I think the gaming industry has sold its soul. If indeed it ever had one.
Listening to Nolan Bushnell (inventor of Pong, founder of Atari) comparing games to business, and war, and back to games, and saying it's all fun...I get goosebumps, and wonder...
Anyway, the short and sweet of why games are ruined for me, is all the military shit.
It just reeks of a big military recruitment drive.
To pump hormonal boys full of violent impulses, and plots full of ambiguous and dubious moral philosophy.
I know guys who were big time gamers who ended up going to Iraq, and then you see clone after clone after clone of the whole Halo formula, and they're pumping the ads for them at you at every commercial break, and it's very easy to smell something funny, and go "hey...what the fuck is going ON here??
Y'know?
I don't see it as harmless and innocent, there's something very creepy about it to me.
And yeah, they dress it up in sci-fi most times, but it's always some guy, from some government, with some funky gun, running off to bring order to the chaos.
With pure firepower, nothing more.
It's all a mission, it's all orders, anything resembling navel gazing or diplomacy is left at the door, you just blow shit up because someone tells you to.
In my 20's, I didn't think about it.
In my teens, games were little blips, they didn't have a plot, the shoot 'em ups were virtually indistinguishable from the puzzles.
I still like the puzzles.
Tetris, Katamari Damaci, stuff like that.
I've never touched Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but that stuff is innocent, I don't mind that either.
But, anything with a military connotation kinda creeps me out.
To the point of stomach gurgles if I let it.
And oookay, there's a case to be made, yeah, we need defense, so we need soldiers, and some guys are wired for it more than others, and they'll be the ones to do it, and the games can just show 'em their interests for their future, yeah, okay....
And yeah, kids can play these shoot 'em ups, and not join the military, and be well adjusted (not that aspiring soldiers are necessarily maladjusted, I'm talking the Columbine aspect) and it's just entertainment for them.
I could take that argument, and leave it all alone...but that's not all there is, there's another layer going on, and it hits me at a gut/goosebump level.
It's hard to convey.
When you look back, at how all this computer infrastructure we use was military based, computers themselves, the Internet, it's like, it's so in bed with the military industrial complex, it's no wonder the military would want a return on their investment.
So, it's suspect right out of the gate.
And then you know that the gaming industry is full of minds like Bushnell's.
That think war is actually a fucking game!
You can't help but think "yikes!".
And the other scary layer to it, is the shit that's NOT military or puzzles.
The stuff where you're some shady misanthrope.
A mercenary, a drug dealer, a hit man, a serial killer.
What the fuck is up with THAT shit??
Who are they training with THAT, and why?
And then you think of the SF based military shooters where everyone's a "zombie".
The whole zombie thing has been taking off like wildfire, have you noticed this shit?
Kinda impossible not too.
I dunno what the psychological effects of carelessly blowing away "things", that "used to be human", so you get detached from the person that used to occupy that body, but it can't be fucking good for you.
Even if you walk away from it, and lead your dumb little life, it can't be setting up good meme-plexes in your noodle.
And let's just take my little conspiracy theory to its worst conclusion.
Let's take the military hypnotism, combined with the "shoot women and children because they're 'zombies', now", disconnection, and pit people like that against the ones who took to the drug dealing sociopath programming, and what have you got?
Seems to me you've got the formula for soldiers mowing down citizens.
Hmmm...
But, maybe I've got my tinfoil hat on.
But...I don't see anything as a corrective check against it that proves me wrong, I don't see anything selling heroic virtues, or positive altruistic values.
It's all soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, zombies, zombies, zombies, gangsters, gangsters, gangsters.
And guitar hero.
And puzzles.
But in my nightmare world, those poor people are victims.
I dunno, maybe I'm wrong, maybe people just like military sims, and horror, and crime fantasies, and that's human nature, and I'm reading too much into things.
I hope so.
But, watching advertising, it's been like a big movie that's played out in a thousand little chunks, and the movie it makes is a creepy dystopia.
I really hope I'm wrong.
But, it has been enough for me to tire of gaming.
That, and the prices.
Fuck, has that become an expensive hobby to have.
Holy shit!
Even in the most benign version of reality turning out to be true, the trends, the repetition, the lack of creativity, it's the worst of Hollywood all over again, and I'm burnt the fuck out.
