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The Internet Entertainment Games

Can Games Address Serious Social Issues? 82

Posted by simoniker from the last-temptation-of-kirby dept.
Thanks to AVault.com for its editorial ruminating on whether games can or should reference the more serious social issues of today. The piece starts by noting: "Only a very few computer offerings have anything resembling any form of probing social critique... In contrast, other entertainment media - including movies, music and books - all address these issues on a regular basis without raising eyebrows." The author concludes by suggesting it's "conceivable that games would reap greater societal acceptance and more legitimacy as a medium for presenting important concerns of our times", although mentioning the worry that "increasing the respectability of gaming might reduce the pleasure of the pastime" if done in the wrong way.
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Can Games Address Serious Social Issues? More

Can Games Address Serious Social Issues?

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  • Comparing books to games (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 3141 ( 468289 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @08:19AM (#8597317) Homepage
    increasing the respectability of gaming might reduce the pleasure of the pastime

    There's a simple answer to this: for the people who would be negatively affected by this, simply play less respectable games. Just like not all books printed are respectable, there is something for everyone.

    Books have been lucky though. After the awful things that people have done to suppress thought (expressed in book form) books now enjoy a special place in our culture. To burn a book is seen as a very bad thing all over the Western world.

    Computer games, in comparison, are relatively new, and don't have the stigma of free speech attached to them so much. Some would argue that they don't qualify as free speech at all. Perhaps enjoyably inappropriate games such as the Grand Theft Auto series might eventually allow games as a whole to enjoy the same protected status as books? Time will tell.
    • I think we may be lucky enough to get to a position where games are also considered examples of free speech, but I don't think it will happen until it is seen as an adult medium.

      You will know when gaming is an adult medium when porn games start appearing.

      PCs already have a few of these, but then PC gaming is always considered more adult than console gaming.

      I'm guessing the console big 3 are all refusing to license any porn games for their consoles, which is very short sighted of them. If they want to be
      • I'm guessing the console big 3 are all refusing to license any porn games...

        I don't know about Japanese GameCubes and Xboxen, but there are lots of lightweight pr0n-type games for the PS2 in Japan. I've seen many strip-[insert boring game here]-type games, model/posing/voyeur types, and then there's the "Princess Maker" kind.

        I don't know how many hentai games there are (don't see many on import sites or eBay) but I'm sure some of the ren'ai gets a bit hot.

        GTRacer
        - Wouldn't mind making princesses...

      • That's one of the dumbest things I have ever read. You're an idiot for thinking that video games will only be considered an adult medium once a pornographic game is made. For fuck's sake, the current generation of players is getting older and with that the perception is already shifting. If you compare the average age of game players in commercials for games released in the 80's to the average age of game players in current commercials, you'd see that there's already been a significant shift.

        And how are gam

        • Re:MOD PARENT DOWN (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Singletoned ( 619322 )
          From the title of your post, I take it you're against free speech?

          Games are not considered sacred examples of free speech in the same way that books are. This was the topic of the post that I replied to (hence it's title).

          Over here in England, it would be almost impossible to ban a book except on grounds of libel. A game or film could be fairly easily banned on many grounds, including decency.

          Even the most offensive books don't get banned. Offensive films do, but it's getting less commmon.

          The pushing
        • I don't argue that gamers are getting older.

          But, using the age of the actors in the videogame commercials might not be the most scientific method of proof.

          There are far more cartoon dogs, leprachauns and jolly fat people in commercials than real life. I don't think the actors always accurately reflect the buying public.
        • You're an idiot for thinking that video games will only be considered an adult medium once a pornographic game is made.

          You're missing the point. Porn games won't cause games to be considered an adult medium, but they will be a sign that games have finally begun to be considered an adult medium. Much of the current noise over sex and violence in games is a result of the perception that games are only for kids - once the idea that adults play them too becomes common, the controversy will die down.
    • Coincidentally, I just finished reading a piece on the depiction of war in videogames [extra-life.org.uk].

