Wussification of the Modern Gamer: Whose Fault is it?
Alright, I know its been a long time since I posted, but I’m back with a vengeance to talk about a subject near and dear to my heart. I’ve already posted this on the IGDA Women Developers mailing list, but I really want to share it.
A lot of you have probably read this article over at gamesradar in which David Houghton speaks about the wussification of the modern gamer. He brings up a point thats been nagging at me for a long time now.
Games ARE getting wimpier and easier. They have been for years. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been truly challenged by a game (unless it was insure-your-tv-cuz-your-controller-is-going-through-it difficult like Ninja Gaiden or Prince of Persia: Warrior Within) since Final Fantasy 7. And you know what? I can’t keep this to myself anymore, so I apologize to everyone whose in the field (which I suppose includes myself at the moment), but it has to be said: I lay the blame squarely on the casual sector.
Now, that being said *dodges the pitchforks and torches*, I’m not referring to the developers. Rather, its the CEO and Business types who have realized there’s this huge previously untapped market thats already had a hit of its sort of gateway-drug casual games, and is now looking to entice them into the harder stuff. But, just as only the most hardened among us drink our whisky and gin straight, so must the Suits in Management mix the vodka of videogames with the syrupy sickness that is red bull in order to make it palatable to the idiot sorority girl (my apologies to anyone who was actually in a sorority, I’m just trying to paint a picture here. No apologies to those drinking Vodka + Red Bull: Thats alcohol abuse. Even when its Schmirnoff). The inevitable result of course is what we have today: Nintendo abandoning its core in favor of the quick-penny market; otherwise brilliant games like Bio-shock where your only difficulty options are “Michael Phelps at the Special Olympics” or “Dear God, Why?!”; and of course, Halo.
Halo is perhaps in some ways the worst offender of them all, mostly due to its over-hyped popularity. Is Halo good? Yeah. Is Halo THAT good? No, not really. The appeal of Halo is to the lowest common denominator; a game so easy it leveled the playing field for everyone (ironically, I find the game impossibly difficult, due mostly to the fact that I am apparently genetically incapable of operating an X-Box controller. Seriously.). Maybe it’s just my inherant dislike of frat boys, original xbox owners, or anyone under the age of 21 (and in the Venn diagram of life, those three circles form one giant eliptid) thats talking, but I believe it to be single-handedly responsible for the over-all lowering of the collective gamer intelligence levels.
I worry for the future of gaming, a a fluttering queasiness that began in 1998, when I turned to a friend and said “hey, have you noticed games kinda suck lately?” You see, we may have already waited too long: the children who grow up today with infinite health and ammo and never had to suffer through level 4 of Zelda aren’t going to want to go back to the days of no save point before Jenova. They won’t possess the skills for it. And really in some ways, this is a reflection of the current problem with society as a whole. As our technology advances, our medicines are perfected, our lives become easier, we are ourselves de-volving, losing our edge, becoming less equipped to deal with things since we’ve made everything softer and rounder and easier and more comfortable.
I am not posting this rant as a social commentary, nor to take pot shots at Halo (which I do recognize as a fabulous game), people who drink red bull, or 12-year olds (well, maybe the 12-year olds). I am posting it because this is a serious issue that has been gnawing at me for years, which we as an industry must address. At what point does helping the player to overcome become Houghton’s meddling grandmother? Where is the line between the Sands of Time and those cosmic cheat codes, Dragonballs? Are we more concerned with making games enjoyable to the core, or accessible to all? Are we presenting the player with a challenge to overcome, or a pre-set experience to run through? I know my own personal answers, but I’m an elitist misanthrope with anger issues. What’s everyone else’s excuse?
Players should fear us, look upon us as gods who will unleash our digital wrath upon them, not the 21st century equivalent of a Kindergarden teachers aid.
Tags: easy games, games, gamesradar, opinion, pixelchick
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September 17, 2008 at 5:12 pm
In the Republic of Gamers, mercy rules are only for the weak, and bragging rights means everything. Anger Management
September 17, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Toldja I’d comment:
I agree. Wholeheartedly. Up until a certain and crucial point.
Yeah, they’ve been dumbing down games for a while. Mass consumption demands such; there will always be the gamers who seek and DEMAND a challenging experience, something they really have to work at, something they wish to overcome. Then, there’s the other type of gamer – the type of dude or gal who’s looking to have a good time, mashing some buttons, making shit move on a screen, and accomplishing some goal after a set period of time.
Guess who’s in the majority!
