| bardicverse said: DTG - Just a thought on the end of "children's fantasy tale" setting. Videogames were never thought of as toys for children, not until much later on, when Disney entered the market with its software in the SNES/ Genesis days. The fantasy fiction setting is the proper name you are looking to refer to, and actually tends to draw in the older crowds, the ones who know lines from Lord of the Rings like they do their home address. Most of the younger kids like games intended for them, and when they want to show off how cool they are, will play FPS games that their parents' probably shouldn't let them play. That crosses the border of your argument, into the violent gaming. The only negative side in our industry, in the public's eyes, is the violence in gaming. You won't see protestes about Final Fantasy or Zelda the way you do about Manhunt and GTA. Gaming is not considered, nor was considered "kiddie", a term ironically coined by Sony to try to put down the Nintendo systems and games. However, it is considered immature and "teen-like" due to the violent content, something that Sony helped to stoke the coals on. |
I'd argue that video games were since their conception considered nothing more than a toy. If you look back at any video game ad from the 80's and early 90's period they were all directed toward pre adolescents. Games such as MK recieved criticisms and ultimately a no blood SNES release for it's adult content of blood and gore. You're right it would be more accurate to phrase it as immature or teen like, but video games were never considered as an entertainment form for anyone but kids and teens and Nintendo in particular played into that image with their policies and childish advertisements.
Video games are just starting to grow out of that image, but even today you'd be hard pressed to find a college professor or a highly educated intellectual well versed in gaming or one that even considers video games as a medium of any artistic or thoughtful value.
