Most Popular Video Games Are Dumb

I'm going to explain what I read in a seemingly-pretentious fashion, followed by a translation for people who think I'm being pretentious.

First, anyone who's of the mind that the author is an idiot is exhibiting a natural psychological reaction. You're insulating your beliefs as part of a primal reaction to protect yourself from being confused by new and unfamiliar information. [Read: You're being human, and I accept and understand your reaction. You might want to loosen up a bit, though.]

Secondly, you should accept the fact that video games fall into the definition of art: A visual or aural abstraction that causes a psychological reaction. [Read: Games are symbolic; symbols are ideas; ideas cause reactions in your head. That's art, son.]

What the author writes of is that he wishes for publishers to push the art medium that is video games in different directions rather than being handed the same old tripe and catering to those easily satisfied by plots, visuals, handling, and guttural content. [Read: If you were fed peanut butter and jelly every day for the rest of your life, you'd get sick and tired of it eventually. You'd probably get a bit sour if someone tried telling you that the sandwich they made you is different because they substituted normal PB & J with 'fruit preserves' and 'crunchy cashew butter'. You might also get upset if you were told, "Tough shit, everyone else likes PB & J, and I think you're pretentious for wanting something else," when there's no end to the other possible things you could eat.]

Suffice to say, people looking for a different experience in the realm of interactive games are starved for options because their interests are being sidelined in the pursuit of capital. Publishers are more interested in churning out variations of already-derivative games rather than investigating new pastures. [Read: Most games are dumb because the same-old-game makes money, not them fancy games that make you think or those other ones that take you on a 'spiritual journey'. It's the same reason why thinking/psychological - oh, wait, sorry, non-pretentious - *ahem* Art House films aren't shown at the local multiplex. The pursuit of cash stifles art.]

Personally, I haven't seen a game worth my time in a few years, easily. Heck, upgrading my gaming system has pretty much fallen by the wayside because there's no point in pursuing the latest-and-greatest hardware to play the same damn shooter I played fifteen years ago with better graphics (I literally rolled my eyes the other day as everyone tripped over themselves to gossip about the new GTX 690 because I know it's going to drive 3 high resolution screens worth of the same-old boring-ass game).

Wake me when someone finally follows this author's advice and does something different.
 
What difference does it make as long as we are entertained?

There are many sources for intellectual and spiritual fullfilment, and I've never considered a video game to be one of them. Video games are good mindless entertainment. No apology necessary.
 
A hipster wanna be loser is the kindest compliment I can give to this stupid article.
 
I am a die hard FPS fan. Call of Duty has completely destroyed the FPS genre, and games continue to adopt it's ridiculous game play and mechanics. The only exception I think is battlefield 3.

Hell, even campaign quality has went through some serious degradation over the past few years.

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Sums it up nicely.
 
That diagram doesn't show all the strategically placed rocks and foliage that make up for the simplicity.
 
I used to visit Kotaku almost daily... I'm lucky if I go there more than once a month now. It's really gone downhill and this article is further evidence of that.
 
Sounds like someone who doesn't understand the medium, and is essentially expecting playable movies. He complains about "narrative and dialogue" but some of the best videogames I've ever played had almost no dialogue and limited narrative.

I certainly wish there was more variety out there (especially in the gameplay department), but I don't think it's realistic to expect in the real world where you need to get your product funded/sold. It's a lot less risky to make another COD clone than something truly original.
 
can we get a list of some of the smartest games going?

I remember some older ones that used to kick me in the brain. Maniac mansion for example, how dare they tickle my temples just so!

Xenogears anyone?

the author pointed out games like Portal as being the apex of what he envisions in smart gaming. There are a slew of creative brain ticklers on the wii that give me that sense of creative intellectual gaming delivered through the most basic, straightforward medium.

I remember the first time I played final fantasy tactics and got upset i actually died repeatedly and couldn't just mash the sht out of the x or o button to move the story. BLASPHEMY!

omb
 
I agree with the author, although everyone's mileage will vary and as Chrisroman said, it doesn't matter as long as the games are entertaining.

Portal 2 can be viewed as dumb or dumbed down due to the simplicity of the puzzles and the long, cinematic corridor scenes where dialogue is presented, but personally I think the game is brilliantly paced and tells a great story in an engaging way. The voice acting is simply phenominal and really pushes the game over the top. Best game I've ever played.

OTOH, I've enjoyed some mindless wonders like Borderlands and Torchlight simply due to the fun gameplay.

It's all about perception; the '100 smartest games' list linked in the article includes CoD4.
 
So which genre of video games are we talking about here? If it's restricted to the FPS genre then of course it's going to be simplistic. Find key, open door, kill stuff, repeat. That's been the goal since Wolfenstein 3D. How you do it was always up to you... until designers decided to get all scripted and throw in lame and predictable physics puzzles. Speaking of puzzles though, there's a whole genre of puzzle games. Are those "dumb"? What about flight sims where you have to actually do what's involved in operating an airplane? Sure, it's not too exciting but I don't think there are too many dumb pilots out there.

I think the author is completely missing the overall point of video games. They're not supposed to be artsy and intellectual. They're entertainment. They exist to escape the real world for a while. It's like going to see a movie. I'd rather see two giant robots duke it out and blow stuff up or a wicked bloody sword fight or some stylized martial arts than watch some artsy-fartsy subtitled foreign drama that makes absolutely no sense. That's the appeal of video games. Sometimes I just want to blow up a bunch of zombies or demons from hell with hand held artillery. Is that so wrong?
 
Kotaku isn't elitist in any way. They typically only cover the very games this guy is complaining about.
 
to people who grew up in an era where good games are categorized by how many people can be crammed onto an online server and smash buttons at each other as quickly as possible the article may seem pretentious

however, to others who grew up playing a mix of mindless fun like Asteroids, Golden Axe, and Dragon's Lair, to educational gems like Oregon Trail, Incredible Machine, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, and even games that required thought like King's Quest, or without graphics at all like Zork! or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy the current offerings are pitiful.

Comparing the catalogs of Sierra and Broderbund to EA/UBI/Activision isn't pretentious.

He's articulating a fairly recognized problem in the current offerings that when a company tells us that we're going to get moral dilemmas and personal choice in the game we generally think our actions are going to have consequences not our moral choice will be will be whether we purchase the game vs. download it for free and spending money on food or new shoes vs. trickling amounts of the full program.

elsewhere tons of people on this forum are all riled up against ME3 for failing to deliver exactly what he's asking for in his article so I'm not sure why people are bandwagoning against it...given how many people here claim to be so opposed to bandwagoning.
 
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