Let me tell you a little known fact; video game sales make more cash per year than the film industry. Think about that for a moment. The thousands of films that get made, the powerhouse corporate studios, even those beautiful stars and talented directors - all put together they still can't conjure up the same kinda profit that games rake in. This tells you a little something about the popularity of gaming here in the new millennium.
So why is it then, that gaming has such a hard time being recognised, and more importantly accepted, as a mainstream form of entertainment? Why does the rest of the world see games players as nothing more than spotty adolescent loners with no life? Why, as gamers, are we are so regularly mocked?
You see this bothers me hugely. I'm rather passionate about video games, as I hope this site starts to demonstrate, and find myself completely and utterly bewildered at the fact that gaming remains this underground, underappreciated, red headed bastard step child of the entertainment industry. Gaming is almost a dirty word. An embarrassment. Something to only speak about in hushed tones and dark alleys...like sex or jerking off. Something we can all do in the comfort of our own homes, but never
dare talk about in public. I tell ya, at times gaming feels all but a lubed carrot away from anal masturbation.
So why exactly do video games live in such hostile distain? Let's run through the common misconceptions and try to make some sense of it all.
Video Games Are For Kids
The major accusation that haunts us day in day out. Completely and utterly wrong however. In fact, statistically the average games player is in his late 20s to early 30s. Games are no more popular with kids than movies are.
Video Games Are For Lonely Unemployed Saddoes Living in Their Parents' Basement
Really? That's funny, 'cos in all the various gaming groups and clans I've been in, so often are my fellow players called away to feed their kids, take their wives out for dinner, or heck, even go to work.
Plus, I don't know about you, but I don't know too many 30 year olds still living at home. Next.
Video Games Are For Horny Males
 | | The downside to being a female gamer: gun-wielding Wookie stalkers |
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Wrong again. While gaming has always pandered to and subsequently been more popular with men, the latest generation of games have significantly turned the tide. The Sims is the greatest example of a game that's opened the doors to female gamers, certainly more popular with them than any men I know. And then there's online RPGs, similarly popular with girls as much as boys. Go chill out with the hotty twileks in a Star Wars Galaxies cantina for proof.
Recently I was entertaining my brother's girlfriend while we waited for him to return from work, and I suggested we play a little Xbox to pass the time. The strangest thing happened. Not only was she immediately addicted, but to none of the games you'd expect either. Woman-starved misogynist that I am, presumed a girl would prefer the light hearted (and more boring) games such as Top Spin tennis, yet she was way more interested in blowing away bad guys and slicing up orcs. Trust me when I tell you, girls are very much into games.
Video Games Are For Social Degenerates
 | | Multiplayer Halo - the most fun you can have with your mates, outside a circle jerk |
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So wrong it's not even funny. Compare playing games to seeing a film, where you sit in complete silence in a darkened cinema for two hours - where's the socialising there? Now come watch a 4-player Halo marathon in action and tell me that's not social. The laughter and cheering can be heard for miles down the fucking street. You know, consoles don't come with 4 gamepad ports for nothing.
And then there's online gaming, built 100% out of community and interaction. Where friendships and alliances form not only out of the ability to play a game, but from respect and chemistry between players too. For those few hours you're online in that fabricated 3D world, you're trusting your life to your squad, just as much as they are to you, and over time those team mates become just that...
mates.
But hey, that's no where near as sociable as reading a book, right?
You'll Never Get Anywhere in Life Playing Games
I don't think the numerous world wide video game champions would agree with that, those who actually make a
living off gaming competitions, winning prize money, and lucrative sponsorship deals. Wake up world, video gaming is all but one step away from being an official competitive sport.
That's not even to mention the video game production industry - the same one that turned Counter-Strike creator Gooseman from mere bedroom coder into the creator of the most popular online game of all time. Or the industry that saw ID Software go from tiny independent games company to driving Ferraris in to work based on the overnight success of one title, Doom. And that was way back in 1993!