Our culture does that a lot to me.
It just wears me down to a nub, and things get ruined for me.
So yeah, games are (mostly) ruined for me.
Between the creepy messages, bad vibes, and ruthless and annoying marketing, it's become a bad scene all around.
Fuck, do I miss Pac-Man.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Rant #6 Why I don't dig video games anymore.
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15 comments:
Diacanu,
First pass at this:
No, I don’t think you’ve got a tin-foil hat on, I tend to agree competely…
It's all soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, zombies, zombies, zombies, gangsters, gangsters, gangsters.
Yes, indeed: and those are nine of the least interesting things on the planet…
the trends, the repetition, the lack of creativity
Spot on, again…
And yeah, they dress it up in sci-fi most times
Indeed, but remember the times when “dressing up as sci-fi” meant dodging asteroids? The only things I ever play now are sports games (in particular golf sims, as I find them relaxing).
And, the stuff that’s NOT military is often quite the worse, as you rightly say…
Second pass at this:
And yet…
I’m instinctively wary of anything approaching a “cause and effect” argument here, or anything that seeks to justify censorship (see, especially, Ill Effects, ed. Martin Barker and Julian Petley [2001]).
A friend of mine once told me his (pacifist) father absolutely insisted (this was in the days before video games) on giving him masses of Action Men, toy guns and, basically, all the military toys he could afford, on the grounds that this would mean his son would get all of this gung-ho nonsense out of his system as quickly as possible. It worked completely and comprehensively in this particular case, though it is, of course, a massively unsound non-random sample of one…
Third pass at this:
And yet…
you get detached from the person that used to occupy that body…
Although I tend to think these arguments aren’t always rational, especially when they’re being deployed in support of censorship (not that you were doing this, of course, but one of my concerns is the tendency of the incoherent right to leap on a decent point and immediately twist it into an excuse to argue for the banning of their personal dislikes) I must be honest, this sometimes troubles me too…(Though it’s a dodgy sort of worry with me, as I don’t think my occasional gut feelings are supported by the evidence in this case.)
I don't see anything selling heroic virtues, or positive altruistic values…
Me neither, and I think that’s a terrible shame. (One of the very many reasons I think the concept of Doctor Who is brilliant is that the hero carries a tool and not a gun…)
To end on a positive note, all the people I know that, like me, used to play a lot of video games back in the day, without exception when the subject is brought up nowadays only talk about playing 10-pin bowling on the Wii; so (if the younger generation are of a similar mind) perhaps there’s still hope!
Mark_W
Mark_W-
"It's all soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, zombies, zombies, zombies, gangsters, gangsters, gangsters.
Yes, indeed: and those are nine of the least interesting things on the planet…".
Lol, is that sarcasm?
"I’m instinctively wary of anything approaching a “cause and effect” argument here, or anything that seeks to justify censorship (see, especially, Ill Effects, ed. Martin Barker and Julian Petley [2001])".
Oh, hell, no, fuck censorship.
I'm just saying, if I'm right, and it is a subtle mind-control thing, then a rant like this should hopefully help break the spell by making the reader aware.
Just a little "look out, kids, they're messing with you!", like all the other rants.
If I'm wrong, then this is all hot gas.
"Although I tend to think these arguments aren’t always rational, especially when they’re being deployed in support of censorship (not that you were doing this,..".
I'm totally not.
"I must be honest, this sometimes troubles me too…".
Ain't it creepy?
I even admit though, it's a gut thing.
I thinkI'm careful enough to explain that.
I don't see anything selling heroic virtues, or positive altruistic values…
"Me neither, and I think that’s a terrible shame. (One of the very many reasons I think the concept of Doctor Who is brilliant is that the hero carries a tool and not a gun…)
To end on a positive note, all the people I know that, like me, used to play a lot of video games back in the day, without exception when the subject is brought up nowadays only talk about playing 10-pin bowling on the Wii; so (if the younger generation are of a similar mind) perhaps there’s still hope!".
*Thumbs up*
:)
You're not wrong, Diacanu. My son, who is, normally, a very mild-mannered 17 year old, turns into this lunatic when he plays Halo, or another of those types of games on X Box. He gets agitated, and I wonder what those games might do to young guys who don't have the ameliorating influence of parents who, at least, limit the amount of time spent on such "recreation."
