I'm very torn on this. Whilst I largely agree with Jim Rossignol's response (here) on RPS, where he basically says that a certain level of education in anything is often required to appreciate it, I also get behind Mattie's assertion that the this is a symptom of the industry's continuing silencing of minority voices.
No, this woman did not have the correct framework in place that every person on this forum has - a history with games that is just inbuilt and allows them to do things naturally that, if we remove ourselves from that education, are actually pretty hard to get to grips with. Picking up and using a controller for instance. That is something that has to be learned at this point and is essential to play most games. Unfortunate, currently unavoidable, problem.
What is not unavoidable is the myopic focus of the industry. Kellaway is likely a smart, well read and informed woman who understands criticism and theory. So if she is unable to find a lot of value in a handful of games she is given, doesn't that say something about them?
I'm genuinely asking here. Although it is hard to see the mechanical nuance in a game without having played them for a while (appreciating immersive sims may be hard), surely there should be some form of connection with at least one of those games that leaves a lasting effect. Games are not good at pretty much anything that books or movies are good at. They handle rougher, less specific, more generalised emotions. They use play as narrative. So they also create a more intuited response, they don't require much thinking to find their value. There's plenty thinking to be had there, but Kellaway (even as someone with no experience in games) should presumably be experiencing the more obvious stuff we see in those games. Journey works in very blunt, wide ranging emotional palette.
Which brings me back to why she didn't. For me that comes down to Mattie Brice's point. The majority, if not all, of the people replying to the original article in a negative way (mostly dismissively) are of the big old white, male, 18 to 35 year old majority. They, including me, are just inherently always a part of the conversation. We are always the primary point of view in a game, it is almost impossible to feel isolated or excluded in this medium. Kellaway is not of that group, and is further removed from it because of her inexperience with it. Most gamers don't think about this. Most don't realise just how gendered and politicised games are, right down to mechanics. So when someone doesn't get it, they jump to attack that someone and defend their medium from a point of privilege. A privilege that most of the world's population can not identify with.
If gamers are the only people who can decipher games, then there’s something on the game developers’ shoulders to address that. - Mattie Brice
This is how I feel. This issue is confusing and contradictory, and I'm not sure entirely where I fall. However, I am sure that we should not be ignoring these voices. Developers need to take heed of them and try to bring them into the medium. Expand it and it only ever becomes a richer, more diverse place because of it.
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