The impact of immaturity

Gaming has boomed recently: its popularity, company profits and presence in popular culture are at a level unimaginable twenty years ago. No one bats an eyelid if you say you play videogames, and the stereotype of a game player being a ‘nerd’ (and all that comes with it) is thankfully being broken down. Games have become a form of entertainment just like television or literature. Unlike other media, though, gaming culture — that is, its players, developers and critics — has a lot of growing up to do. Whereas once videogames were toys for children, the vast majority of popular games now are made for, marketed to and played by adults, though a glance at any games discussion forum online would have you thinking quite the opposite.

Screaming profanities at one’s killers and gloating over one’s enemies is par for the course in online games. They wouldn’t be the same without it, but what’s disappointing is the extreme ease with which casually racist, sexist and homophobic slurs are used. While these are indicative more of lack of thought than anything else, when a real female voice is heard in a game things take a turn for the worse. A woman playing an online game can expect to be propositioned for sex, threatened with rape, insulted on her skill or intelligence or demanded to reveal herself, just for daring to appear in the game room. God forbid she actually be good at what she’s playing — then, the conclusion will be quickly reached that she’s either fat, ugly or slutty.

What’s disappointing is the extreme ease with which casually racist, sexist and homophobic slurs are used

Misogyny is inherent in games more than any other entertainment media. Browse the shelves of a game shop and see how many covers feature a woman who’s essentially just ridiculously proportioned curves in a few square centimetres of clothing. Any that don’t, flip them over and see how many have a support character who plays the same role. Gaming is a medium where one doesn’t just hire an attractive actress, but designs a character from the ground up to be a walking sex object, with physics to control the jiggle of each individual breast (yes, really!). This is offensive not only to women, but to the men who play games, suggesting that a real, developed female character is something we’re not interested in. That’s not to say there are none of these in mainstream games – Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2 is a scientist dressed in normal clothes; Samus Aran from the Metroid game series is sexy without being sexist and wears armour that looks like it could deflect more than a raindrop. This seems to be largely overlooked by the community, though, and the fact that these characters appear in countless “video game babes” lists (this publication included) is cause for some concern.

I’ve mentioned ‘mainstream’ gaming as, like films, there are big blockbuster games as well as smaller, artier ‘indie’ games. Unlike films, no game so far seems to have bridged the gap, and been a piece of artistic impression while also appealing to a wide audience. Unlike any other media, games are unique in that they can use the player’s actions as part of the storytelling; the game mechanics themselves can be part of the plot and symbolism. My favourite example of this is Bioshock, which subverts its own gameplay to deliver a twist I can honestly say is better than any film I’ve seen (and yes, I’ve seen The Usual Suspects). Yet still, Bioshock is a game largely about shooting people or hitting them with a wrench. Its atmosphere is beautiful; its twist magnificently dealt, but its plot is little more than ‘objectivism is bad.’ While games that can be called works of art exist, there are not any which have a plot comparable to a good book or film. Is this because of a lack of good writers working for major game developers, fans who cannot enjoy a deep plot, or just that developers are afraid to release something that doesn’t appeal to the lowest common denominator? I hope it’s merely the latter. I’m sure gaming can do better, but with the utter lack of sensible storyline or believable characters in any current blockbuster games, it’s going to take a long time. Gaming needs its Dark Knight.

Finally, the gaming community is self-entitled to an extreme. When a television series goes in the wrong direction, critics will complain and people will begrudgingly stop watching the show. Usually, the series’ earlier, good episodes are still fondly remembered. When a game series changes, or an individual game fails to deliver on promises, the internet becomes filled with fans’ rage. For example, the recent announcement that Mass Effect 3 will allow gay relationships (male, of course — otherwise there’d be no complaint) has resulted in several angry outbursts, the most ridiculous being that the idea is non-canon — in a roleplaying game, where you choose exactly whom you want your character to be. One of my favourite games, Team Fortress 2, was made completely free-to-play last June, nearly four years after its initial release. Owners who bought the game soon after its original release date received an in-game badge to show their ‘veteran’ status, which provoked outrage. “I paid for this game,” people complained, “and all I get for it is a badge?” seemingly oblivious to the four years they’d spent playing it.

One could point out that such childish behaviour can be seen in any pub or football stadium, and they’d be right. But gamers are seeking newcomers to the hobby, and for it to be recognised as a legitimate entertainment and art form. I mentioned the old stereotype of a gamer is breaking down, but a new one is taking its place – that of self-absorbed lazy lads, doing nothing better than sitting around, drinking beer and playing on the Xbox. If the gaming community— vocal, obnoxious and ever-present on the internet — wants to shake this image before it’s too late, they’ve got a lot of growing up to do.