Can a Computer Make You Cry?
Many hardcore gamers will recognize the title of this article. It comes straight out of a print ad campaign that EA ran back when it was called Electronic Arts and had a soul. At the time of these ads, videogames were much more primitive, and it wasn't likely that one would make you cry.
But technology has progressed, so much so that I assumed the answer to be 'yes'. Why not? I consider videogames to be a valid medium for expression. In other words, I believe that games can be art (though many are not). But in thinking about it, I don't think a videogame has ever made me cry.
Does this mean that videogaming lags behind other arts in its capacity to convey emotion? I think the answer is yes. And no. I recently read an article in Game Informer that I thought was brilliant. The article was inspired by Jack Thompson's tomfoolery. But the article didn't simply bash Thompson and say that videogames could not be blamed for any of society's ills. Instead, it presented a level-headed argument saying that Thompson was wrong, but we, as videogamers, are wrong to counter him with similarly slanted statistics and vehement cries of videogames' infallibility. That would be to lower ourselves to his level. The author suggested that the real danger in violent videogames is not in that it drives gamers to kill, but rather that it could lead to the stagnation of the art form. In other words, I believe the artistic aspect of videogaming has been stunted to a degree by the violence-for-the-sake-of-violence games.
Another phenomenon that has held gaming back is the quick cash-in game. You know what I'm talking about - the Grand Theft Auto clones, the Halo clones, the anything clones. It's a sad fact that the videogame industry is, in fact, an industry and with that comes corporate decision-making that tends to favor the safe bet in the hot genre.
But I don't mean to paint such a bleak picture of the videogame industry. I simply want to point out that there are, indeed, several factors that slow videogaming's progress as an art form. There is, on the other hand, a minority of developers and publishers that take some risks. And out of those risks we get games like Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy and Indigo Prophecy that drive the medium forwards. And with the next generation of gaming already here (see my last post), developers now have the ability to create more immersive worlds and characters to elicit strong emotional connections with players.
Certainly, as technology improves, developers will have a greater ability to express and elicit emotion. But with or without technology, videogames have an inherent edge over other art forms in terms of expressing emotion. That advantage is interactivity. Players naturally invest emotion into a game because they are in control of the character(s). In the case of a game in the first-person perspective, the gamer is the character. Also, games tend to last for at least 6 hours, which gives players time to become emotionally tied to the characters.
So why then, has a computer not made me cry? Cause I lied. I have been playing Final Fantasy VII because, duh, it's required gaming. My party's dune buggy had just died outside of Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII's hometown. Red XII thought his father was a coward, because he had run off when Cosmo Canyon was under attack by the ferocious Gi tribe. So, Red's grandfather, Bugenhagen, led us through some treacherous caves behind the town, where we fought the spirits of the fallen Gi warriors. When we finally exited the cave, Bugenhagen told us the story of the lone warrior who had fought off the Gi in these very caverns. He managed to seal the caves, saving the town, but in the process was turned to stone by the Gi's poisonous spears. As the music swells, the camera pans up the cliffs to show Red's father, Seto. He looks positively fierce, with arrows sticking out of his back like a porcupine's quills and a growl etched on his stone face. And that's when I started crying.
Many gamers have cried because of Final Fantasy VII, and the game is nearly ten years old. Games have long had the ability to evoke such strong emotions from gamers, and with improving technology, we will see even stonger emotional connections. Regardless, the game must have a soul. Final Fantasy VII has it in spades. But many games do not. In order for the videogame medium to progress as an art form, we need to see more games like Final Fantasy. The too-violent and corporate-designed games are only holding all that back.
-Joule
But technology has progressed, so much so that I assumed the answer to be 'yes'. Why not? I consider videogames to be a valid medium for expression. In other words, I believe that games can be art (though many are not). But in thinking about it, I don't think a videogame has ever made me cry.
Does this mean that videogaming lags behind other arts in its capacity to convey emotion? I think the answer is yes. And no. I recently read an article in Game Informer that I thought was brilliant. The article was inspired by Jack Thompson's tomfoolery. But the article didn't simply bash Thompson and say that videogames could not be blamed for any of society's ills. Instead, it presented a level-headed argument saying that Thompson was wrong, but we, as videogamers, are wrong to counter him with similarly slanted statistics and vehement cries of videogames' infallibility. That would be to lower ourselves to his level. The author suggested that the real danger in violent videogames is not in that it drives gamers to kill, but rather that it could lead to the stagnation of the art form. In other words, I believe the artistic aspect of videogaming has been stunted to a degree by the violence-for-the-sake-of-violence games.
Another phenomenon that has held gaming back is the quick cash-in game. You know what I'm talking about - the Grand Theft Auto clones, the Halo clones, the anything clones. It's a sad fact that the videogame industry is, in fact, an industry and with that comes corporate decision-making that tends to favor the safe bet in the hot genre.
But I don't mean to paint such a bleak picture of the videogame industry. I simply want to point out that there are, indeed, several factors that slow videogaming's progress as an art form. There is, on the other hand, a minority of developers and publishers that take some risks. And out of those risks we get games like Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy and Indigo Prophecy that drive the medium forwards. And with the next generation of gaming already here (see my last post), developers now have the ability to create more immersive worlds and characters to elicit strong emotional connections with players.
Certainly, as technology improves, developers will have a greater ability to express and elicit emotion. But with or without technology, videogames have an inherent edge over other art forms in terms of expressing emotion. That advantage is interactivity. Players naturally invest emotion into a game because they are in control of the character(s). In the case of a game in the first-person perspective, the gamer is the character. Also, games tend to last for at least 6 hours, which gives players time to become emotionally tied to the characters.
So why then, has a computer not made me cry? Cause I lied. I have been playing Final Fantasy VII because, duh, it's required gaming. My party's dune buggy had just died outside of Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII's hometown. Red XII thought his father was a coward, because he had run off when Cosmo Canyon was under attack by the ferocious Gi tribe. So, Red's grandfather, Bugenhagen, led us through some treacherous caves behind the town, where we fought the spirits of the fallen Gi warriors. When we finally exited the cave, Bugenhagen told us the story of the lone warrior who had fought off the Gi in these very caverns. He managed to seal the caves, saving the town, but in the process was turned to stone by the Gi's poisonous spears. As the music swells, the camera pans up the cliffs to show Red's father, Seto. He looks positively fierce, with arrows sticking out of his back like a porcupine's quills and a growl etched on his stone face. And that's when I started crying.
Many gamers have cried because of Final Fantasy VII, and the game is nearly ten years old. Games have long had the ability to evoke such strong emotions from gamers, and with improving technology, we will see even stonger emotional connections. Regardless, the game must have a soul. Final Fantasy VII has it in spades. But many games do not. In order for the videogame medium to progress as an art form, we need to see more games like Final Fantasy. The too-violent and corporate-designed games are only holding all that back.
-Joule
posted by Voomp at
6:11 AM
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