I remember the first time that I had laid my hands on a video game. I was to escape my dungeon, rescue my princess. After few years, I played games like Doom and Return to Castle Wolfenstien. I also dawdled in Pac-man and Mario. The plots here were linear and simple. Run, shoot, kill, escape, get gold…etc.
It is only recently when I played the next generation of open world games like Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3 that I suddenly started feeling quite odd about gaming, It was an eerie feeling, a psychological feedback that has its roots in the way video gaming has evolved over the years.
A lot of criticism today is leveled on the violent and disturbing nature of video games. Television pundits in the western world blame it on games like GTA and its ilk. Perhaps, a deeper introspection is in order.
Lets look at how gameplay and content has grown. First you had games that were simple in their design: either laying bricks in order (Tetris) or shooting creatures in deep caverns (Dangerous Dave). The controls were simple. ‘Press a key’ to shoot. Later, games started incorporating another mechanic; the ‘reload’ (shotgun firing in Doom). As first-person shooters gained prominence, the ‘accuracy’ of the weapon was reduced, adding an element of skill and timing to gain a perfect hit (sniper in Deux Ex). Weapons, armor and items then started having ‘weights’ assigned, stating the obvious; that the protagonist could carry only so much (Oblivion). ‘Atmospherics’ and other next-gen effects started appearing, guns started to break if they were overused (Far Cry 2). All this did was add layers of realism to the primal act of killing.
Choice as a gameplay mechanic was non-existent then. What in the world had the green turtle ever done to Mario for him to stomp it?
It is only when a medium becomes real and engaging that society starts getting queasy. My uneasiness whilst playing GTA appeared more from the fact that the characters were somehow more ‘real’. Any act without knowing about its implications is a higher crime. In that sense Mario is probably the most violent game I have played. I atleast have a choice to either kill someone or simply tranquilize him (Deux Ex, Metal Gear Solid 4)
Video gaming is reaching a point in its evolution wherein it moves on from becoming just a ‘time-pass’ activity to something more engaging. Moral choices, strong characterizations and complex plots are already adding depth that can’t just be replaced by high-end graphics.
To put things into perspective, here’s a quote to think about:
“They poison the mind and corrupt the morals of the young, who waste their time sitting on sofas immersed in dangerous fantasy worlds” – A charge levelled against novels during the 18th century by critics worried about the impact of a new medium on young people.
