Dead Pixels has 41 chronicles

1. The Great Gaming Culture War: The List
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Oct 28 2009

   Dead Pixels
   10/25/09
   By Ryan M. Eft
   
   So. I’ve spent the last several columns discussing things of a deeper cultural significance than most gamers tend to dwell on. I have the highest hopes that you’ve all been given something you’ll think about after you shut off the computer. To round it all out, I’ve put together what I consider lessons that gaming needs to learn, both from the past and from the present, in order to maintain its throne on top of the entertainment world.
   These aren’t necessarily the single most important things gaming needs to do; they aren’t even necessarily problems, per se. I’m sure the industry will survive if we do nothing and simply continue on the current path unaltered.
   But survive how? In what form? Will it really be a form we’ll appreciate? Or will we simply run in place, spinning our wheels, until we look back and realize that gaming took all the potential it amassed and did nothing with it?
   Up above, I said these weren’t necessarily the most important matters facing gaming. That fact aside, they are the things I consider most important. Everyone wants something different out of gaming, but there are two desires we pretty much all agree on: quality and advancement. I feel that these steps may help us move forward with that goal. If you don’t agree, that’s what my inbox is for. I want to hear from anyone with the time and inclination to let me know the areas they think most ripe for improvement.
   Thanks for hanging around for The Great Gaming Culture War, and I promise next week I’ll make some jokes again.
   
   1. Realism isn’t just about the tech
   It’s maybe the greatest irony of this age of gaming realism; while everyone demands realistic graphics, realistic physics, realistic sound and realistic guns, no one seems very keen on demanding realistic situations. Or realistic characters.
   I could suggest a dozen psychological reasons for this. Perhaps people want to be reminded of the real world only to the point that it makes blood splatters cooler-looking. Or perhaps we’re just not there yet. Maybe ten years from now we’ll have games addressing life on the streets, or featuring very human soldiers with very human problems, and I’ll be glad my concerns were unfounded.
   For now, though, I can’t help but notice a trend towards mere half-realism. There are quite a few good reasons why this isn’t a good thing for gaming. The most pressing is simply that games will never be considered anything but base flash and dazzle as long as the consequences of being at war or investigating crimes are glossed over in favor of cowboy attitude and happy endings.
   Whether you care about the social or artistic importance of gaming is your affair. But I suspect that all but the most callous of players care about investing game time with characters that act like people, in a story that is relatable. That’s not social activism; it’s simply good design.
   At various times, everyone has expected improved physics, motion controls, voice acting, or any one of dozens of different improvements to gain gaming general acceptance as a medium with which important things can be done. We’ve made steps, but we’re still standing in the middle of the stairwell going “Gee…I don’t know…”
   We’ll be standing there forever unless we can accept that the improvements needed to take games to the top of the stairs are philosophical, and not merely technological.
   
   2. Realism isn’t everything
   My personal conversations have led me to the conclusion that I’m far from alone in my belief that realism in gaming is a highly overrated trait. I’ve written a lot about this belief, but the fact is that what was once seen as a possible branch of game design---attaining lifelike realism---seems to have become the sole measuring stick by which many developers, publishers and players judge their gaming experience. I’m reasonably sure that I’d be rich if I had a buck for every time someone has told me “I don’t like that made-up stuff”.
   This doesn’t seem to be a problem on the face of it. Think a little deeper, though, and you might start to wonder if we want a medium capable of visiting so many different worlds to almost exclusively take us to places we can see on the news. I’m sure some will think I’m exaggerating. But compare the selection of games that take us fantastic places now to the number that did so ten years ago, and I think my point becomes clearer.
   There are bastions of imagination that will likely never fail us. Nintendo, Square Enix, Capcom, Konami, and Atlus, among others, have been providing gaming with visions from dreams and nightmares pretty much since the industry began. But more recent carriers of the torch are few and far between. You’ve got Bioware, and Level-5, but for the most part companies are more interested in making things lifelike, and gamers often seem to equate “fun” with “photo-realistic”. Is there a place for that? Well, sure. But the way things are going, the imagination that once fueled the medium will soon be solely off the blockbuster charts or in the hands of children.
   
   3. Learn to keep a damn secret
   I’m well aware there are numerous reasons why games that we once thought were the shiznit would never meet our expectations today. The first is, of course, purely technological. But technology doesn’t explain everything. Games such as Super Mario Sunshine, Fable 2, Final Fantasy XII, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Assassin’s Creed Are just a few of the releases I can think of whose sales or reputations have suffered from another cause: media blitz. Certainly, marketing is vital. But this isn’t just a thing publishers should consider a little more restraint on. Players salivating at the mouth to learn every single new detail of an upcoming game has resulted in a lot of very good games getting the shaft in some way, simply because the level of fervor surrounding a game pre-release means nothing short of rewriting the rules of the universe will be good enough. Yet just ten years ago, games of this caliber would have been considered genre-defining, must-play hits almost universally.
   Unfortunately, thanks to the endless spew of hype and info from the people who make the games, and unrealistic expectations from the people who play the games, we tend to get into a vicious cycle in which nothing short of perfect is acceptable.
   In short, it would behoove publishers to hold in the hype a little more, and gamers to start focusing on what they do get again, rather than what they don’t.
   
