, i can say that music has a similar appeal to me, but it's a much more closed environment - within the confines of a high-level classical performance group - than something like a game, which is pretty much experienced by everyone in the same way.

i think that sephfire's youtube video about sex and video games points out some really good ideas on this topic again, and the video was good enough to warrant bringing up here again.

does anyone else have a feeling on this?

and, for that matter, should this get moved to the flamepit that is ppr?

[Schwaltzvald]

I see this topic being more of a lively issue for non-gamers/outsiders getting a perspective in the gaming universe. I'd imagine most here pretty much already have known some of the issues with gaming and pretty much leave it at that...

[Broken]

While I agree that the evolution of video games into a mature medium is going to follow a predisposed susccession, I still find the developments in that article very interesting. I didn't know that stuff about Blackwater and modern day PMCs for one thing.

[prophetik music]

i thought that the discussion of persona 3, for example, was really great.

[Sole Signal]

Wow, I'd never seen that "Torture Game 2" before. That's absolutely disgusting.

Also, in the context of the article, does nothing to "tackle the big issue" of torture.

[The Xyco]

Article feels like it is asking too much of developers/publishers to push people’s buttons. As said before, there’s a distinct difference in acceptance levels between the gaming community and the general public (read: GTA series)

However, I did like the tidbit about WWII shooters – that all this violence and shooting is acceptable and fun so long as it is against something as faceless and arbitrary as Nazis. It certainly does feel as if there is an opportunity for further exploration that is being squandered – but I would never really hold it against a developer or publisher for shying away from that.

I do recall, however, the first Call of Duty addressing this with the Stalingrad level (As I recall, there was even a certain risk to including the Red Army campaign into that game).

The concept behind it was fairly well-executed, at least initially. You’re thrust on the battlefield with no gun, and ordered up a hill with a mob of other ill-equipped soldiers. All around you, people are throwing themselves into the Volga and running away from the battle as allied officers gun them down. It even takes the player a few tries to realize that if you DO what you are TOLD TO DO, you are killed off pretty quick, and the game offers you only a few clues on how to actually get through the level.

Most distinctly, one might say, the level is not “fun” as much as it is “thematic”, and it doesn’t make light of the situation you are in. It adds a nice touch that explores the mindset of the Russian Soldier. While the Call of Duty series might inherently be “part of the problem” (making fun out of something as complex and horrific as war), it does its own part to explore the genre (Sadly, the later games in the series don’t really seem to take this type of exploration any further).

Perhaps, really, the article is focused too much on games addressing specific topical issues.