Indeed, why can't we go back to the glory days of Pacman and Pong?
Good Rant!
I disagree with those fucked up games about being a "gangsta" like that completely ridiculous "fiddy cent" type of game where you "shoot dem niggaz" in order to gain "respect" - Kids should not be encouraged to be this stupid.
I agree too with the rather sinister shoot em ups that are a basic military drive - "Here son, have cheezburger and shoot the yellow people!"
Plus if you die somewhere in the game, fear not because you can always come back to life!
Thing is I do love my Xbox.
I do love pratting around in some weird game like Knights of the Old Republic 2, wielding the Force and saving the galaxy from them naughty Sith with my Lightsaber - that kind of shit fuels my imagination without feeling too sinister. Damn I get to save the Universe, hows that for fun? :)
Plus the same could be said with all the shit that I watch on DVD - I got box sets coming out my ears - its all bollocks most of it - Heroes, Smallville, 24, House, Battlestar Gallactica, X Files, Simpsons, Family Guy, Buffy, Angel -
There is a similar element found in these sort of programmes is there not and in this day and age kids are going to get their hands on this shit as much as they would video games.
I think some of it is a parental responsibility - take booze for example.
I have been drinking since probably the age of 14 - Dad offered me a few sips of beer now and again, really small glasses of wine at xmas etc nothing too over the top though, I didn't get wasted until I was about 18.
My parents ended up teaching me responsibility, I do drink a bit here and there but nothing I need to be scared of - I drink cos I appreciate the taste etc, I don't drink solely for the purposes of getting wasted.
Mark_W also brought up a good example, let the kid play with all the military shit he wants but just be a parent show them how to be responsible with it.
Not always going to work though is it? Not everyone is going to have responsible parents. This is a tough problem to solve.
So yes, I agree some video games are a load of recruitment bollocks.
Some are encouraging extreme stupidity.
Some games you should not touch with a barge pole
I hate guitar hero, I have been playing real guitar for 16 years and that "guitar" they supply is a pile of crap, you don't push buttons to get the tunes goddammit! :)
I suppose in the end its always going to be something buggering around with kid's minds, if it isnt computer games its going to be some fucked up batshit religion or "musician" claiming to have come from tha' streets selling coke but that special get rich or die tryin' is what is going to get you through! Its fine to beat up women/hoes, they are only there as sexual objects anyways!
If only people drank more tea there wouldn't be this problem!
:)
Evening fellows!
Diacanu,
Lol, is that sarcasm?
Actually it wasn’t – I am genuinely left utterly cold by all things “gangster”. People keep telling me how brilliant The Sopranos is, but the thought of watching that many hours of gangsterdom would make me shiver if it didn’t send me catatonic at the thought of the tedium. And though there are at least partial exceptions to every rule (in my case, belatedly seeing The Godfather for the first time on a big screen did make me go “wow!”; and yet I have absolutely no desire to spend a couple of hours of my life watching it again. Equally, I can understand what people mean about Goodfellas being a good film, but again, if I go to grave having only seen it the once, I won’t be in the least bit sad...) Gangsters are rubbish. Similarly, I’d claim, I like to think quite rightly, that zombies are the worst horror monster in the world ever. There is one good zombie film and that’s Shaun of the Dead...[So there! :-)] Soldiers are where I personally weaken a bit here – although not remotely of a military bent, I can think of lots of stories about soldiers that I think are great, (and (though in its defence it’s about pigs) Hogs of War is, to be honest, my favourite non-sports video game...)
I'm totally not. and I think I'm careful enough to explain that.
I’m sure you aren’t, and yes you are careful enough to explain that. My concern was do to with where others might try and take these feelings, and certainly not with anything you said...
Ain't it creepy?
Yes. I think it’s the agitation that Laurie mentions that makes it so. (Christ, I’ve turned into Captain Picard...) Even though the bloodlust, if one can be justified in deploying such an emotional term, isn’t real, it is still very creepy...My memories of video games are of trying to see whether it was possible to compile a decent round on Tiger Woods using only woods and a putter; not counting how many people you could kill in three hours. Perhaps I’m just old...
