Videogame’s bad reputation: Disdain for the medium
I have seen too many news reports that propose that videogames are a vile, mortifying plague. Videogames are a rather new medium of art and entertainment, and like their predecessors, videogames are the new scapegoat. Certain lobbyists, like the famous Jack Thompson, have argued that videogames are corrupting the youth of America. This, I will argue, is a skewed perception on the medium as a whole, and it is the issue of this paper. I implore the media at large to reconsider. I propose the following three solutions for the skewed perception of videogames as a whole: Increased media exposure for “nonviolent” videogames, better public knowledge of the videogame industry, and lastly a wider …show more content…
Every time a news outlet tries to condemn a videogame, its sales rise. If the media were to repent this moneygrubbing hogwash, then the videogame industry and art medium would have the chance to be judged on its own merit. If they were to instead praise games of a better moral persuasion, then logically something similar would result. Dissenters of this idea might argue that this solution will never work, because violent games have sold vastly more on most platforms. They may argue that the media needs to draw attention to violent videogames to keep the general population aware of what is popular. These ideas have their merit, we do need to be aware of the content we purchase for ourselves or others, but there are some definite counterexamples. Tetris is the most popular mobile game of all time. It has sold over 100 million copies, not counting endless knock-offs and the like. Minecraft is a game with little to no violence intended, and it outsells hundreds of other titles. It doesn 't look good, it has little story and unexciting mechanics, but the fact that one can build in it gave it so much replay ability and such a breadth of user generated content that it does not seem to be dying down anytime in the foreseeable future. The success of Minecraft has sent the medium spinning, and other games could do the same …show more content…
If people knew more about the videogame industry’s madness then they might realize what’s really wrong. Videogame companies are a bit screwy. I’ve read too many articles online about the sneaky things the industry do. There was a game released recently that had a very specific clause in the contract for reviewers. Reviewers had to keep their review in a positive light and otherwise avoid criticism. If they did not follow these train tracks, then they risked being banned from ever receiving another review copy. If people knew more about these kinds of events, then stopping them would be far easier. My enemies would argue that knowledge of the videogame industry would simply disillusion consumers and wreck the industry as a whole. This is a valid concern, but the videogame industry is one of the bestselling entertainment media of the modern age. It won’t die in the course of a few years, and best of all, videogames can be
I have seen too many news reports that propose that videogames are a vile, mortifying plague. Videogames are a rather new medium of art and entertainment, and like their predecessors, videogames are the new scapegoat. Certain lobbyists, like the famous Jack Thompson, have argued that videogames are corrupting the youth of America. This, I will argue, is a skewed perception on the medium as a whole, and it is the issue of this paper. I implore the media at large to reconsider. I propose the following three solutions for the skewed perception of videogames as a whole: Increased media exposure for “nonviolent” videogames, better public knowledge of the videogame industry, and lastly a wider …show more content…
Every time a news outlet tries to condemn a videogame, its sales rise. If the media were to repent this moneygrubbing hogwash, then the videogame industry and art medium would have the chance to be judged on its own merit. If they were to instead praise games of a better moral persuasion, then logically something similar would result. Dissenters of this idea might argue that this solution will never work, because violent games have sold vastly more on most platforms. They may argue that the media needs to draw attention to violent videogames to keep the general population aware of what is popular. These ideas have their merit, we do need to be aware of the content we purchase for ourselves or others, but there are some definite counterexamples. Tetris is the most popular mobile game of all time. It has sold over 100 million copies, not counting endless knock-offs and the like. Minecraft is a game with little to no violence intended, and it outsells hundreds of other titles. It doesn 't look good, it has little story and unexciting mechanics, but the fact that one can build in it gave it so much replay ability and such a breadth of user generated content that it does not seem to be dying down anytime in the foreseeable future. The success of Minecraft has sent the medium spinning, and other games could do the same …show more content…
If people knew more about the videogame industry’s madness then they might realize what’s really wrong. Videogame companies are a bit screwy. I’ve read too many articles online about the sneaky things the industry do. There was a game released recently that had a very specific clause in the contract for reviewers. Reviewers had to keep their review in a positive light and otherwise avoid criticism. If they did not follow these train tracks, then they risked being banned from ever receiving another review copy. If people knew more about these kinds of events, then stopping them would be far easier. My enemies would argue that knowledge of the videogame industry would simply disillusion consumers and wreck the industry as a whole. This is a valid concern, but the videogame industry is one of the bestselling entertainment media of the modern age. It won’t die in the course of a few years, and best of all, videogames can be