      The reason games aren't tackling serious issues is really the same reason the vast majority of them have the most godawful writing - it's the lowest priority for the developers. There are countless games that satirise Western culture, it's just that they do it in such a forced and clumsy way (the atrociously unfunny radio adverts in GTA3, billboards in retrofuturistic games, etc).

      I daresay the first films to address

  • What about this? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Naginata ( 634929 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @08:38AM (#8597387)
    I don't know if anyone even remebers this game, but here we go..... The game "I have no mouth and I must scream" based on the Harlan Ellison short story of the same name, actually addressed several hardcore social issues. The game was played through the eyes of several people, all who lived in different dimensions, and all of them facing their own inner demons. I vividly remeber playing the game as a german camp doctor, who has to decide wether or not to rescue several jews, and not making it into a bland shooter. And there was the misformed monkey man Benny, who although beautiful in real life, was a misformed man in this reality and his only way out was suicide. The game dealt with religion, alcoholism and several other issues and it did it in a very mature, and levelheaded fashion. No glorifying or blunt statements, the game had several outcomes, based on how "compassionate" you had played the game. Can games address serious social issues? Hell YES! But is there a big market for this sort of game? Do I really want a game that confronts me with "the real world" when all I want to do is escape that real world by playing a game? I think that is the question that needs to be asked and the answer to that is that games are a form of relaxation (for me anyways) and a way to escape real life for a while. Therefor addressing the real life issues in a virtual environment that I enter for my enjoyment is a concept that is interesting, but ultimately flawed. Yes I enjoyed "I have no mouth and I must scream" immensely, but I played it once and never again. I can't even count how many times I've played wing commander.
    • Or imagine myself somewhere else. I don't WANT to have to worry about a real-life social issue when I'm playing Halo online. I just want to kill enough people to win or get the flag before the other team gets mine.

      As far as social interaction on Halo, it doesn't go much farther then yelling "Bitch" to the banshee whores and cussing at the teammate who let Red steal our flag... again.

      Halo isn't the point or topic, I know.

      But no social interaction (faked or real) is just the way I like it. I'm a perfectly
    • But at least you had the option to play a game that adressed serious issues. Even if you only played it once, apparently it made an impression on you. If people deny that games can adress serious social issues, they'll never have a chance too. It'd be like saying that I watch movies to escape from reality for two hours, so all movies should be comedies or action/adventures.

      If games are treated only as an escape from reality, then they will have the corresponding amount of respect (ie. none).
      • You are right in saying that. I didn't imply that no such games should be made. It's just that the majority of the time, for the majority of the people, these games will not enjoyed.

        Do I really want to sit down every day and watch a meaninful deep movie about the serious problems of an Afghan girl growing up in a destroyed country? No. Do I constantly want to watch "The Hot Chick"? No. There is a balance. And if you look at movies, what are the top 10 most grossing movies of all time? I don't see many "ser
  • If games did that , then they wouldn't be games. They would be applications. Games are entertainment.

    • Re:Games are games (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      So entertainment can not have social commentary? There are large bodies of academic study of film, television, and every other media that will beg to differ on you.

      "South Park" may be seen as entertainment, but offers a large discourse on social and political issues in American society. The fart jokes are a rouge to the underlining issues the text is trying to project.

      For an example in games, "The Longest Journey" provides insight into the issues of gender both with-in the realm of computer gaming as well
    • Well music has managed to have socal commentaries for a LONG time without being declared no longer music. I think the same is true for games (others have had specific examples).

      I do think this is an amazingly pointless article - some people like political music, some do not. It is the same with all forms of art and entertainment.

      "Can" games address these issues? - Yes.

      "Should" games address these issues? - If they want.

      Next.

      Q.

  • So you want to add some dipshit that lectures about social concerns in the middle of Grand Theft Auto?

    Sure. Why Not? Watch he often he gets fragged.

    The only reason to beat gamers over the head with the morality stick in a game is so they can grab that stick away and stick it up someone's ass.

