Posted January 19, 2015
low rated
The most blatant example of a game trying to stuff a message down the gamers throat is AMERICA'S ARMY - the game which the American government paid 33 millon dollars for and released for free, and which clearly stated purpose was to to convince the kids playing it that joining the army was a grand idea.
Some people argues that violent games leads to real life violence. With America's Army, the crusaders against video game violence are presented with a game which fits their agenda like a glove: it is produced solely with the intention of making the players replicate its violence in real life, and it is not just some small indie game, but a million dollar government investment. But since attacking America's Army would go against the crusaders right-wing beliefs, this game is spared from their wrath.
Some gamers don't want games with 'messages' in them. Gaming, they insist, should 'just be for fun'. This group has also refrained from criticizing America's Army, despite that is actually a rather unique example of a big-budget game being build around a millitant propaganda message.
So, why didn't they criticize this particular game and its message? I think the reason was that the games message doesn't collide with their idea of fun. Both millitary propaganda and traditional video games are build around a black and white idea of "fighting the enemy". When they say that they don't like games with messages, they actually mean that they don't like message that scrub against their world view.
Tropes VS Women pointed out some of the build-in messages in video games. Messages we don't question or even notice. Note here that the the video series only looked at messages in video games regarding the topic of women. Similar analysis could be made on how games messages on topics such as war, economy, conflict and so on. All games have messages. They are loaded with them, and they stuff them down the players throat all the time.
So why don't we feel like we are being indoctrinated and manipulated when we play those games? That is because we are experienced gamers. We have played a shooter before. They feel comfy. We are in a safe zone, where our guards are down. We don't analyse everything from scratch, but instead focus our attention on how this games stick out - is the graphic okay, are there any gameplay innovations?
All games have messages, but when a game tries to use a message that goes against the mainstream, it sticks out. It easily ends up looking forced. So while it is rather easy to make something which sticks to the usual messages, trying to go against the norm is a lot harder.
The game FTL features a random encounter where the player is introduced to the idea that the opposing forces should put their differencies aside and learn to live with each other. Nice and progressive, and I sucked it right up. But after that the game just went back to the 'fighting the rebels' thing, since this was what the game was about. FTL and most other games are based on violence. Fighting the enemy is the foundation of most gameplay mechanics. This makes the games fit more with reactionary world views than with progressive ones.
But I think the fun core can survive quite fine without stuffing reactionary messages down the players throat. Okay, now I'm going to make a spoiler regarding a certain movie.
- SPOILER BEGIN -
The japanese zombie rock'n roll cult flick WILD ZERO is an example of how progressive messages and crazy fun can co-exist. An ordinary rock'n roll fanboy meet a cute girl during a zombie appocalypse. Halfway through the movie it is revealed that said 'girl' kind of have, you know, male anatomy.
This freaks the guy out big time. And then the rock star Guitar Wolf suddenly materializes and declares: "Love have no borders, nationalities or genders! DO IT !!!"
Having a rock star materialize out of thin air is something which can't be argued against, so the guy sets out to find his dream girl again, convinced that this antomical detail isn't such a big deal after all. They get each other in the end, while Guitar Wolf slices an alien mothership in half with his samurai sword.
- SPOILER END -
While on the topic, the game NOSTRADAMUS: THE LAST PROPHETHY implement cross-dressing as a gameplay mechanic, letting the player toggle between two different identies. There is something rather crazy about being a guy who play a game where he is a woman who dresses up like a guy.
The game DEPRESSION QUEST makes the rather brave decision not to define if you play a man or a woman. Instead, the game just says that "You are a mid-twenties human being." The strange thing with this is that it actually works - I got into the role of this character, despite not knowing if the person has a penis or not.
The fighting game THE BLACK HEART features a fighter called Animus who constantly changes sex during battles,
I found this youtube video: Top 5 - Transsexual characters in games
Some people argues that violent games leads to real life violence. With America's Army, the crusaders against video game violence are presented with a game which fits their agenda like a glove: it is produced solely with the intention of making the players replicate its violence in real life, and it is not just some small indie game, but a million dollar government investment. But since attacking America's Army would go against the crusaders right-wing beliefs, this game is spared from their wrath.
Some gamers don't want games with 'messages' in them. Gaming, they insist, should 'just be for fun'. This group has also refrained from criticizing America's Army, despite that is actually a rather unique example of a big-budget game being build around a millitant propaganda message.
So, why didn't they criticize this particular game and its message? I think the reason was that the games message doesn't collide with their idea of fun. Both millitary propaganda and traditional video games are build around a black and white idea of "fighting the enemy". When they say that they don't like games with messages, they actually mean that they don't like message that scrub against their world view.
Tropes VS Women pointed out some of the build-in messages in video games. Messages we don't question or even notice. Note here that the the video series only looked at messages in video games regarding the topic of women. Similar analysis could be made on how games messages on topics such as war, economy, conflict and so on. All games have messages. They are loaded with them, and they stuff them down the players throat all the time.
So why don't we feel like we are being indoctrinated and manipulated when we play those games? That is because we are experienced gamers. We have played a shooter before. They feel comfy. We are in a safe zone, where our guards are down. We don't analyse everything from scratch, but instead focus our attention on how this games stick out - is the graphic okay, are there any gameplay innovations?
All games have messages, but when a game tries to use a message that goes against the mainstream, it sticks out. It easily ends up looking forced. So while it is rather easy to make something which sticks to the usual messages, trying to go against the norm is a lot harder.
The game FTL features a random encounter where the player is introduced to the idea that the opposing forces should put their differencies aside and learn to live with each other. Nice and progressive, and I sucked it right up. But after that the game just went back to the 'fighting the rebels' thing, since this was what the game was about. FTL and most other games are based on violence. Fighting the enemy is the foundation of most gameplay mechanics. This makes the games fit more with reactionary world views than with progressive ones.
But I think the fun core can survive quite fine without stuffing reactionary messages down the players throat. Okay, now I'm going to make a spoiler regarding a certain movie.
- SPOILER BEGIN -
The japanese zombie rock'n roll cult flick WILD ZERO is an example of how progressive messages and crazy fun can co-exist. An ordinary rock'n roll fanboy meet a cute girl during a zombie appocalypse. Halfway through the movie it is revealed that said 'girl' kind of have, you know, male anatomy.
This freaks the guy out big time. And then the rock star Guitar Wolf suddenly materializes and declares: "Love have no borders, nationalities or genders! DO IT !!!"
Having a rock star materialize out of thin air is something which can't be argued against, so the guy sets out to find his dream girl again, convinced that this antomical detail isn't such a big deal after all. They get each other in the end, while Guitar Wolf slices an alien mothership in half with his samurai sword.
- SPOILER END -
While on the topic, the game NOSTRADAMUS: THE LAST PROPHETHY implement cross-dressing as a gameplay mechanic, letting the player toggle between two different identies. There is something rather crazy about being a guy who play a game where he is a woman who dresses up like a guy.
The game DEPRESSION QUEST makes the rather brave decision not to define if you play a man or a woman. Instead, the game just says that "You are a mid-twenties human being." The strange thing with this is that it actually works - I got into the role of this character, despite not knowing if the person has a penis or not.
The fighting game THE BLACK HEART features a fighter called Animus who constantly changes sex during battles,
I found this youtube video: Top 5 - Transsexual characters in games
