Should Games be taken more seriously ?
We are used to seeing games enthusiast magazines and online forums discussing if games are taken seriously enought. This is for me the first time I have seen a discussion on it in a “quality” British newspaper.
But does this complexity, on its own, necessarily mean we should take games seriously as works of culture? …. I think the answer to that question is a decisive yes, but doing so requires that we develop new aesthetic criteria that are appropriate to the medium
And that is the main point. Games are here to stay. They are evolving all the time. Games of the simplest form, Sapce Invaders, Pac Man to the more complex pieces of today, “The Sims”, “Grand Theft Auto” and the “Final Fantasy” serise have had a tremendous impact on a lot of people. Quite possilbly more than books or movies to some. As such they should be taken more seriously as cultural
But we cannot do it until we have a yardstick to measure it against. Certain places do a much better job of reviewing and crtiquing games than others. Eurogamer is a personal favourite of mine. Their reviews are critical, informative and entertaining. Much better than certain magazines and web-sites that just seem to be in the pocket of publishers and advertisers.
Another thing that has to happen is that games need to be moved out of the ghetto of technology and moved into the entertainment sphere. Sure there will be technology discussions as platforms move on.but we need to be more rooted in the entertainment side. For example I have written to the BBC online asking that they move games into their entertainment section as it makes much more sense for it to be there rather than in their technology page.
The day I see a game being reviewed alongside a play, a movie or a concert in a newspaper, I know our time will have come.