    Games are cathartic. They are a release from the bullshit in everyday life. If you inject everyday life into a game, it's not going to sell (The Sims being an exception, but people still love torturing Sims, so I thi
    • No... that would be an example of BAD use of social commentary in games. There are much more nuanced ways of injecting a social agenda than, say, the Michael Moore approach.
      • There are much more nuanced ways of injecting a social agenda than, say, the Michael Moore approach.

        I can see it now. I pull someone out of their car so I can go and shoot someone to complete my mission, and the driver yells "You're bad! You're a very bad man with a gun who voted for Bush!" Eh, I somehow don't think that would add much to my gaming experience... unless I could torture him to death.
      • There are much more nuanced ways of injecting a social agenda than, say, the Michael Moore approach.
        Nuanced? More like getting hit over the head with a brick.

  • Or... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Only a very few sport offerings have anything resembling any form of probing social critique... In contrast, other entertainment media - including movies, music and books - all address these issues on a regular basis without raising eyebrows." The author concludes by suggesting it's "conceivable that sports would reap greater societal acceptance and more legitimacy as a medium for presenting important concerns of our times", although mentioning the worry that "increasing the respectability of sports might

  • Hollywood versus the little guy (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Lust ( 14189 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @09:41AM (#8597709) Homepage
    I think there is a problem with target mass markets. The big money-making movies rarely crack the surface of important issues. And frankly, Joe and Josette movie-goer rarely WANT to be alerted to social/economic/global issues. At the end of a long work week, most people want to escape to an air-conditioned megaplex to see Senator Arnie nuke some aliens (a guilty pleasure we almost all want).

    But I agree that we need to balance such popcorn ventures with thought-provoking movies about global issues, told not just from a North American standpoint. Perhaps European game companies should pushing their industry the same way European movie houses do the movie industry. I imagine the global market would like to see games that improve the human condition.

  • h-bomb! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by h0mer ( 181006 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @09:43AM (#8597727)
    The upcoming NARC update may have some of this included, but I'd like to see a RPG or survival horror game including a heroin addiction. It would probably work like the sanity meter in Eternal Darkness, where a lower meter makes the graphics and control all wonky.

    One of the reasons that games haven't dealt with more serious subjects is that they are not based in reality a lot of the time. GTA/Shenmue are some of the only recent games that are someone grounded. If a game was based in NYC without supernatural stuff happening, and with real character development, it could address some of these social issues. Any city would fine, really.
    • but I'd like to see a RPG or survival horror game including a heroin addiction

      Fallout 2 had various combat or otherwise performance-enhancing drugs, and one of the side effects of them was addiction, especially for the drug called Jet. There's even a subplot where one of the characters can help you kick a Jet addiction. I think most people just saved up their drugs til the end of the game then just pumped up like crazy to beat the final boss -- game's over after that, who cares about a little addiction?

  • Reflection of the Times (Score:5, Insightful)

    by robbway ( 200983 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @09:47AM (#8597762) Journal
    Mostly the games reflect society rather than address serious social issues. The best they can do is poke fun at stupidity ("Backyard Wrestling" for example). But games have already tried in the past.

    Games like Ms. Pacman recognize the need to appeal to both genders back in the 80's. Clothing styles of characters also show this. In fact, the abstract games of the 80's showed great creativity and artistic flair of sorts. Today, the rise of the music game is demonstrating the digital age of music and remixing.

    Games have tried to tackle serious social issues. Time Traveller and N.A.R.C. (apologetically) had "Winners Don't Use Drugs" messages overtly in them. And more recently, the ratings system with good intentions while paving the road to Hell attempts to match content to the appropriate age group as a guideline.

    So it's there, but it's always been a sort of background thing. I believe the nature of games being entertainment, it'll be hard to put a serious message in.

    (I also felt there were a lot of big psycho-babble words in the article that made it a little too unreadable.)

