@Laivasse said:
Great piece, Alex. I was delighted to see that you were bang on the money in backing up Kris Graft's piece. The game industry has no place in a discussion about how to reduce the likelihood of gun massacres - because there is already nothing our industry can do to lessen their likelihood. This 'discussion' is taking place in bad faith, because the actual content of the discussion is irrelevant. The purpose of this debate, in the first place, is to make game industry figures behave as if they carry some kind of responsibility for violent crime in society. Participation merely lends legitimacy to these hostile external perceptions.
The reason we are locked into this recurring cycle of scapegoating is twofold. Firstly, these things work themselves out of the public consciousness over a span of generations and, as you say, it's been a relatively short period of time since the last bout of scaremongering. Indeed, comparatively speaking, it's been a relatively short time since video games came into existence. There are probably still some people around who believe comic books are a threat to the moral fibre of our youth. We will have to wait a while before perceptions of gaming match those of eg. comics, where the hysterical viewpoint is marginalised and therefore carries no political capital.
The second reason is gaming competes as a scapegoat with another industry which has more political clout. This is something that may or may not change.
Finally, I disagree with you that our behaviour within gaming communities will have any bearing on changing public perceptions. Those people who are quick to demonise and ridicule gamer stereotypes tend to do so either maliciously, for their own validation of ego, or irrationally, out of an uninformed fear response. People hurling insults at eachother over XBL are fairly pukeworthy, but they're not the root of all our ills. Youtube comments are some of the nastiest cesspools on the net, as well as being a higher profile forum than most gaming communities, but you don't see media pundits using YT comments to characterise the average consumer of media. Regardless of if we're all boy scouts and girl scouts, perceptions won't change because there is very little experiential crossover between our communities and the critics of the medium. Stuff like this is more a matter of slow generational perception shift. However, you are right in calling for more a more strident philosophical stance from industry figures, since these can help speed that perception shift.
I'm going to quote this, because I was going to write a similar response. However, I'll just follow-up and say that I think the last part of this article is unnecessarily snide:
"We have made major strides in recent years at diversifying this medium, both in terms of the kinds of games we play, as well as those who call gaming a personal pastime. But we've done this quietly, internally, and in a way that has clearly had no major impact on how those outside of our core group view us. As a result, here we are, however many years later, still facing these same issues, these same stereotypes, these same political push-backs that feel like they should have dissipated into obscurity long ago.
I guess I just find all of that a little bit sad."
I believe there are people in the industry trying to help the perception of games. No matter how you feel on the "Games as Art," the exhibitions in DC and NYC are helping to change perceptions about videogames by showcasing games that are not all violent. Many game designers are concerned with the perception that "videogames = violent media" and art trying to change that...from indie game designers on up to David Cage. I know your comment alludes to them, but I think you too easily dismiss these as being "internal." The fact that these games exist and are getting more press should be viewed as a positive - not just criticized for the fact that they aren't the biggest sellers, right now.
Honestly, I feel a more appropriate ending to this article is to talk about what you want to do to help change perception and how we, as a community can help more. Otherwise, the article just sounds like you are mostly just lambasting people without offering much idea on what we should be trying/doing, even if it is just your opinion. You did talk a bit about that in the middle, but that should be your conclusion, not just that you're sad that others aren't fixing the issue.
I'm sorry if this sounds too harsh. I really don't mean it to be. It is a good article. Above is just my opinion on how I think it could be better and lead to better conversations that lead to progress.
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