Monday 5 October 2009

Representations and Expectations

It seems that these days, whenever you say you're a Gamer, unless you're speaking to another, you've instantly killed the conversation. The expectations of a gamer who openly admits they enjoy videogames is either going to go one of two ways. The first? They're a hardcore gamer who plays so much World of Warcraft he has no social skills at all and I'm clearly the first person they've spoken to in about three years, run run run or they're a psychopath who plays Grand Theft Auto and/or Manhunt..... Run run run, and to be honest this frustrates me especially as nearly everyone I know plays videogames. Yea, it might only be Call of Duty 4 or FIFA 10 but it's the fact that they don't discuss this fact in public is what feeds this stereotype of the nerdy / violent videogamer.

I think it's about time Videogames broke free of the violent stereotypes that surround them and finally rise as an acceptable form of media that isn't frowned upon by, generally speaking, anyone over the age of forty and hell even some people over the age of about twenty. I know that what I'm saying doesn't apply to everyone, but you get the idea. They still exist to this day, regardless of all the technological and narrative improvements that have occurred since their rise into the mainstream.

Now, I can understand that the main concern is of course the violent nature of most videogames, but I think it's only a select few that let the team down, so to speak. Games like Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto are like the videogame equivalent to films such as and A Clockwork Orange and Hostel. One, is a classic that depicts a morally blank world in order to make a solid, sometimes satirical point about the society and culture at the time (GTA and A Clockwork Orange) while the other is just completely unnecessary violence for the sake of satisfying our deeply disturbed minds (Hostel and Manhunt). However, unlike the films, both of these games are viewed as the worst thing to ever happen to humanity, or at least by the media and not as individual texts.

I think what annoys me most is, the media will have a bitch and a moan about most films that come out for them being incredibly gory or what have you, but they won't then proceed to tell you to stop your kids from watching Star Wars. With videogames however, it's like one does wrong and let's not forget that Manhunt 2 is probably the worst out there and it isn't actually THAT bad, and they'll lead you to believe that even the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog is turning your little darling into a killer. Albeit, a blue spiky haired annoyance of a killer.

Anyway, my point is, I think something needs to be done that really pushes this fact that videogames are arguably the most creative, beautiful and intriguing form of media on the market today.

1 comment:

  1. Another great media related blog. You've done it again, and hit all the points once more.

    Well done.

    And you could just wait another 40 years for all the people who dislike video games to die off.

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