  • Games, books, and movies share an important trait (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    That trait is that the plot is fleshed out at various points of the game(and read the text in the game to understand it). RPG's are probably the best examples of this trait. Recently, games have taken on the characteristics of movies with voice artists, and even big-name Hollywood actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pierce Brosnan being digitally inserted in games based on their movies. For certain idiots to say that video games don't deserve First Amendment protection is absurd in its own right. Besides
    • I agree about RPGs being the best form of gaming for conveying both plot progression and social commentary. For example, Morrowind has gotten wonderful reviews from everyone. Most of the people I know say it's a great hack'n'slash game, it's visual candy & the plot is original & thick enough to keep them interested. However, if you take the time to read many of the books that are in the game, you will run across a lot of content that can be taken as commentary on today's society (Although it could b
  • Yes they can!

  • Yes, and it's called "Going Postal 2" (Score:4, Interesting)

    by MBraynard ( 653724 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @10:34AM (#8598152) Journal
    Oh wait. You don't like social criticism when it isn't politically correct?

  • Zelda: Windwaker (Score:4, Insightful)

    by paRcat ( 50146 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @10:39AM (#8598208)
    Try killing animals in Windwaker... after a certain number of swipes with your sword, they gain superstrength and charge you until you're dead or forced into the ocean. While it isn't a public service announcement about fuzzy bunny getting more hair 'down there', it is, in fact, social commentary. And in my opinion, it is the best kind.

    Why are there people in the world that insist on trying to push their ideals on to the rest of the population? I'm a firm believer in the fact that if a person doesn't want to feel a certain way, they won't. And pushing harder will only push them farther away from your viewpoint. The only solution is to provide examples of your viewpoint and hope that people agree.

    And back to my original example... Windwaker did just that. It doesn't force the view upon you, it just makes it's point and carries on.

    • Re:Zelda: Windwaker (Score:4, Funny)

      by Rallion ( 711805 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @11:26AM (#8598784) Journal
      Okay...uh...I'm really not sure that was the point they had in mind, you know. It applies, sure, and I'm not arguing with your views, but I think the designers were thinking more along the lines of "When you attack animals they get mad."
      • I think the designers were thinking more along the lines of "When you attack animals they get mad."

        That's a lesson I'd rather learn in a video game instead of real life.
    • Well, in just about every Zelda from Link to the Past onwards, there were chickens in the game. If you attacked the chickens a little they'd run away. Do it enough and the whole flock would come and attack you. It would be hard to get away from them.

      Wind Waker didn't have chickens, so they had pigs and the like play the same role. The whole thing was just a running joke through the series, not any type of social commentary.
  • This game referenced environmentalism, albeit in a more subtle way... I've always hoped for a game on addiction though... the longer you're addicted, the faster you have to tap the buttons to get the same high...
    • If you want a game on addiction, try out Fallout II. When you get to the Den, buy some jet and shoot up. Jet has a nearly 100% addiction rate, and unlike all the other drugs in Fallout, the withdrawal effects are severely impairing - plus, they don't go away.

      Once you're addicted to jet, most of your game effort will go towards getting enough jet to keep your stats from dropping multiple points. The first turn of every combat sequence will be devoted to using jet and getting your stats up to their normal le
      • Did you buy the game because it involved drugs? Has it changed your outlook on drugs?

        Have you changed your gameplay strategy to avoid using jet? Why, in the game, would one shoot up jet in the first place?

        You're a sample of one, but anyway.
        • Actually, there is a need to tailor gameplay strategy to avoid the stuff. There are a number of events in the game that can result in you accidentally becomming exposed (hang around Anglea Bishop too much, for example), there are several factions you will litterally have to gun your way through if you're not careful in refusing to buy it.

          As to why a player would shoot up with it to begin with: The game never says anything about its adverse effects until long after you've been exposed (and even then, it's a
          • Sounds like an interesting game. But you avoided my main question!

            I don't see any point in "addressing ... issues" if it doesn't make people act differently in the "real" world. You're gaming strategies may change, but do your life strategies?

