IMPress Polly
09-13-2014, 11:03 AM
CAP has shared with us his concerns about official censorship limiting the creativity of game developers. I have a different assessment of who the real culprit is: none other than gamers themselves. Allow me to explain:
Seven months ago, a PBS Game/Show episode asked viewers whether video game fanboys and fangirls were stifling the creativity of game makers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ9YozVtUag
Did you catch all that? That's right, a fan actually tried to sue the makers of Mass Effect 3 just because they didn't like the game's ending! Game makers are actually starting to quit the business because they're tired of dealing with angry fans who can't stand the employment of original thinking on the part of developers. That marks a pretty absurd situation, doesn't it? But that was as of seven months ago. Since then, things have gone from absurd to insane. In the last month, for example, fans have repeatedly hacked and completely shut down the PlayStation Network ostensibly to highlight its security flaws, and one went as far with it as to force a Sony executive's flight to divert by floating a false bomb threat rumor (http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/sony-network-hacked-execs-flight-diverted-n188731). Oh it gets better though! Later that same month (late last month, that is), after feminist culture critic Anita Sarkeesian (whom you may remember because I've promoted some of her YouTube videos here before) posted this video concluding her two-part mini-series on the sexual objectification of women in video games...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_RPr9DwMA
...an angry video gamer responded by informing her that he had traced her home address and the names of her parents and intended to kill all of them, thus forcing her to flee her home (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/29/gaming-vlogger-anita-sarkeesian-is-forced-from-home-after-receiving-harrowing-death-threats/). You read that correctly. In response to these and other likewise "interesting" developments of the last month in relation to the actions of the gaming community proper, a new, amusing episode of PBS Game/Show was produced basically politely advising game fans not to try resorting to murder and terrorism to get their way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO8Cck3vm_o&list=UUr_2H8pPitVJ85bmpLwFUyQ
Kind of pathetic that you now have to say that, isn't it? He is visibly embarrassed by having to say so and he even says that he's kind of embarrassed to be associated with such a narrow-minded, vitriolic community at this point. So am I, and I've counted myself a gamer for more than two decades now. I've never seen anything quite like this before in my life!
The dominant theory being floated as to why all this is suddenly happening now -- why long-time game fans are suddenly acting out so angrily and even violently -- is that we have reached the point now where there really are no "gamers" per se because now more or less everyone plays video games and accordingly developers increasingly seek to appeal to a broader audience than they traditionally have (http://kotaku.com/we-might-be-witnessing-the-death-of-an-identity-1628203079): one that includes girls and women and other non-traditional gamers. But this means that the "core" group of traditional gamers, that demographic, decreasingly gets special treatment (games customized exclusively to their tastes) and resents that loss. For them, it is the loss of an identity. They remember the days when gamers were in the minority and want gaming to remaining an exclusive club like it was back then. In other words, what we're witnessing on the part of these long-time, traditional game fans is a reactionary movement against inclusiveness and new ideas. THAT is the real, meaningful threat to creativity and innovation in the world of video game development in my opinion. What do you think?
Seven months ago, a PBS Game/Show episode asked viewers whether video game fanboys and fangirls were stifling the creativity of game makers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ9YozVtUag
Did you catch all that? That's right, a fan actually tried to sue the makers of Mass Effect 3 just because they didn't like the game's ending! Game makers are actually starting to quit the business because they're tired of dealing with angry fans who can't stand the employment of original thinking on the part of developers. That marks a pretty absurd situation, doesn't it? But that was as of seven months ago. Since then, things have gone from absurd to insane. In the last month, for example, fans have repeatedly hacked and completely shut down the PlayStation Network ostensibly to highlight its security flaws, and one went as far with it as to force a Sony executive's flight to divert by floating a false bomb threat rumor (http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/sony-network-hacked-execs-flight-diverted-n188731). Oh it gets better though! Later that same month (late last month, that is), after feminist culture critic Anita Sarkeesian (whom you may remember because I've promoted some of her YouTube videos here before) posted this video concluding her two-part mini-series on the sexual objectification of women in video games...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_RPr9DwMA
...an angry video gamer responded by informing her that he had traced her home address and the names of her parents and intended to kill all of them, thus forcing her to flee her home (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/29/gaming-vlogger-anita-sarkeesian-is-forced-from-home-after-receiving-harrowing-death-threats/). You read that correctly. In response to these and other likewise "interesting" developments of the last month in relation to the actions of the gaming community proper, a new, amusing episode of PBS Game/Show was produced basically politely advising game fans not to try resorting to murder and terrorism to get their way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO8Cck3vm_o&list=UUr_2H8pPitVJ85bmpLwFUyQ
Kind of pathetic that you now have to say that, isn't it? He is visibly embarrassed by having to say so and he even says that he's kind of embarrassed to be associated with such a narrow-minded, vitriolic community at this point. So am I, and I've counted myself a gamer for more than two decades now. I've never seen anything quite like this before in my life!
The dominant theory being floated as to why all this is suddenly happening now -- why long-time game fans are suddenly acting out so angrily and even violently -- is that we have reached the point now where there really are no "gamers" per se because now more or less everyone plays video games and accordingly developers increasingly seek to appeal to a broader audience than they traditionally have (http://kotaku.com/we-might-be-witnessing-the-death-of-an-identity-1628203079): one that includes girls and women and other non-traditional gamers. But this means that the "core" group of traditional gamers, that demographic, decreasingly gets special treatment (games customized exclusively to their tastes) and resents that loss. For them, it is the loss of an identity. They remember the days when gamers were in the minority and want gaming to remaining an exclusive club like it was back then. In other words, what we're witnessing on the part of these long-time, traditional game fans is a reactionary movement against inclusiveness and new ideas. THAT is the real, meaningful threat to creativity and innovation in the world of video game development in my opinion. What do you think?