Philip,
Plus if you die somewhere in the game, fear not because you can always come back to life!
Indeed. I remember back in the 80s, as the Task Force set off for the Falklands, a Marine saying to a journalist that he would be, “bloody irritated” if he were to be killed. Even then, [I’m not so old that I wasn’t quite young in the 80s :-)] the idea that you could think you would still be able to feel irritation after death struck me as odd – and yes, I know you can’t be an effective soldier if you can't distance yourself from the fact that you may very well not return from wherever you’re going, any more than you can be an effective surgeon if you can’t distance yourself from the lives that are in your hands and get on with the job – but still, it’s a bit creepy again, isn’t it?
You make a good point about imagination. I’m going to sound incredibly pompous now, but what the hell, I shall charge on! At their best, video games, role-playing games, or whatever, are marvellous and healthy stimulants to the imagination, but, to go back to a couple of my pet hates above, gansters and zombies are dull exactly because imagination, creativity and originality have (with rare exceptions) long since left the building...
Now, regarding your list of DVD box-sets. Pish, Sir, one shouldn't use the world “bollocks” in such proximity to, especially, Buffy, The Simpsons, and House. It’s a different subject and I’ve rambled on enough already, but these (and in particular, in my worthless opinion, the first two) are genuinely brilliant examples of what TV can do...Heigh ho!
Anyway, I think you’re spot on about parental responsibility and guitars and – ah! That’ll be the kettle boiling...Tea! :-)
Mark_W
Good rant... you have a point.
... but I still want to take over the world - what is the harm in that?
Mark There is one good zombie film and that’s Shaun of the Dead...
Excellent choice sir.
Lee
Wow, so The Last Starfighter wasn't fiction, huh? I'd laugh, but it's scary. What's scarier is that the military *does* train its people on video games, and they're in bed with the creators as well.
However, there's also some good being done in the gaming world, though of course it doesn't get as much hype or user awareness, and that's in terms of games like Peacemaker: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/arts/23thom.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
(That's a New York Times link - not sure if you can read it without being a member.)
Now, I could make some crack about Pac-Man fostering greed and obesity, but I'll restrain myself. ;)
Art imitates Life.
Life imitates Art.
Not sure the circle will ever be broken,
and not sure if it should.
How's that for backboneless thinking?
Good Rant.
My son is a video game fanatic, but he hates most first-person shooters. He has a few that he likes, the Metroid series, and Resident Evil, but that's about it. He has no use for the military games, Soldier of Fortune, call to duty, etc. He's mostly an RPGer.In fact, he's performing the second of his twice-a-year homages to Chrono Trigger, right now.
Yes, I have the original SNES game. In fact, I have two of them. I also have multiple copies of Final Fantasy on the SNES. This is what happens when the mother of a gamer geek marries a gamer geek.
Okay, so I'm something of a gamer geek myself. I played just about every Infocom game there was, when they were still sold at Waldenbooks for $35/pop! Remember those days? Later, I liked games such as Last Express, Gabriel Knight and Zork Nemesis. Oh... And I was a fanatic with the Sega Home Alone game. I don't know why I liked that one, but I used to play it for hours, just to come up with different weapons--and what each would do to the bad guys. Then there were the traps, like ice and tar and glue. Funny stuff. Stupid funny, but funny.
I've started playing some of the Harry Potter games (even though I've never read any of the books!). They're fun. So are, believe it or not, the Nancy Drew games. I'm waiting for the price of Professor Layton to come down in price, so that I can have something to do on my lunch breaks. I like kitschy mystery games like that.
Obviously, I like stories and puzzles. I don't want to just blast away. That's boring to me. Let me explore, let me figure things out. I liked being able to live up to owning the T-Shirt that said, "I got the Babel Fish!"
Oh dear. Now it's obvious I'm actually a hopeless geek.
::::Hangs head in shame.::::
::::Slinks away::::::
To Be Fair - There Are Only So Many Ways To Dress Up A FPS.(First Person Shooter For Those Outta The Know)
There Is At Least One FPS That Is Not Order Based. It Is Focused On Teamplay. It's BF2. The Battlefield Franchise Is Great Cause There Are Teams BUT It's Not A Storyline Type. It's More Based On Conquest And Teamwork. Not To Mention That It's Army Vs. Army And That You Switch Sides Every Round.