            So, has your gaming experience changed your Big Blue Room attitude? Or perhaps, has it re-inforced your original attitude? No change?

            Pro-drug? Anti-drug? Judge-each-drug-on-its-own-merits?
            • Fallout (both one and two) were full of little "morality plays" that were left decisions to you the player. In that sense it was one of the better computer RPGs. There were many ways to solve the issue of you directions somwhere, one path would have you free all the slaves, another might have you end up as a slaver, as well as shades of grey in the middle. You could make it through the entire game as a pacifist (you had to kill one guy at the end) or run through the worlds killing everything you came acr
  • Make sure it fits into the story you're trying to tell first. Sure back in the day games had simple stories basically consisting of chomp these little dots while avoiding ghosts or shoot these blobs that are aliens coming toward you while you move horizontally.

    They've evolved alot and I liken them more to interactive stories. I think that's why alot of games even with halfway decent gameplay blow, they may tell a story but it sucks and is usually just a rehashed story or licensed from a lame property in t

    • Bioware's KotOR was awesome b/c it did it's job but offered a lot of content and cool gameplay to do that job, and in a way dealt with social issues (Czerka corporation is an evil company willing to withhold a cure to a disease for the highest bidder and enslave an entire species.)

      I thought that part was kind of ham-fisted though.
      At least compared to the rest of the game. I was really impressed by the relationships between different NPCs.
      For example Bastilla and her mother, or between Mission, her brot

  • Pax Warrior (Score:2, Interesting)

    by sunryder ( 192810 )
    http://www.paxwarrior.com

    Pax Warrior is not really a game as such, but an "interactive multimedia documentary". It is marketted as, and plays like an interactive Social Studies game. Users (students) are presented with a first-person interaction taking them through the experiences and decisions faced by a UN Commander on a peace keeping mission to Rwanda.

    Pax Warrior is very interesting in that, like many games, it presents users with choices that must be made, and consequences that arise from those decisi
  • one of the mappers for the commercial release of UT2K4 referenced something of a social phenomenon in the AS-Junkyard map...

    just look for the Goatse thread in the atari forums (and various weblogs), or fire up that map and see for yourself.

    And people have noted how the map maker forgot the wedding ring on the, um, structure.

  • Can be and has been done sucessfully (Score:4, Insightful)

    by JackBuckley ( 696547 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @11:07AM (#8598565) Homepage
    This is a very interesting issue that has sparked already at least three types of comments:

    1. Game X has done this successfully

    2. I play games to escape => this shouldn't be done

    3. This is just a whiny, Liberal, politically-correct issue.

    As a mature (read: over 30) gamer who has played a lot of games, my general position is that, in the right genre, done correctly, socially-relevant games can showcase some of the best ideas and talent in the medium. I'm not talking about arcade games with the FBI's "stay away from drugs" splashscreen or making the blood in Mortal Combat green for the kids at home.

    I *am* talking about some of the most emotionally powerful moments in gaming, such as the child-abuse cutscenes that explain character motivation in The Longest Journey, or the brilliant handling of a variety of social issues in Planescape: Torment (IMHO the best CPRG of all time), or the socially-relevant and mind-blowing puzzles in IF such as Infocom's classic A Mind Forever Voyaging. In games like these, the social commentary was relevant and important to plot and character, and did not distract from the escapism in any way. Moreover, the player does not come away from games of this sort feeling like s/he has been lectured at.

    Remember, one of the things that makes novels, films, and, yes, games, great is there ability to engage the viewer/player emotionally. Ultimately, it is the games of this sort that will be remembered in the gaming "canon" as the steps that moved the gaming from a "fad" in the post-Atari '80s to a "fine art" in the future.

    • MGS (Score:2, Insightful)

      by philiptan ( 669463 )
      Remember, one of the things that makes novels, films, and, yes, games, great is there ability to engage the viewer/player emotionally.

