They're Called Games

Finding Neverland is a movie about J. M. Barrie, his life, and his creating of Peter Pan.  I always found one of the moments in the movie to be poignant.  Frohman, Barrie's producer and financier (played by Dustin Hoffman), is talking to Barrie (played by Johnny Depp) after the failure of a recent Barrie play. 

I don't want to get into the fact that seriousness can be, and has been wonderfully done in plays, though certainly it could be, has been, and will continue to be discussed to the end of time (in fact Peter Pan is actually incredibly thought-provoking itself).  The points are all there to be made, and it's very valid to discuss. It's just a different topic.

Instead I want to talk about a another similarity/parallel that scene has with our industry.

What are they called?

Games.

Games.

When I look at the industry around me I'm often very disappointed, and I think it comes from that singular point.

Games are amusement at heart, they are entertainment.  So why is it that so many people seem to not be having any fun?  Why is there so much anger and resentment among people playing games?  Why is a 'gamer' someone who treats other people with disdain?

They're games.  Why aren't we having fun?

Why is it that there are fights back and forth over consoles with people going way beyond saying they simply enjoy one console more than other, to attacking the people who play the other consoles? 

Belittling the people and their intelligence for playing something you don't enjoy yourself is not a sign of intelligence.  In fact it's quite the opposite. Attacking other people on such grounds shows a basic and fundamental lack of respect for other people.  I for one look at my industry, the games industry, and our involvement in not only spawning such behavior, but also furthering it, with our own disrespect towards one another, and I'm really disappointed.

Why do we criticize each other for having fun?  Why is someone enjoying a different game than us seen as a negative instead of a positive? Why do we feel we are a 'mature industry,' making games that we hope will interest adults, but behaving like mal-tempered children?

Perhaps including review websites in the games industry is a bit of a stretch, but it is all furthering the same approach that lacks in intelligent and considerate debate, and instead turns to playground name-calling.  

In this generation the attitude of malice has been most prevalent in regards to the Wii and its players.  (Notably the Wii has received a lot of negativity among gamers who admittedly aren't even playing it.  Hatred towards something like a video game console is bad (silly?) enough, but hating the Wii without actually playing it is simply bewildering...but I digress.)

Of course the Wii is just the today example.  Last generation the PS2 got plenty of flak with many verbal and written flamefights over the 'type' of people who play it. In our industry it seems that wherever there are people enjoying themselves there are other people trying to pick a fight, or find some other way to stop the fun.

Honestly, I could understand starting a ruckus if there were some life-threatening evil occurring, or the forceful removal of people's rights, or the subjugation of millions, or even the subjugation of one...

...but they're games.

Games, made to be fun, engaging, exciting, challenging, and occasionally mind-opening.

Why is someone having fun with a game you don't like somehow a threat that must be beat down by constant belittling of that person and what they are enjoying?

I'd call on the industry to reconsider its approach and to start enjoying itself a little more.  I'm convinced doing so can only positively impact both the sales of games, and the games themselves!

Maybe we can start by discussing things with a little more open-mindedness, civility, and consideration instead of being dismissive, and jumping to name-calling of those who play different games than we do.  Perhaps we can stop thinking that someone else's success somehow equals our failure. 

People are different, and that's a good thing!  If they weren't different we'd all be making the exact same game.  Thankfully we have diversity in both the people and the games. But instead of cheering it, the general approach is to despise those who aren't thinking like us.  (Just listen to how the console makers speak of their competitors, it's enough to make you wonder if there is any sanity in the world)

I know the same issues exist in just about every industry, but I'm not making movies or talking politics on TV.  I'm not involved with those things. I make games.

Games.

If there is any industry in the world that should be having loads of fun, and devoid of hateful behavior and angry attitudes, it's ours.