Honestly, though, I think gaming is experiencing the same cultural trend that sweeps through most other sub/counter-cultures: that of marketing forces finding a way to whitewash, castrate and wussify the elements of said sub-culture to make fit for the masses.
It’s Rudy Giuliani using “Rudy Can’t Fail” as his political theme song.
It’s yuppies and the rich eating overpriced yogurt and granola.
It’s “YMCA” being played in the Heartland of Conservative America at football games.
It’s tattoos being a brand new trend by the popular, by the “cool,” by the mainstream, when, at one time, it was a mark of true individualism; a mark that meant you weren’t ever going to conform.
It’s Halo. On easy.
I’m not an elitist misanthrope (I hope), and I have no issues with my anger (it’s everyone ELSE’S problem, not mine!). However, yes: easy, pretty video games that are hardly games are nannyism in action.
But, is this a BAD thing?
Only if there aren’t the challenging games for the hardcore base. Otherwise…
Sometimes, it’s not too bad to share in the sub-culture. Sometimes, it helps lead to understanding, less social-ostracism on both sides of the fence. And, isn’t it all about fun at the end of the day?
Fun. That’s all the masses are looking for.
Let them have their games and their watered down music and their pop-stars. Those of us in the know won’t be worshipped as gods, no.
But, man, at least we can smirk. Condescendingly, even.
And, that should satisfy the elitist misanthrope in us ALL.
- Theik
September 18, 2008 at 9:37 am
I agree, very strongly, with Jenna. The industrialization of video games has taken gaming away from gamers.
With marketing execs and CFOs calling the shots about who gets the funding needed to make a polished game, those dwindling groups who have tried to dedicate themselves to quality, in ALL aspects of their game, are finding it impossible to get the revenue they need to make their games. This isn’t the music or movie industry. You can’t make a perfect indie game in your garage. There are countless AMAZING indie games, yes . . . but they all suffer from the same lack of financial superiority that mainstream games have.
And there is something SERIOUSLY wrong with the mainstream. I used to wear a condescending smirk on my face, until I realized that no matter how much I didn’t like them or their values, and thus tried to avoid them: the mainstream negatively impacts my life in practically every way. Gaming is at the core of my being. I was raised on games and have developed an affinity for development. More so, I’ve become deeply and professionally interested with the impact games have on the grand social scale. Watching trends being set by games is profoundly intriguing . . . but more often I find myself watching games being set by trends.
In my opinion, the problem isn’t the wussification of games. That’s the symptom of the far greater issue: the industrialisation of a form of art. Games right now are like those bland, mind numbing pieces of “art” mass produced and sold to law firms, dentists, and people with no taste. Video games are definitely selling more than ever before, and more people than ever are playing games. Though the industry is alive and well, we’re witnessing a recession. Or perhaps, more accurately, a regression. We’re moving backwards as a gaming community.
I recently read a response to Jenna’s beautiful rant on the WomenDev’s list . . . and a fsckin’ marketing suit replying actually had the audacity to insinuate that all this added revenue was opening doors for indie game developers. . . . ya, doesn’t really work that way in practice. Two unknown developers come up to a producer with pitches, the first says “I have this great, innovative concept: something gamers haven’t seen before, but our internal marketing studies show that those polled were deeply interested in seeing the project come to completion. We just need a little more support before we can release it for revenue” and the second says “Ya, we’re making a Halo clone, so we know that every dumb fratboy is going to buy the shit out of it, if you hype it”. The producer chooses the latter.
Though it’s true the producer MAY have choosen the first game if the two developers were both establish and their last games released were well-received publicly. The thing is there, you’re perpetuating a developer whose last game was probably a Halo-knock off. And since this new game isn’t going to sell to those fratboys, they will suddenly be unpopular with the producers again. Say “hell-o” to the vicious cycle of development quality.
The industry is set up so you have to sell your soul to get in, then pray to whatever deity or greater force that you can get your soul back somehow. And then, once you finally do, you have to go and sell your soul all over again to try and raise the revenue for the next attempt.
My proposed solutions? Well, this one is the pipe-dream of the lot, but you know, maybe, just maybe, the money-men could dedicate resources to some truly talented and creative developers and NOT crack the whip on them to the point of forcing them to release a game months or even years before it’s ready to be viewed by public. Could you imagine DaVinci working on the Mona Lisa, and then somebody with money comes in to his studio and says “You’ve had enough time. Throw a little more paint on that canvas and have it out the door by noon.” Mikey would probably tell the guy to sod-off with some harsh Italian curses. Can’t do that in the game industry. If the bigwig says “ship tomorrow”, you won’t have any other means of production. They’ll have your power cut off, and it’s a little hard to develop a video game when you don’t have electricity.
