We've probably heard them all, be it from our family and friends, or any other random passer-by. Stupid, puerile, silly… what else? They make video games seem as if they're inherently a bad thing—not for the likes of us to still be wasting our time on them. And I wonder, is it the word "game" in "video games" the reason for which so many people consider them to be so infantile? In truth, that's the only semi-reasonable excuse I can come up with. Common knowledge in our society dictates that video games, regardless of genre or even its actual greatness, are little more than mindless entertainment.

They say video games are a "waste of time," and it's okay and accepted. I consider protesting against homosexuals to be a dull waste of time, and that might just go against a few people's socially--set opinions and beliefs—-and if they want to get married, might as well let them; they have the same right to be as miserable as we do. How they find a load of more senseless things as even slightly more worthwhile, or for that matter more productive, than going on a new, perilous adventure with newly-met friends into an unknown world—-not necessarily for the sake of escapism, mind you (well, not always, at any rate)--is beyond me.

In any event, I've been pondering and weighing possible reasons for why at least some of these people find a great deal of more trivial things as any better than spending time on video games. It's somewhat perplexing when analyzed, but seeing things as they currently stand, it's only obvious that anyone who finds video games as more than just a hobby would mean an automatic, negative response from the ever so "civilized" people in our society. Their views on video games are, plainly put, uninformed, prejudicial, negative and limited to only a couple of titles/genres—usually the Grand Theft Auto games, and other games similar to BMX XXX, which, as should be known, aren't, a) the only existing games out there, and b) they don't, in any way, represent video games in general, as some people apparently believe.^[1]

Another thing I've noticed is that it usually doesn't even matter what game you're playing, for in the eye of your average passer-by, it's still childish—and you might even be a "loser" because of it. Remember: according to them—your average non-gamers—you're just playing a game, and they know for a fact that it's just mindless entertainment, because it's nothing but a game. No, really, they do—or at least they swear it's a fact. Try talking with some of them about it, and aside from the typical "they're childish" remark, they might even mention something to the effect of video games being retarded/stupid. Then, just out of curiosity, ask them if they're talking about Street Racer, or Heart of Darkness, or a modeling Barbie game *shudders*, or if they're referring to the games we actually do play, just to check if they're aware of the fact that many other (more intellectual) games exist somewhere out there. Some of them even have *gasp* stories! Complex ones, at that. And they also have characters with realistic traits, who present realistic reactions under many given situations—as was argued in one of my articles, Reality Check. Real-life, abstract concepts are all too often discussed in these "mindless games", which I'm certain not many of said passers-by even seldom consider, since they usually discard them as insignificant or simply unimportant. And yes, video games do mean a lot more to us—exceptions are ever present, of course, but I venture to say that this applies to a vast number of gamers—than most not truly involved with video games can ever fathom. RPGs are usually a good example of this, and in my opinion it's the genre which best conveys the profoundness of video games in various aspects. ^[2]

I'd so love to see some of the very people who consider video games as mindless fun, to try their "superior" mental skills at only some of the puzzles found in games like Ico and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time—-let's see if they ever get past the temples *snicker*. If they would only look into and try to figure out the plot for games like Final Fantasy VII, or even Chrono Cross-—and believe you me, this last one has a very complex and convoluted plot—-let alone other, even more profound video games such asChrono Trigger and Xenosaga.

You see, video games are obviously judged based on sheer ignorance alone, being still, to this date, considered childish and inferior, albeit mostly by those who simply aren't willing to listen—much like animé is considered little more than your average cartoon, actually, for no matter how many times you stamp it on their foreheads, they'll still consider them infinitely childish; even more so than video games. I've heard the same old thing so many times already that it almost seems like a huge ventriloquist act, watching all these people almost systematically repeat the same thing the other person only previously mentioned. Video games are a lot more than just games, and they offer much more than just entertainment, in more ways than one would initially imagine.

But why are these social (biased) opinions so strongly focused on video games in particular, out of all the more popular mediums? Surely the video gaming world has had its share of downright pathetic games, but what do you make of television and all the moronic stuff that airs daily? Even porn is more widely accepted in terms of legitimization than video games in our society, and that on its own makes my head spin in sheer confusion. But lo and behold! BMX XXX, highly criticized for presenting topless women and whatnot, sparked quite a bit of controversy some time ago because of said scenes. The "moral problem" they claimed to have only showed their sheer hypocrisy for singling out video games for controversies over sexuality, whereas movies, books, magazines and television shows were not. ^[3]

And there you had Joe Lieberman whining about violence in video games. What a joke, preaching on about how violent games shouldn't be played by minors. How cunning of that seemingly pretentious man to ignore the ever so present fact that we're all so aware of: We've been watching, hearing and obviously learning all forms of physical, mental and verbal violence since who knows when. A little bit of gore and other little things of the sort in a video game aren't that big a deal, really. But why didn't he focus his arguments towards television instead? Nay, why would he? He was after the adults' votes, and what better way to get them than by presenting a persona that cares for their children. And besides, what good are minors-—the majority of video game consumers-—if they can't even vote to begin with?

In any case, around here, where I live, rare is the day that someone doesn't make an unfounded, biased remark about video games. Rarer still is the day when one of these people will use whatever piece of a brain they have and realize their "thinking" is not their own, but that of a self-contradicting society in which freedom of conscience is preached, along with the prudence never to practice it; airheads buy these alien-like clothing with an insanely high price-tag, simply because someone's name's on it; and women often preach for gender equality, but seldom put it into practice themselves. And video games? They're shallowly looked at, and more so RPGs in particular from what I've personally experienced.

But hey, who knows, maybe there's something wrong with us, gamers. The problem? We think differently about video games, because unlike them, we-—the serious gamers-—dig into our games' plots and characters and gather and learn everything we can from them in an analytic fashion. We analyze the many elements that make up a game, be it through discussions, inquiries or any other viable method. A good many of us reasonably-—or better yet, not blindly nor baselessly—-consider video games as art, in most every sense of the word, and we always strive to push this very praise to the utmost intellectual level possible. ^[4]

It's no wonder why we consider the majority of their criticisms on video games as little more than fluff—-they don't know what they're talking about to begin with, whereas we do.

So, all told, it's rather hard to understand why so many people disfavor and snub video games as they do. They don't know nor understand them, which is obviously one of the reasons. But if someone's willing to explain, why notlisten? It's the least that can be done by really any and all, methinks. Hopefully, video games in general will eventually be seen in the light they deserve to be seen. Who knows, maybe we'll even have a role in this process. In the meantime, we'll continue to push and fight to make our own way; to be heard. And I'll be damned if we-—gamers in general—-are not already contributing to this cause in one way or another.

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Footnotes

1)Richard talks about this, and even presents a little argument he had with a friend of his, in his article, "We Didn't Light It, But We're Tryin' To Fight It". Return

2)For a good, more in-depth view of what I mean, try looking into Orin's The Vision Quests of the New Millenium. Return

3)Richard also comments on this—on somewhat different grounds—in his 2 Legit 2 Save and Quit article. Return