I'm not sure that differentiating between types of culture within a single culture is a good idea - you start treading on a tightrope, and if you trip you end up marginalizing culture. Which is impossible because culture is a lot more like stock than it is like different lifeforms. Each stock may be different, but as a whole it's very important to take them all into account when trying to decide what the state of the economy is.
That said, I think that games (not necessarily the ones sold now) have incredible potential to be meaningful in the same way that movies and books are. Maybe not regarding exactly the same topics, but a narrative arc flows (albeit differently) through a game just as it does through a movie or a book.
There are games that are simply fun - that don't have any depth. Guitar Hero and Halo are a couple of examples. But there are also games that address aspects of culture, history, psychology, and social status - like Grim Fandango, Deux Ex, and Psychonauts. These are just the beginning of what I hope will be a wave of meaningful games.
In the end, a well crafted interactive narrative takes you to a different world. Books and movies also do this. So yeah, a lot of games suck, but be careful about writing off an entire medium just because of a bunch of bad seeds.
Actually, Cronenberg explored the same awkward state of virtual reality that you're talking about. eXistenZ and Videodrome are probably the two most prolific of his movies about reality, culture, and technology. In them he looks at how, in extreme cases, people lose touch with reality and the virtual starts to take over. Needless to say, he's a little terrified of the concept.
That said, I think that games (not necessarily the ones sold now) have incredible potential to be meaningful in the same way that movies and books are. Maybe not regarding exactly the same topics, but a narrative arc flows (albeit differently) through a game just as it does through a movie or a book.
There are games that are simply fun - that don't have any depth. Guitar Hero and Halo are a couple of examples. But there are also games that address aspects of culture, history, psychology, and social status - like Grim Fandango, Deux Ex, and Psychonauts. These are just the beginning of what I hope will be a wave of meaningful games.
In the end, a well crafted interactive narrative takes you to a different world. Books and movies also do this. So yeah, a lot of games suck, but be careful about writing off an entire medium just because of a bunch of bad seeds.
Actually, Cronenberg explored the same awkward state of virtual reality that you're talking about. eXistenZ and Videodrome are probably the two most prolific of his movies about reality, culture, and technology. In them he looks at how, in extreme cases, people lose touch with reality and the virtual starts to take over. Needless to say, he's a little terrified of the concept.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment