Malstrom email response: The Sick Obsession of Culture in the Game Industry

[Sullla]

Legend11 said:

I'm sure there are movies that your parents don't enjoy so why is it that videogames have to be different?  I just don't understand the people that feel all videogames should lack any real depth.  Or that a game is flawed if it's not suitable for everyone.

In my opinion it just shows ignorance of what videogaming has truly become (much like the ignorance we witnessed in comic books when many people once equated them with children, and some still do).  Growing up is exactly what videogaming is doing and I think Malstrom is off the mark just as much as his 2008 election predictions.

I don't think this is a very good analogy, Legend. My point isn't that all games need to appeal to all people, merely that SOME games need to start appealing to larger demographics. There's nothing wrong with games targeting a specific audience of 13-25 year old males. But when something like 95% of games are all zeroed in on that same small sector of the population? And when any game that tries to do something different is derided in the "gaming culture" press? Yeah, that's a problem!

No, comic books/graphic novels weren't taken very seriously by the public at large when all they did was focus on superheroes and stories of the like. Now, they may have been exceptionally good superhero stories - but they were never going to appeal to anything more than a small (geeky?) group of people. Just imagine if every movie was a romantic comedy. Even if they were all of outstanding quality, most men would not be interested in seeing them. And it would be a fair complaint to say that if the general public wanted to take movies seriously, they'd have to start appealing to more types of people!

But we're getting off topic here. I'll simply reiterate that I agree with Malstrom's general point that this obsession with gaming as a rebellious, male-oriented counterculture will hinder the long-term development of the industry if it isn't ditched at some point... while making it clear that I don't always agree with how he expresses himself.