Mushroom_Man's Big Picture - All I'm Saying, is Give Games a Chance

Hello, and welcome to episode 1 of Mushroom_Man's Big Picture.

In order to get myself back into writing, I'll be posting bi-weekly in two segments - Thursdays are for Mushroom_Man's Big Picture, in which I'll discuss issues that affect me in a more global sense, and on Mondays there will be Close to Home, in which I'll discuss issues that affect me on a more personal level.

So! Here is the Big Picture for October 15th, 2009

All I'm Saying, is Give Games a Chance

As I travel on the train from Ringwood to Melbourne, I pass through Richmond Station. As we leave the platform, Melbourne’s new ‘Rectangular Sports Stadium’ (or whatever equally-generic name it has been given) comes in to view. It looks to be quite an impressive ground, and as a fan of the A-League – more specifically, the Melbourne Victory – I look forward to watching games there. But, with the release of FIFA 10 earlier this month, my thoughts have changed from ‘I want to go to there’ to ‘I hope that EA include it in FIFA 11’. This struck me as a little odd. My hopes to actually visit the place have been replaced with a desire to make my new ‘virtual pro’ play for the mighty Victory in this new stadium. ^†

This made me think a little more about how games, and gaming in general, fit into my life. I have an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo 64. Those are the main two consoles I’ve had in my life, so I can’t really claim to; a) have been around in the early days (something to do with being too young) or b) be a hardcore console nut that has owned everything from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo Virtual Boy. Yet I still consider myself to be a gamer. When I first got my Gamertag, I chose an area to belong to – the ’recreational’ users (other options include ‘underground’ and ‘professional’ – a little too serious for me). So I guess that’s what I am – more than a casual gamer (as ‘casual’ in this industry implies someone who owns a Wii^††) but not crazy enough to be a hardcore gamer (someone who’d quit their job if the boss didn’t give them time off to wait in line for Halo 4 (Not that Halo players have jobs, but I digress)). ^†††

But my love for the culture goes a little further than being a recreational user. I read a lot of articles related to games, gamers, game developers, and pretty much anything in the related fields. It’s not like it’s hard to find (check out The Escapist, Edge Online, Joystiq... hell, even Wikipedia). Also, one of my favourite websites is loadingreadyrun.com, and, while their videos are not often focused entirely on gaming, they do seem to be like-minded individuals.

In short, a lot of my life centres on gaming. While I enjoy reading, playing music and going outside when it’s not cold, my true pastime paradise is turning on the Xbox. Unfortunately, there is still a problem with this in the eyes of many.

While I enjoy roaming the 15-or-so kilometres squared apocalyptic wastelands of Fallout, my family (and girlfriend… I tried to keep her sane, I really did) is somewhat devoted to their 24x24 square farms (I fully expect to be corrected on this figure within minutes of this being posted) I believe, in this instance, my family would fall into the ‘casual’ category. The point that confuses me about the dividing of different groups like this is the social stigma that seems to come with admitting you’re a part of one. To a hardcore gamer, a casual gamer is like a leper to a rich man 2000 years ago. Yet it is often the case that it is the complete reverse when seen from a game-free bystander’s point of view, and almost for the same inane reasons.

I’ll put it in its most basic, stereotypical way. To the hardcore community, casual gamers are the scourge of the Earth, poisoning their domain with Wii Sports and Farmville. But to the outsider, the hardcore gamers are polluting society with their murderous bloodbath games that promote violence and intolerance. The irony almost hurts its so painfully obvious. However, this relationship is yet to change. Since the beginning, games have been blamed for the downfall of society, corrupting our children, inspiring murderers and eroding family values. (Perhaps games are the devil’s work – at the end of that paragraph I had exactly 666 characters…)

To prove that this is pretty silly, numerous studies have been undertaken, and they are yet to show a link between gaming and violent impulses. This does not stop the crusaders such as South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson^†††† however. They are still adamant that games will destroy the planet and will turn you into a violent, emotionless monster intent on killing everything.

When a Buddhist leader plays violent video games as “emotional therapy”^[1] it doesn’t suggest that violence in games is a completely terrible thing.

This is a huge topic, and a lot has already been said, but it’s worth thinking about. In a society that tries to promote tolerance between all races, religions and creeds, why is it that some people still see games, and gamers, as evil? I acknowledge that this point of view is not shared by all non-gamers, but to those that do feel this way, why?

And so, while I continue to hope that a renamed Melbourne Rectangular Stadium is included in FIFA 11, my family (and girlfriend… sigh…) harvest their grapes and make their pigs find truffles (I mean, come on, truffles? Why not bacon?) and my sister reconnects to her childhood by playing Pokémon Blue, Crystal and Silver (at the same time), I realise that a lot of us have been influenced, inspired or simply entertained by playing computer games. And that’s not such a bad thing.

The fine print

^† ‘Virtual Pro’ is a new addition to FIFA 10, for those of you that are less FIFA-inclined

^††Nothing personal, friends that are Wii-owners

^†††See above, replace ‘Wii-owners’ with ‘Halo players’. These are both jokes.

^††††More on this wonderful fellow next week…

^[1] http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/buddhist-spiritual-leader-plays-videogames-as-emotional-therapy/

Thank you for reading, feel free to throw comments, ask questions, or tell me I'm wrong in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

Signing off for today,

Mushroom_Man