Gaming Without a Safety Blanket 79
Hugh Pickens writes "IGN has an interesting interview with Tom Bissell, author of the recently published Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, in which Bissell uses his experience in investigative journalism and as a war correspondent to describe his years playing games. Bissell talks about the difficulties in describing gameplay to non-gamers. 'A lot of casual games sort of submerge their storytelling to an almost subliminal level while upping the gameplay sophistication,' says Bissell. 'Writing about pure gameplay is tough. ... I say in the book that's one of the most suspect things about the form; a game with [an] incredibly dopey story but a really compelling mechanical set of resonances can still be a great game. I don't know if there's really a way to talk about that with people who aren't sold on the form.' Bissell adds that it's easier for many to find meaning in the more traditional delivery systems of entertainment and compares writing about games to the difficulty in describing rock & roll to an older generation. Bissell's background as a war correspondent, traveling to regions of conflict, has also translated into the games he likes."
The OregonLive image caption (Score:3, Interesting)
Love the caption on the OregonLive image:
Tom Bissell manipulates the controller while playing "Flower," a mellow video game his nieces enjoy.
Ah... right, yeah, his "nieces."
Gaming is like dancing (Score:5, Interesting)
Gaming is like dancing [with your thumbs]. A lot of the mechanics are shared between games. A large part of the exhilaration is managing to get the end of a game without screwing up terribly. It's more nerdy (and possibly annoying) to some because the dance partner is a computer (more accurately, it's the game developers through a computer). It leads to the same sort of frustration that Garry Kasparov expressed about Deep Blue because many are more inclined to see the challenge presented as intended to remove the fun of the game. While I wouldn't go as far as to say that such a point never holds true (ie, there is such a thing as a game that's unreasonably hard), the challenge of a game forces gamers to improve which extends the life-long enjoyment of gaming. In the end, it's this attribute that keeps people interested in the long-term.
"We are merely sprites that dance at the beck and call of our button pressing overlord."
The key (Score:3, Interesting)
There are way too many games that advertise and pride themselves on the quality of their hitboxes (better headshots!), the intricacies of their scoring systems (show everyone how well you can twitch!) and their rewards for being skilled with violence (only ten more kills before I unlock the headraper 3000!). Even worse is when the amount of nudity or sex in a game is treated like some sort of sacred phenomenon like in God of War.
I wait patiently for more games like braid, heavy rain, the monkey islands remakes or portal, although they may not all have the most amazing stories, they push the capabilities of the medium or are rewarding because of the way they make you think, their humor or their beautiful art style.
Re:The key (Score:3, Interesting)
It's modern Cowboys and Indians (Score:5, Interesting)
When I was a child we used to play "Cowboys and Indians". The kids would break into two groups, one the cowboys, the other Indians. It was by definition roll playing with simulated violence. There were rules; for example, the cowboys had guns and the Indians had stealth. Rules and parameters were establish and followed, if not, "NO FAIR...or YOU CHEATED" were declared.
Modern computer gaming, such as the First Person Shooter, (FPS), is an extension of this. In fact, if you can recall being a child and the various imaginary games that children play, I.E. Pirates, Fortress, Capture the Flag, Tag and so on, modern gaming is an extension of these into a modern format with the use of computer technology. You can think of your computer as both a playground and a referee. Of course it's highly evolved and segued into genres, but if one distills it down to a non "gamer" essence, I think one could find a frame of reference based in the beginning of "play" its self.
Re:The key (Score:0, Interesting)
One of the major hurdles gaming as an entertainment medium needs to overcome before it is taken as seriously as movies, theater and such by more than its major demographic is the pandering to the immature teenage obsession with sex and violence.
Uhhh... Burlesque? Have you ever seen a blockbuster movie before?
There are way too many games that advertise and pride themselves on the quality of their hitboxes (better headshots!),
In a game, have you ever walked up to a door but been unable to open it because you were not in perfect alignment? How about picking up objects on the floor?
the intricacies of their scoring systems (show everyone how well you can twitch!)
Are you for real? LOL. Did you know the grandaddy of adventure games, Colossal Cave Adventure, had a scoring system, right? This game is older than freaking Space Invaders.
and their rewards for being skilled with violence (only ten more kills before I unlock the headraper 3000!).
Ah, a Portal fan. Did you murder your friend, the companion cube? I don't blame you. You get achievement for it. ;)
Even worse is when the amount of nudity or sex in a game is treated like some sort of sacred phenomenon like in God of War.
Yeah, because we should really view all sex and nudity with shame! Only true art can depict sex and nudity because it is serious bizness!
Actually, I've never played God of War because I game on PCs. I have however played a ton games since the 80's, and most of what I've seen is pretty tame (Ulima 6 & 7 LOL). If some mainstream game threw off the shackles of prudishness, it would get a lot of attention, so they might as well play it up.
I wait patiently for more games like braid, heavy rain, the monkey islands remakes or portal, although they may not all have the most amazing stories, they push the capabilities of the medium or are rewarding because of the way they make you think, their humor or their beautiful art style.
Yuck.
Braid is a conceited mario rip off with time rewind gimmick masquerading as a puzzle game, Heavy Rain is a nextgen QTE movie, Monkey Island is like a zombie wearing makeup, and Portal is a dull prototype with catchy theme song (we'll see if Valve can make a real game out of this). I think I'd rather play SuperTux. ;)
Re:It's modern Cowboys and Indians (Score:2, Interesting)
A Warner Brothers cartoon smacked of adult influences I don't think out of malice or neglect, but from the fact that most households were of one television at the time. There, entire families would hunker about their television akin to a primal family about the campfire.
Hence one would find the humor skewed up a notch or two above what might suffice for a child, not necessarily trying to appeal to a larger audience, but to appease them. Suffering through a child's program as an adult shouldn't be a painful experience if one wants to keep the entire family focused on the program.
As with modern times there is far less parental supervision concerning children's programing. Appeasing the parents is not the concern as in the example of a Barney show. One could also point out the virtues then of a simpler, less violent, child oriented show.
A progression or regression? Who knows?