Teh Mature

Video games consume a lot of my life, I have decided. Though I haven’t even played a game for several days now, I still invest much time into reading about games and writing about games. As such, I frequently peruse the GameFAQ message boards to see how “gamers” are handling certain news. I am always tempted to jump into these debates, but I refrain, because they tend to get very ugly. The words “fanboy, troll, and STFU” get thrown around quite a bit, and it’s easier to remain a bystander than it is to risk getting “owned.”

As I read through several passages of grammatical errors, exclamation marks, and clever spellings of the name Microsoft with a $ in the center, I have noticed a recurring theme: which console/company is the best. Apparently there can be only one winner, and it becomes necessary to pick a side. The basis of this “console war,” oddly enough, generally revolves around two things: graphics and maturity.

It is regrettable that so many people waste their time yammering about how “PS3 graphics look like the Xbox 360″ or how “I won’t buy a Wii unless the graphics are better!” Being a multimedia and film student, I feel confident in saying I appreciate good animation and lighting better than most gamers. What I don’t understand is why so much importance is placed on these things in the first place. Better graphics increase development costs and time which, in turn, makes the end product cost more and take longer to receive. Is bump-mapping really worth that? Is bump-mapping worth the $600 for an upgraded Playstation 2?

Twenty years ago, we didn’t need fancy graphics to have fun. But suddenly we do? Suddenly we need our games to be as real as possible? It doesn’t make any sense. I always thought video games were an escape. I always thought video games were about having fun. I promise, realistic graphics do not necessarily make for more engrossing games. In fact, the closer we get to realism, the more distracting it becomes. The slightest discrepancy in a supposedly “real” character’s movement is visually jarring. Developers try to smooth this out by making the character pivot before turning or whatever, but that starts to cut into the gameplay. It’s really annoying when a game makes you watch a character slowly get to his/her feet when all you want to do is start running like hell– right now!

A few days ago, my father looked at the back of the Animal Crossing box and said, in regards to the graphics, “Wow, it’s amazing what they can do these days.” And yet the message boards are filled with people who complain, “Gears of War has clipping issues!!!” It is as if people need these good graphics to make them feel better about themselves, to compensate for never leaving the house other than to visit Gamestop. I hate to break it to you, but nobody cares if your copy of Madden looks good or not. It’s still just a video game. And video games will always have a negative stigmatism about them. Realistic graphics, I feel, are only making the situation worse. My mother, who used to hog Tetris on the family Game Boy, now thinks video games are evil (and that I have aggressive tendencies because of it) based on everything she reads about Grand Theft Auto in the news. Wow, that is so worth it.

My biggest problem with this obsession over graphics, however, is that it’s leading every game down the same path. When I watched Sony’s 2006 E3 press conference, I couldn’t help but notice every game looked exactly the same. Yeah, they came across as very real, but there was no style or charm to any of them. Assassin’s Creed looked like Heavenly Sword looked like Metal Gear Solid looked like Final Fantasy XIII looked like Getaway. Is this what we want to happen? Do we really want every freakin’ game to be dark, gritty, and realistic?

Unfortunately, I think we do. Despite Nintendo’s popularity and incredibly strong fanbase, there is a large share of the market that insists Nintendo is too “kiddy.” I’ve heard numerous proclamations of, “I’m too old for Nintendo,” and, “I’ve outgrown Mario.” Granted, Mario has been around for quite a while. I can see people getting tired of his moniker. What I don’t see, however, is the need for “more mature gaming.” I don’t see the need for characters to spurt out pools of blood whenever they get punched (yeah, like that’s realistic). I don’t see the need to turn every game into a first-person or third-person shooter. And I especially don’t understand why “family friendly” is such a bad thing. Do gamers really want to be so reclusive, hiding in their rooms to play games, always having to press pause when their parents or spouses or children enter?

That’s just sad.