And yet colleges fail to keep up, with the subsequent lack of options and choices for wannabe games developers so severe that companies side step degrees completely and now come directly to the
players in search of the future coding geniuses of tomorrow. Just check out the Unreal Tournament "Make Something Unreal" competition and its $1,000,000 worth of prizes.
So I think it goes without saying, you can indeed get
somewhere playing video games.
A Video Game Will Never Match Up to a Good Movie
Tell me then, why do so many claim the epic Star Wars role playing game Knights of the Old Republic to be "the best Star Wars movie never made"? I mean films don't get much bigger than Star Wars people, yet even the most jaded of critics claim that here's a video game that truly eclipses the recent prequel films in comparison. Doesn't that tell you something?
As I said back in my Doom III review, with each big new release games move more and more into the realm of interactive films. The prize difference (and something we can be proud of) is the ability to actually be the
star of those films though, a trait that games will forever hold over movies.
Okay, so thus far no game has ever matched the storytelling genius of say, Memento, the artistic richness of Amelie, or made us shed a tear like we did watching Band of Brothers, but there's really nothing holding games back from achieving this same sense of emotional attachment never the less. In fact, some might argue that line has already been crossed on occasion; pivotal moments from the Final Fantasy saga, the epic culmination in Call of Duty's Russian campaign, or the almighty plot twist in the previously mentioned Knights of the Old Republic to name but a few.
 | | Christopher Lee in comedy glasses, recording voices for EverQuest II |
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Traditionally, video games have always been slated for their near worthless voice acting, but I'd argue huge advances made in recent years along those lines, and in no way is this a mere coincidence when you consider some of the immense Hollywood talent that's moved into video game work recently. Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, Giovanni Ribisi, Heather Graham, Mark Hamil, Sean Astin, Jason Statham, Michael Madsen, Vin Diesel and Sir Ian McKellen are just some off the top of my head.
It doesn't stop there. Professional orchestral music scores are now pretty much the norm, and full length scripts are just as integral to a game as they are a film (most ten times the length of the average Hollywood blockbuster in fact). I point all this out merely to emphasise how much all the hallmarks of what we consider a "decent" film are very much alive and kicking in games too.
Out of Arguments
So why? Why do games still not get their much deserved kudos? Where's the love from the outside world? Are games really something to be embarrassed by, or is this mere technophobia from the powers that be?
There's no better example of all this than gaming's media coverage. Or rather, the complete and utter lack of it. We get our specialist magazines, sure, but that's about it. Gaming television shows are near non-existent, radio shows no where to be heard, documentaries don't exist, and national newspapers often seem embarrassed and ashamed to feature any kind of gaming coverage whatsoever, shoehorning any rare articles into as minute a fraction of a page as they possibly can, in the vague hope people won't notice.
No other form of entertainment has this same lack of coverage, or is held in such high contempt. Not one. And certainly none with this kind of profitability and sheer potential.
 | | Consolevania - the voice of the internet gamer |
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In one of the internet's more charming moments, it has taken matters into its own hands and attempted to remedy this drought of coverage. Popular online gaming sites such as
Gamespot and
IGN now provide extended video footage, exclusive reviews and interactive content to readers willing to part with a small fee. But it's the more independent projects that you really have to admire.
The previously covered online TV show
Consolevania being a standout example, and the RealAudio based
Video Game Radio being another - a show that's seen me through many laborious hours at work let me tell you. While not the most professional of shows, they do have their sheer enthusiasm going for them, created not out of the need for cash or fame, but merely to shine some light on something they feel passionate about. Something the rest of the world refuses to embrace for idiotic and downright non-sensical reasons.
While this gives us hope and a glimpse at a brighter future, one still can't wonder why the fuck we have to resort to such measures just to have something to watch on our favourite subject. Why do we have to rely on ourselves to this degree?
Games are just one of a hundred ways to tell a decent emotional story when all's said and done - whether those emotions be humour, sadness, horror or just sheer thrill. Isn't that the ultimate aim of
any form of entertainment? It's time the world woke up to video games and gave 'em the respect they deserve.