      I'd like to add that the inclusion of weighty issues in games need not come at a sacrifice of escapist and recreational qualities. I just finished playing the remake of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and it was interesting to be reminded how the plot dealt with political issues that, IMO, made for a more interesting game. One one level, the game has your basic "Terroris

  • Media aren't for addressing serious social issues, or giving insight into human nature. It's only for entertainment! We don't want our media to be artistic, that would just be unacceptable.

    *sigh*

    How can people even ask this question?
  • I don't see many games that provide serious commentary. A lot of games do just make fun of certain groups, Fallout 2's 'hubologists' (Scientologists) are a great example.
  • I think games are just like movies in this regard... the majority are generic action. We'll have games like Quake as long as we have movies like Independence Day.

    Did anyone else think about Final Fantasy 6 as a good example? Back in '94 this 16-bit RPG talked about teen pregnancy, suicide, and the responsibility of individual soldiers for their own actions during war. Plus, in how many games does the main character get to set up an orphanage?
  • Whoever thought of this deserves to be smacked around by an eighty six chevrolet caprice classic. The reason we play video games is to forget about the real world, not to hear about social issues of the united states. What good is it going to do to put social issues in video games when the people that have to do something about these social issues are too busy worrying about marijuana and restricting our rights and liberties by having a so called "War on Terror". If you think video gamers are going to ha
  • Many games, particularly RPG's, already have social commentary. Final Fantasy 7, just as an example, had a huge mega-coporation over-exploiting a natural resource, which threatened to destroy the planet. The problem isn't social commentary, its in the delivery. If it's part of the story and presented well, it will work. If it's too heavy-handed then it will likely fail.
  • There's a reason why a lot of games don't address social issues, and it's the same reason that most animation doesn't-- length of production time. There's no telling if a particular topical issue is still going to be relevant to the public by the time a game is done. Big, overarcing issues, sure, but nothing specific.

  • Coincidentally, I just wrote a paper on how RPGs reflect the basic premise of the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. I then go on to discuss Social Dilemmas in general and propose how games could be used to address them.

    In short, Social Dilemmas explore why it is that people don't participate in their communities, that when given the choice, they would rather make the rational, self-interest decision. If, however, enough people made the unselfish, trustworthy decision (as in choose to contribute somehow) the

  • There's no chance any real social critique will come from the major videogames anyway. Same for Hollywood movies(except maybe some that "slips past"). You can only read books, and go on the internet to get media that doesn't reinforce consumer society. And I don't mean those soft campus "revolution" rags some student groups got going either: those are so weak they just resign revolution to a bunch of, albeit, dissatisfied(for good reason), students saying "yeah, Marx was right", and then continuing to pay

  • Deus Ex was all about social issues . . . (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kaimelar ( 121741 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:23PM (#8600255) Homepage
    Deus Ex had a lot of dialog concerning "serious social issues". In fact, that was the driving force behing the game. And throughout, you encountered characters that would talk to you at length about government, free will, etc. I found the comments they made quite interesting -- in fact, several of them made it into my fortune quotes list.

    It was also very interesting playing that game in 2003. My wife, who hates video games with a passion, was actually interested in the game's plot and actually started studying in my office so she could hear the dialog whenever it happened. This usually led to me pausing the game and discussing politics with her, because often some aspect of the game directly related to current political goings-on.

    So, yes, I think that games can address social issues. Games can be used to tell stories. Some of them are interesting and thought-provoking, like Deus Ex. Other games tell entertaining stories, or no story at all. Games are an avenue for expression, just like painting, music, writing, or film. What creators (be they painters, composers, or game designers) chose to do with their medium is entirely up to them. Can they "address serious social concerns?" Sure. Can they be purely for entertainment and fun? Absolutely.

