Alternate post title: DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP.
All right, let’s be real here. I’m pretty sure that by this point, I’ve made no shortage of my opinions known. Some of them are easy to agree with, I hope. Others, not so much. But that’s to be expected. People are allowed to disagree with me, because they’re coming from different places. Different perspectives, experiences, and whatnot. That’s part of the reason why I do these little open-ended posts every now and then -- because those differences in opinion mean something to me.
So I’ll do it once
more. Let’s gab about video games for a
second.
Obviously, they mean
something to me. If you’re reading this,
then chances are high that they mean something to you. And they mean something to a lot of other
people, across no shortage of generations -- console or otherwise. It’s a young medium, sure, but it’s left its
mark on peoples and cultures across the world.
That ain’t bad for something that isn’t even as old as some
grandparents.
The definition of a
game has come into question plenty of times before, recently as well as years
ago. There have been questions about
whether or not it qualifies as art, whether or not it’s harmful to players, and
even if it has hidden benefits (like making us better doctors, for one). There are a lot of unknowns, and even more
opinions on the medium. That’s the way
it should be, at least for now.
Questions beget answers -- and with them, strides to try and conform to
those answers.
Still, there’s one
subject that’s been on my mind recently.
I’m the kind of guy who can (and often does) see things as they should
be, and not always as they are. That’s
problematic at times, but the tradeoff is that I have ideas as well as
ideals. And that extends to something as
seemingly-unimportant as video games. I
know what they have been in the past, and because of that, I know what they can
be. And that’s what I want them to be,
from here on.
Each generation should
be better than the last. I hope we can
agree on that, at least.
There’s a current of
thought among some gamers that suggests that “games are here just for
fun”. And in some ways, I agree with
that. It’s a section of the
entertainment industry, so that’s only natural.
And besides, it’s not all that different from any other medium. We watch movies for fun. We read books for fun. Even something as simple as looking at a
pretty picture can be fun. So if there
are any outsiders looking in reading this, I’ll be the first to confirm that
pressing buttons and spinning sticks is a lot more exciting than you’d expect.
But if you’ll let me
speak personally (as if you have a choice), I think there’s something important
to keep in mind. Yes, games are here to
entertain us; the question that follows is HOW
do they entertain us? In the past,
games could largely only accomplish that through its mechanics -- gameplay, and
the difficulty that followed, and the layouts of levels, and so on. But once you get a taste of what they can do,
it’s hard to go back to just a black-and-white picture of the medium.
So I’ll be frank. I think video games are for more than just
“having fun”. Sure, they can do that,
and quite well -- oh my God the wait for Smash
Bros. 4 is unbearable -- but they can offer more. Think of it this way: why is reading a book
fun? All you’re doing is sitting down
and flipping through pages, right? It’s
more like work than anything else to get through it. But what’s important is the content. The ideas. There’s stuff in there designed to engage
you, and get you thinking in a way that a good piece of art should. As you’d expect.
Now, am I saying that
every video game needs a compelling story to be good? No. It
certainly wouldn’t hurt (and WOULD help matters, in a lot of cases), but it’s
not a requirement. You don’t think about
turning the pages of a book; you think about the content, and get engaged in it
as you process its particulars. It’s the
same thing with games. You don’t think
about doing DPs or powerslides; you engage with the game because your input
directly determines the output. If the
mechanics are working as they should, then they can make a case for a game in
the absence of some riveting tale.
That in mind, video
games are trying -- however desperately -- to be more than just a chance to get
high scores and top honors. (Well, some
of them, at least.) The Tomb Raider reboot could have just
dumped Lara Croft in the wilderness without a story to go by, but it did its
best to give a reason to care about its leading heroine -- a narrative from
start to finish. Given what’s come out
before and after it, I’d say that games are trying to be more. Developers recognize that they can do more
than just make arenas and stages.
But that’s the
keyword. They can.
The medium’s taken some
real strides, but it needs to take more.
It needs to get out of this rut -- this perception that games are just
murder simulators and power fantasies and whatnot. As others have argued, it can do that by
taking on bigger themes. Bigger
ideas. It can work those elements into
the story and gameplay alike, with a decent level of subtlety or as overtly as reason will allow. If a game can, then it just becomes that much
more engaging, and thus higher-quality.
If it can’t, then it offers fleeting, surface-level thrills at best --
and sometimes not even that.
So on top of being an
incredible racing game, Mario Kart 8
-- continuing the theoretical groundwork laid by Mario 3D World -- is arguably a story about the continuing
industrialization of the Mushroom Kingdom, given a shot in the arm by
Rosalina’s descent and subsequent offering of new technology; alternatively,
it’s a metacommentary about the evolution of Nintendo and its struggle to
evolve in (and even keep up with) an increasingly-mercantile industry.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze can be enjoyed as either a
top-notch platformer, or as the harrowing tale of a leader forced to bear the
sins of his ancestors as he leads his family home, or as a means to take basic gameplay conventions and make statements
on karmic retribution and rebirth. Xenoblade Chronicles might as well be
renamed The Arms Race That Heads to its Not-Quite
Logical Conclusion.
Those in-depth readings
-- or reaching -- aren’t necessary to enjoy the games. But they do enhance them. And they -- the gameplay, above all else --
enhance us in kind. As it should.
So basically, I’d say
that video games are for three different things, each one on different levels
of thought. The first and shallowest is
that they’re here to entertain us --
to give a chance to be someone else, and do something incredible. Fair enough.
But after that, they’re here to engage
us -- to draw us in with their myriad factors, and make us hang on every
pixel. And last, they’re here to enrich us. Once we process the information, we come to
our own conclusions, and walk away with something gained each time we set the
pad down. That’s my theory, at
least. And unreasonable as it may be, I
hope that’s what games do from here on out.
But that’s just my
opinion. And in the end, this is about
you. So feel free to weigh in. Offer me some perspective -- and offer it for
yourself in kind. Just give the best
answer you can to the question at hand: what
are video games for? What do you expect
from them each time you sit down and play?
Are they the best they can be right now?
If so, why? If not, then why not? What should they do from here on out? What do you want most of all?
You know what’s next,
right? Get those fingers nice and limber. Ready?
Set…comment!
And that’s my cue to
get out of here. I need to try and come
up with some cockamamie theories about Pac-Man.
GOD I NEED SOME WII U SMASH IN MY BODY RIGHT
NOW URRRRRRGH
#GoodGuyNintendo
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