I’m begging people who think of video games like this to play Pathologic 2. Please. It’s so good and will hopefully change your mind about what kinds of art games as a medium can produce. Of course it’s all hand-made on purpose for the player, of course it is, that’s what games are, but hell, aren’t fucking novels hand-made on purpose for the reader? I’ve never had anyone explain to me how novels are worth reading but games aren’t worth playing, when, to me, they seem more similar than different as mediums.
Now, of course, there are different kinds of games. One of my favorites, Doom 2016, is very clearly exactly the kind of “dopamine factory” kind of game you’re talking about. Of course they exist, but they’re, in my mind, sort of the “fast food” of video games. Sure, I can boot up Doom 2016 and slay my way through hordes of demons, it’ll make my brain happy in the moment, but I don’t get any lasting effects from such a spree, and too much of it absolutely makes me feel like shit. But not every game is like this!!! Play Outer Wilds. Play Disco Elysium. Play Pathologic 2 (yes, I’m recommending it twice in one comment, it’s that good). Or maybe Journey or even A Short Hike! All of these games will make you feel something, the way a novel or a TV show or a movie would.
I guess it just pisses me off when people don’t take games seriously as a medium. I know it shouldn’t matter, but like, you never hear people saying this kind of shit about movie buffs, do you? I’ve never once heard anyone say the following: “Watching movies isn’t a real hobby. Movies have no functional purpose. They are made purely for you to consume, so you get a hit of dopamine, which you won’t get elsewhere. Everything is made for you so that you’ll feel whatever it is the filmmakers want you to feel, but those emotions aren’t organic or real.”
We seem to, as a society, respect movies, TV shows, and novels. We view them as forms of entertainment that are worth engaging with and thinking about. But games often don’t get the same treatment, even when they should. It doesn’t help, of course, that there is indeed a contingent of gamers who want games to continue to be shitty slop that isn’t worth engaging with or thinking about. Thankfully, as loud as this crowd is, they are a minority. Most of us who play and enjoy video games want good ones, which for me means games with the narrative depth of a good novel or TV show.
I’m begging people who think of video games like this to play Pathologic 2. Please. It’s so good and will hopefully change your mind about what kinds of art games as a medium can produce. Of course it’s all hand-made on purpose for the player, of course it is, that’s what games are, but hell, aren’t fucking novels hand-made on purpose for the reader? I’ve never had anyone explain to me how novels are worth reading but games aren’t worth playing, when, to me, they seem more similar than different as mediums.
Now, of course, there are different kinds of games. One of my favorites, Doom 2016, is very clearly exactly the kind of “dopamine factory” kind of game you’re talking about. Of course they exist, but they’re, in my mind, sort of the “fast food” of video games. Sure, I can boot up Doom 2016 and slay my way through hordes of demons, it’ll make my brain happy in the moment, but I don’t get any lasting effects from such a spree, and too much of it absolutely makes me feel like shit. But not every game is like this!!! Play Outer Wilds. Play Disco Elysium. Play Pathologic 2 (yes, I’m recommending it twice in one comment, it’s that good). Or maybe Journey or even A Short Hike! All of these games will make you feel something, the way a novel or a TV show or a movie would.
I guess it just pisses me off when people don’t take games seriously as a medium. I know it shouldn’t matter, but like, you never hear people saying this kind of shit about movie buffs, do you? I’ve never once heard anyone say the following: “Watching movies isn’t a real hobby. Movies have no functional purpose. They are made purely for you to consume, so you get a hit of dopamine, which you won’t get elsewhere. Everything is made for you so that you’ll feel whatever it is the filmmakers want you to feel, but those emotions aren’t organic or real.”
We seem to, as a society, respect movies, TV shows, and novels. We view them as forms of entertainment that are worth engaging with and thinking about. But games often don’t get the same treatment, even when they should. It doesn’t help, of course, that there is indeed a contingent of gamers who want games to continue to be shitty slop that isn’t worth engaging with or thinking about. Thankfully, as loud as this crowd is, they are a minority. Most of us who play and enjoy video games want good ones, which for me means games with the narrative depth of a good novel or TV show.