  • Been done. Few examples: (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Ayaress ( 662020 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:25PM (#8600283) Journal
    Xenogears: On one hand, it has the technology-destroying-mankind undertones that Squaresoft put into every game they made, but at the same time, it's pretty suggestive on the religious plane too. The basic backstory: Very ancient civilization makes giant robots for war. The largest of these robots ends the war, and destroys most of said civilization. Less ancient civilization discovers this robot centuries later, and worships it, calling it God. God and man live together in paradise, and God provides everything man could ever desire. Then, man creates "giants" (more robots) in mimicry of God. God is angered, and war breaks out. When God fears man will destroy him, he hides man's giants from him and flees into the sea. Modern civilization finds the giants, remembers stories about God from the past, and starts fighting over access to the ruins where God sealed the giants, trying to find and control God. And don't think it's an accident that they include numerous references from the bible. Fallout II: It doesn't do a great job of handling slavery and prostitution, which are major themes in the game, but it does an impressive job with addiction. A major part of the game is a drug called Jet. When you use it, you get a brief boost to your character. However, when it wears off, your stats drop below their normal levels, and you need another dose to attain normal levels. When that wears off, they drop furthur. If you ignore the withdrawal for too long, your stats continue to drop until your character becomes useless, so you need to keep getting more and more jet the longer you're addicted. There are others, but most handle serious issues in a very child-like way. While they're not bad games because of this, in my opinion, they can't be considered serious handlings of real problems.
  • then of course the answer is yes.

    Disposable pop genres can be elevated to art forms -- having just finished reading Alan Moore's Watchmen, I feel particularly convinced of this at the moment. But I would suggest that videogames are not particularly close to becoming meaningful art. In time, I think they will -- but we're not there yet.

  • I would argue that some do. For instance, I think there is a lot of... well, I don't really want to call it subtext, since I think a lot of it is pretty much right there on eht surface... in the Deus Ex games. The first one in had tons of thought-provoking quotes in books and such. More substantially, both the first and second games offer a fair amount of social commentary related to globalization (the WTO), terrorism (the Templars), and religious fanaticism (the Order). Sure, the more visceral games aren'
  • Look at The Sims. It's a dating simulator, basically. The better you are at it (without using cheats), the better you'll soon realize that you actually have charm. Unlike real life at times, you can't "buy" women on The Sims -- you actually have to go after them with love and affection.

    As far as movies and music being more social than video games... that just depends on the audience. I personally would pick video games over the two -- simply because you're in total control. With books, movies, and music,
    • ook at The Sims. It's a dating simulator, basically. The better you are at it (without using cheats), the better you'll soon realize that you actually have charm.

      I can't believe you said that. Does not compute.

      Unlike real life at times, you can't "buy" women on The Sims -- you actually have to go after them with love and affection.

      Yes...yes. Affectionate clicking of buttons.

      It's not even close. If anybody really expects the Sims to be good dating practice, I pity that person's sex life.
  • After playing Sanitarium and Beyond Good and Evil my wife and I discussed quite a few of the social and political aspects of the games. I think Sanitarium touched on a number of issues in a way that wasn't heavy handed or shoved down your throat.
  • Apart from many other areas of potential exploration in terms of more relevant issues, I am quite amazed at how many action-titles - FPS, shoot em ups, etc, I've played over the last 20 years, while I can still count the ones with a storyline or desire to thread beyond anything already explored in mainstream cinema etc. Take the Vietnam FPS titles on the market now for instance. Or the actiontitles putting players in action in the deserts of the middleeast. Seeing that instances of the militar use interact
  • "conceivable that games would reap greater societal acceptance and more legitimacy as a medium for presenting important concerns of our times"

    Yes, but we also risk getting more preachy, shallow, melodramatic screeds like the Metal Gear Solid series.

    (I agree with the basic idea that games should try to do this more, but it is apparently far too big a hurdle for many developers to even attempt.)
  • As it happens, I'm writing just such a game in my spare time. I won't bore you with the details (at least, not until that far distant time in which it's ready for release), so I'll sumarise the relevant part:

    A major part of the game implements a global capitalist economy - an international stock market and a large number of mega-corps, which the players can buy and operate for themselves. The players can then use the enormous power this gives them for their own nefarious purposes, for instance funding rebe

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