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Progress in the field of mainstream acceptance could be traced to a lack of childhood story themes in games. This leads to stereotypical game production, however, Heather Chaplin offers some insight into how to change this for the better.
If you're a girl, fashion games like Diss and Make Up exist, otherwise the male-driven audience can flock to Modern Warfare 2. Within the context of bridging the gap between adolescent fantasy and mainstream acceptance, both aforementioned games do very little. They simply reinforce that woman must be pretty models and men are killing machines. (Note: I am not speaking on the issues of gameplay, production values, or how fun these games are). But we've come a long way since Doom, right? Sure we have, Metal Gear Solid raised the bar on immersive storytelling with actual plotlines and off-the-wall characters. Memorable music, check.
So what is missing within these great narrative advancements? The answer could be at the heart of Heather Chaplin's GDC 2009 rant addressing game makers, as reported by IGN.com, "...You're technically supposed to be adults. Chaplin traced the paucity of more mature content in games to four basic ideas that frighten men the most: responsibility, introspection, intimacy, and intellectual discovery." These points can be traced back to childhood stories both verbal and written--for example, Green Eggs and Ham taught us to not be afraid to try new things even if we're initially turned off to the idea. I have never played a game that attempted to teach me that. Below, briefly, is an expansion upon Heather's four points, with examples and a few questions that will hopefully offer up discussion :
Responsibility: games offer very little real responsibility. For example, killing ones own teammates in Counter Strike may result in your friends booting you out of the game. Or in a single player game, just hitting the Reset button undoes an error. It's hard to be responsible in a safe environment because there are few meaningful consequences to your actions.
Introspection: is limited to pre-made choices within the games, asking the players how they feel about a certain topic and if they want to proceed. Usually though, the game forces them to select one answer by repeating the question. A game idea comes to mind: a physical representation of meditation.
Intimacy: could boil down to the love making in God of War, courtship in Fable, and relations with prostitutes in Grand Theft Auto. On the other end of the spectrum, Princess Toadstool only kisses Mario on the cheek yet these characters are depicted as adults. So we can only have depraved, superficial, or immature love? One reason may be that it's simply easier to show out of touch affection that is cut and dry, moving the game along. We may play a game when we're upset or angry to escape from reality, but it is possible to harness those emotions in the game and provide insight to the player to help them through their tough time. Think of it as game-therapy.
Intellectual Discovery: "What has become clear to you since we last met?" a quote from Benjamin Franklin. We can only learn when there is a need to know something, a thirst for knowledge. Methods of self-discovery are quite rare in games. The Legend of Zelda may foster my adventurous nature but it does very little showing me how to be adventurous in my daily life--and parents know this.
The following example demonstrates a common household trend: A mother would never scold her child for reading the latest Harry Potter book all the way though, a solo activity, but does not want them playing a single- or multi-player videogame all day. In the mother's eyes, books teach, games entertain. I was limited to 1 hour a day on my N.E.S. Sure, better hand-eye coordinator and spacial reasoning skills may be linked to videogames, but that's not at the heart of the human condition. We're curious, need love, and need to be taught lessons. Of course, not every videogame must do this, but some should in an effort to show positive societal impact. Imagine it's bedtime, and a child and mother are playing a game on their laptop together, with the mother reading the story to the child and the child making decisions. Perhaps the mother could explain the choices of the characters and how the child's actions affect these characters. Children, based on a report by Primary Review, want games that "turn teaching into problem-solving rather than just giving information." It would be a new take on the linear act of storytelling aiming to further immerse the child and therefore invoke a deeper emotional response.
Think about a time when you repeatedly made your character jump off a cliff in a game just to see what would happen. Now, think of your favorite movie and if you would have liked to see the protagonist jump off a cliff. I root for the hero in the movie but am not as attached to my avatar in the game. At the heart of a great movie are great characters. However, at the heart of a great game is great game play. Let's start to match thoughtful narrative with stellar game play for a leap forward into the critical mainstream. Unless the envelope is pushed in new and more practical directions, the course set now will eventually hit a dead end.
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