Which leads me to my second solution: establish some micro-foundation groups. They have these in the music and film industries. Musical and film artists pool their money and create “labels” or “production studios” that welcome indies in. And since they’re operated by esteemed and well-off artists, revenue isn’t a big concern: the indie artists can remain indie enough, and don’t have to sell out to release their stuff. Granted, this solution has some issues of its own. Namely, the number of wealthy, independent game development artists around is . . . well . . . you could count them all on one hand. Half of them have no interest outside developing their own games still (unretired), and none of them really even could anyway. Why’s this? The amount of money to produce and ship a music CD, or even a feature length film, is NOTHING compared to the money needed to ship a video game and offer the post-release support that doesn’t really exist with other forms of media (though I will confess, I’ve seen a terrifying increase in the number of DVD movies that require you to download content for special features . . . ).
So, this leaves me with the final, ultimate solution. Ironically, it’s also one of those whole “easiest/hardest” things. Have the gamers themselves put money into developing games. We see a variant of this already in the form of “presales”, but more often than not, that money’s going to the producer to cover their potential losses if the game doesn’t meet market expectations. It would be insanely easy for gamers to say: “I like how this game looks in concept, I will put some money down to help them develop so everybody can enjoy this awesome piece of art!” It’s hard to implement since gamers have become jaded and afraid of the industry. They no longer have hope. They hear a new game is in development, and they contemplate ignoring it and all its annoying outlandish hype in favour of dusting off their old SNES emulator and taking another shot at that Metroid 3 speed run. They doubt that anyone can make good games anymore, since most of them haven’t seen a good game since before 2000. They’re expecting something on a grand, epic scale, that is not repetitive or mundane. Something that has them gripped. A game they can feel they’re being rewarded for playing, instead of feeling like a chore.
Grind equates for more hours played, sure, and everybody seems to focus on the “THIS MANY hours of play included” nonsense (which is never accurate, so why bother?). But why?! Why can’t a game just be a game anymore? Answer: marketing. The agencies which hype and advertise games need those little bits of gibberish to make semi-gamers and non-gamers buy their /product/ (I hope you can sense the venom on my “voice” when I type “product”. No form of art should ever be degraded in to being a product, but that’s what the game /industry/ is all about). The vicious cycle rears its ugly head once again, stomping on the dreams of those few true-blue gamers and those even fewer artistic game developers. Gamers are not very likely to offer financial support to a game in development if they are afraid it’s just more smoke being blown up their ass. Thus the amount of money and demand for great games decreases in the eyes of the marketing folk, and they let the CFO know that all the money is in “casual gaming”.
And, sadly, this final solution also has another little snag. The cost of making a game is so astronomical that only marketing people, bigwigs, and accounts can call it “manageable”. Good luck getting $70 off a gamer, let alone the hundreds or thousands you’d need from EACH of the people anticipating your game before it’s even in physical development stage.
So, for now we’re stuck using those crafty little open resources and somewhat helpful means of distribution. Open-source development kits, Steam or other online communities that can distribute our art, and organizations like IGDA. They help, but these resources are not enough to produce a truly mind-blowing piece of gaming art. Ya ya, talent is required. I’ll not dispute that at ALL. But there are a lot of mainstream games out there that are sold without talent behind them. Why? Partially the hype and advertising, but also the resources. If you have an artist who isn’t quite top-notch working on your game, you can always pay to outsource the work or even just buy the licence to someone else’s finished IP and throw it in your game. Well, you can always do that unless you haven’t enough money.
Ok, I think I’m through my rant. I realize I wasn’t very careful about stepping on toes. If I ever seek to publish the above opinions, I’ll try to polish them off so it’s a little more (main)streamlined.
Best of luck bringing gaming back to gamers, Jenna! You have my support!
September 18, 2008 at 11:30 am
[...] PixelChick wrote a fantastic post today on “Games are Too Easy: Whose Fault is it?”Here’s ONLY a quick extractBut, just as only the most hardened among us drink our whisky and gin straight, so must the Suits in Management mix the vodka of videogames with the syrupy sickness that is red bull in order to make it palatable to the idiot sorority … [...]
September 18, 2008 at 1:52 pm
[...] The Sandwich Press Because everything is better on a sandwich « Wussification of the Modern Gamer: Whose Fault is it? [...]