It's Good For Venting That's For Sure.
I'm burnt the fuck out.
No kidding! I thought this was a really good, thought-provoking post. I think I've read somewhere that the military was creating and sponsoring some of these games in the 80s, particularly the old arcade bomber airplane games. So, you're probably not just being paranoid.
I thought your take on the zombie connection was interesting. Sorry if this seems sexist, I don't mean it to be derogatory, but I always thought some of these games channel and satisfy the male brain, as its been shaped by evolutionary biology. You know, "you're under attack, now defend yourself", which has been the situation throughout our evolution from be predated on by the saber-toothed tiger to marauding bands of other humans. I thought the zombies were sort of a safety valve for that. Shooting zombies comes in where a guy whose modern psychology is turned off by straight up FPS games could still enjoy blowing "monsters" away. But I hadn't heard there were zombie kids and women and, unless I'm confused about what you wrote, that is pretty sick. (As a note about House of Dead, I've enjoyed playing it myself, but it doesn't hold my interest for more than two games max.)
I think obviously those male human instincts are being exploited and misdirected. It's not really a matter of "censorship" since it's not "free expression". It's business and business affects society and if some business (military industrial complex) is trying to exploit human weaknesses or strengths for selfish ends, then it should be exposed and stopped.
The sugar industry will fund studies that say kids aren't affected negatively by sugar,yet you can see it with your own eyes.
Media experts say kids aren't affected by what's on TV, yet I myself jumped off high things in my grandmother's house with an umbrella imitating the Penguin in the old Batman TV show. We know that's bullshit and we don't need media experts to tell us otherwise.
My 18-year-old cousin conned my aunt into buying Grand Theft Auto. My aunt complained to me that she didn't know what it was and that his parents let him play it and his parents complained to me that she bought it even though they forbid it. I had to narc on him to set everyone straight and I felt bad about it, but what choice did I have when his lie was causing conflict in the family? When I told him my concerns about the game he told me, "Yeah, people say it'll make us violent, but that's stupid, 'cos we know it's not real." I told him it concerns me because it is rewarding negative attitudes, misogynistic attitudes (you get extra points for killing prostitutes, for instance). It affects reward centers in the brain. Is he gonna go out and kill cops? Highly unlikely. But he does have an anger problem and is physically violent toward his sisters.
Well, I'm sorry I've gone on so long. Like I said, it was a thought-provoking post for me. Anyway, Good work, Mike.
Oh, man, I've been so bad at keeping up with replies to this...sorry, folks.
Laurie- Agreed.
Philip- Lol, great rant. :)
Mark_W- Thanks, and agreed. Especially on Shaun. ;)
Lee- Lol, and cool to see the Shaun lovers come out in force. ;)
Margaret- That's pretty cool.
And lol on the Pac-Man crack.
I seem to recall cultural critics saying that at the time it was out.
severalspeciesof- Heh heh.
aquaria- Lol, cool!
][ vellos- Oh, I got no problem with venting, again, I just want people to be aware.
zealous meerkat- All very good points.
Again, I think awareness helps a lot.
Most people just passively accept the virtual realities shoveled at them.
They can go ahead and keep consuming them for all I care, so long as they're woken up.
When's the next cartoon update? It's been a long time!
Jonathan-
Shit, you're right, it has been, hasn't it?
Yeah, I gotta get back to those, I've been slackin.
Hey,
Similar thoughts have crossed my mind when playing Gears of War or any number of older games (Super Huey on C64) but I don't know how many of those thoughts were just synaptic hangovers from watching The Last Starfighter.
wiki says they're doing a remake *kisses teeth* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Starfighter
I'm pretty sure that most research finds no link between video games and violence in the real world but I was struck when watching the Wikileaks Collateral Murder video how much the Gunship pilot (gunner?) acts as if he's playing a game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&feature=player_embedded
Perhaps though soldiers reacted that way long before technology gave us Call of Duty etc. I can't help thinking of Liza Tarbuck on QI talking about how she had decided not to give her son any military based toys, only to see him pick up a toilet roll tube and start going Peyoow pyow pyow!
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