http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1657825-1,00.html
I don't have much of any problems with the parts of the article discussing the basics of Halo 3. There's nothing really new, but I can't believe how this guy keeps talking about gamers, and the industry as a whole. Now, clearly, he is just some stupid old guy who probably hasn't picked up a video game controller since Pong, so you may ask why I care about this. It's because this is clearly a symptom of a massive misunderstanding of hardcore gamers among the general public.
The first, and most crucial thing that must be addressed here is this guy's constant references to gamers as a bunch of anti-social nerds, who are afraid of sunlight. After all these years, after all of this growth, moving closer and closer to a mainstream market, I can't believe this ridiculous stereotype is still around. We are people, who have lives, who have friends, and often live entirely normal lives. The only difference truly separating us from everyone else, is that hardcore gamers enjoy art in a different form.
This leads me to what must addressed next, this ridiculous notion that games have crappy stories. In this article, the writer makes Halo look like a god, among video games, simply because he thinks it has a half-way decent story. Its been over 30 years since the birth of gaming, and things have changed greatly, something that seems to have been ignored by the masses. No longer, are we playing games with the bare bones story of arcade games, like Donkey Kong. Many have grown into rich complex epics, comparable to the level of movies, or books. Just look a mere month back to the release of Bioshock. Its story is laced heavily with symbolism, about the flaws of the Randian utopia, combined with compelling characters and setting. It is a story worthy of recognition, yet none is received because of people like this, who can't look at games for what they really are.
The days of playing Pacman in the arcade are long gone. They have transcended simple kids toys, and have truly grown to be something more. They can take us anywhere from the depths of fear and despair, to the heights of triumph, and joy, and its time the masses recognized it . They still misunderstand gaming as simple stupid games that are only there as a fun diversion, and as long as this is so, games will be looked down up as nothing but another mindless hobby rather than the art form they've finally evolved into.
Sorry for the long post, that article just really pissed me off...rant over.
I don't have much of any problems with the parts of the article discussing the basics of Halo 3. There's nothing really new, but I can't believe how this guy keeps talking about gamers, and the industry as a whole. Now, clearly, he is just some stupid old guy who probably hasn't picked up a video game controller since Pong, so you may ask why I care about this. It's because this is clearly a symptom of a massive misunderstanding of hardcore gamers among the general public.
The first, and most crucial thing that must be addressed here is this guy's constant references to gamers as a bunch of anti-social nerds, who are afraid of sunlight. After all these years, after all of this growth, moving closer and closer to a mainstream market, I can't believe this ridiculous stereotype is still around. We are people, who have lives, who have friends, and often live entirely normal lives. The only difference truly separating us from everyone else, is that hardcore gamers enjoy art in a different form.
This leads me to what must addressed next, this ridiculous notion that games have crappy stories. In this article, the writer makes Halo look like a god, among video games, simply because he thinks it has a half-way decent story. Its been over 30 years since the birth of gaming, and things have changed greatly, something that seems to have been ignored by the masses. No longer, are we playing games with the bare bones story of arcade games, like Donkey Kong. Many have grown into rich complex epics, comparable to the level of movies, or books. Just look a mere month back to the release of Bioshock. Its story is laced heavily with symbolism, about the flaws of the Randian utopia, combined with compelling characters and setting. It is a story worthy of recognition, yet none is received because of people like this, who can't look at games for what they really are.
The days of playing Pacman in the arcade are long gone. They have transcended simple kids toys, and have truly grown to be something more. They can take us anywhere from the depths of fear and despair, to the heights of triumph, and joy, and its time the masses recognized it . They still misunderstand gaming as simple stupid games that are only there as a fun diversion, and as long as this is so, games will be looked down up as nothing but another mindless hobby rather than the art form they've finally evolved into.
Sorry for the long post, that article just really pissed me off...rant over.