   4. Did you know someone actually makes those games?
   As with any lesson, the ones facing gaming are not one-sided. While I’ll be the first to laud good old-fashioned American stinginess, another thoroughly Democratic idea that I’m a fan of is people being rewarded for their hard work. To this end, gamers should consider it their responsibility to remember that there is a team of developers on the other side of every game they play. I don’t think I hate any conversation more than when people complain that they do not get suitably recognized or rewarded for whatever work they do, and then proceed to tell me about how they’re going to go about getting this or that game for free. Or how they really like the new idea behind some new, untested game, but they’ll wait to grab it used.
   Naturally, expecting the average Joe who wanders into Best Buy looking for something with fighting in it to think about this may be foolish optimism. But dedicated gamers should really know better by this point. Not liking to spend money is a pretty universal attitude. But it may eventually come down to either not spending a few extra bucks, or ensuring good games keep being made.
   
   5. Learn a little about the games you play
   There’s an entire industry backing up your preferred choice of entertainment. Too often am I treated to questions like “Man, why did they delay that game again?” or laments along the lines of “I could make a better game than that!”
   In an age when everything you need to know about anything is right on the other side of a keyboard, it’s easy to find out why that game was delayed, and (usually) foolish to believe you could actually make a better one. My feeling is that those of us who are committed to gaming, as a collective, could really stand to know a bit more about what makes our games tick.
   The rebuttal to this would be to point out that people enjoy movies, music and books with, at best, miniscule knowledge of what makes those industries tick. My answer is that gaming is a whole ‘nother beast. Those industries are well and truly closed to a good majority of people. You are not generally invited to re-work a movie to make it what you want. In gaming, titles such as Little Big Planet are leading the way into making games different in that regard.
   It’s because of that difference that fans understanding what makes their games tick may be pivotal to the future of this medium in a way it has never really been to any other.

   
   

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Dead Pixels has 4 comment s on this chronicle.

1. Dead Pixels
   Posted On Oct 30 2009

   MrBigJeezy: That's what games like Crackdown are for. You have a semi-realistic cityscape, but since it is a fantasy you can have guys melting buildings with their tongues or whatever you fancy.
   
   What I am referring to are games like Call of Duty or Army of Two. And I'm not necessarily just talking about the physical aspect of realism (although I am bothered when a U.S. soldier is capable of essentially absorbing bullets).
   
   What I am referring to is the tendency to create a game with realistic wounds, realistic bodies and realistic guns and then quickly insert a story and personalities that seem straight out the head of an adolescent boy. The realism is not sold when, for instance, western soldiers are always right and always win and rarely question anything, and anyone affecting a slight middle-eastern tint, or heaven forbid, who disagrees with the heroes, is evil.
   
   It goes beyond just wanting a good game. I feel the same when I see movies or hear songs of that ilk. These things are based on real events, and to water them down into stark rights and wrongs with no self-doubt on the part of the character is something of a slap to the face of people who really go in there and do those things for a living. It's the same with applying such a level of seeming invincibility.
   
   Jack: realism applied to unrealistic game settings is something I didn't address, but I may do someday. In fact, the blurred and confused line between realism and fantasy in games might make a good topic in future.
   
   As always guys, if you want to discuss further my inbox is open.

2. MrBigJeezy
   Posted On Oct 30 2009

   I prefer the unrealistic. If I wanted real life... well, I already have that. I prefer my character to jump 15 feet in the air, take 1,000 bullets without flinching, accurately headhsot an enemy from 7 miles away, and shoot fire from his/her nipples.
   
   With that in mind, I'll tell you why I prefer realistic graphics, and it's simple. The more real the envirenment looks, the more I feel apart of the unreal. It makes the unreal feel real and changes my boring reality into something far more interesting. Realistic graphics are just more engaging.
   
   However, that isn't saying that some very real-world current events couldn't be fantastic and interesting.

3. A-Thon X
   Posted On Oct 29 2009

   Thx for giving Nintendo some love in there dude, and not just spout out a lot of "Nintendo Sucks" Rhetoric.
   
   Realism isn't really something i myself need in a game. I'm more fantasy oriented anyway and tend to gravitate towards the fantastic.
   
   And i usually have a large amount of patience towards these games cuz i know that they didn't intentionally set out to make a bad game, so i often overlook many things. Thought the exception to that rule is liscenced games that were pushed onto the shelves just to make a quick buck. The ppl behind that should be made to realize that what they're doing is counter productive to the industry.
   
   And lastly you make a lot of good points as far as what makes a quality game, But this seems to be something that isn't quite quantifieable. I don't think there is any set formula for what makes a great (or even a good) game. Why do some games do everything right and still fall short?

4. JackDaniels624
   Posted On Oct 28 2009

   Number 2 got me thinking about how much I enjoy unrealistic games, with a lot of realism to them...I know that sounds wierd so to try and clarify I'll use Resident Evil 4 and 5 as an example. I like how the enemies are obviously unrealistic, but I love how it actually matters where you shoot them, like the knee cap compared is different then the lower leg, stuff like that.