In the words of Woody Allen ...

Those of you who've read this blog, or any of my others, you know that my interests extend beyond that of games. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but there are other things in my life, and at times my interests in one area inform the others.

Among other things, I'm a film buff, and Annie Hall is one of my favorites. Woody Allen used the phrase "mental masturbation" to refer to college courses such as "Contemporary Crisis in Western Man," or "Existential Motifs in Russian Literature." I've always thought this phrase was a great way to describe the sort of pointless, self-aggrandizing intellectualism that one comes across not just in college, but elsewhere in life. Philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, art theory, all of these are important fields of study, but at times they can run amuck. This affliction is not limited to scholars, or the small selection of fields I've listed, they were just the first examples that came to mind. This can even afflict game journalism. The one post in particular that has irked me appeared yesterday on Destructoid.

This post was on an interesting topic. Should games seek to grow beyond the idea of simply being fun? But beyond the premise, the article is a jumbled, rambling, poorly sourced mess that really only serves to advance the author's theories and comes off a lot like someone who wants to hear themselves talk. This article could have made a good round table discussion, or podcast, or a mildly interesting lecture, but as an article, it misses the mark.

I guess the other reason I took issue with this article is that I think it's thesis misunderstands the very nature of videogames, and of entertainment, and the author presents his points poorly and haphazardly. Should videogames try to reach the levels or art that prose, poetry and film have reached? Sure, and I'll try those games. But the real basic point, that doesn't require several thousand words, is that games need better writing. You do this, and the rest of what we want will follow. Have you ever watched a movie by a great screenwriter, and then one by a poor one? Would you be tempted to call one "art," and the other "escapist fun"?

Now here's the kicker: if you enjoy both of them, does the "fun" movie need to evolve into great art, or can we simply enjoy it for what it is? I say we enjoy it.

The title of the post is "Fun isn't enough: why video games have to move beyond escapism." Actually, fun is enough. Fun is the point. If you were to ask me why I love baseball more than any other sport, I couldn't give you reasons more concrete than "I enjoy it," or "I think it's fun to watch and play." That's enough for me, and I've enjoyed it as a part of my life for 24 years, and hopefully I'll be watching it until I die or lose my eyesight (in which case I'll just listen). All because it's fun.

Sometimes you need a masterful portrait of human events and emotion, and sometimes you need the Three Stooges. Sometimes you need a game with a compelling plot that challenges the way you think about the world, and sometimes you need Tetris. Games must remain fun, and them must remain fun first. We can make them better and more complicated, but even in five hardware generations, people will still play Tetris, Mario, hell, probably even Pong. They will play these games because they are fun, and for no other reason. The games described in this article will come about, but they will not be the only species or game left.

Now, the article makes some really dumb mistakes too. Such as:

Instead of looking at WWII as the horrific loss of life than it was, in video games the war is frequently depicted in much the same way it was in the 1940’s: a heroic, unambiguous fight against evil. Good guys die in large numbers, but their deaths are not terribly violent (not a single WWII game I can think of includes blood, much less gibbing). The enemies we fight are faceless and without personality (Call of Duty 2 seems to have about twelve different Nazi models, total).

Factual errors tend to undermine an article, especially when they are phrased like so: "not a single game I can think of includes blood." Well, after 10 seconds on the ESRB page, I found the following

Call of Duty 2 / Activision / T / Blood, Mild Language, Violence

Oh really. How interesting. He couldn't think of (or hadn't played, which is the greater sin) the game he mentions in the next sentence. And as for gibbing, it has gone out of style since ragdoll physics have come into style: why blow a person to pieces if you can watch them crumple and dangle to show off the neat new physics engines? Anyone who has actively played games over the last five years should be aware of this trend.

To the other point he made in the quote, about the exploitation of the seemingly simple good versus evil dichotomy of WWII, yes, simple can be dull, and deprive you of the enjoyment that a rich story with twists, turns and mixed motives might have. But there are plenty of games that actually do this. Despite being dumped on prolifically by Destructoid, Twilight Princess puts you in a situation where you have to assist someone who may or may not have any real interest in helping you, and may well just be using you. This is interesting, and subverts the usual good / evil framework, since you're not really sure what you're doing is good at all. Deus Ex did this as well, and gave you choices about how to move through the game. Oblivion and Morrowind let you reshape the world around your character, engage in political espionage and assassination, become a criminal or vampire, and the variety of the choices and freedom even scared some people off. Games already do all the things he talks about, and they do so outside of Shadow of the Colossus and FF VII which are the untouchable fanboy pillars of esoteric gaming.

Finally, no article, opinion piece or post should ever include any heading as dumb as "Misery is friggin’ awesome." No, actually misery is miserable. We here at FPSS have all know each other for some time, and at times Ben and I have debated how one should approach their emotions. I always held that the most important thing was honesty in expressing how you feel; if you see reasons to feel sad, then feel sad, if you see reasons to be happy, be happy. Ben would say that the negative effects of sorrow and pain can be avoided by changing your frame of mind, and it's more important to focus on trying to keep yourself happy. However, neither of us would endorse the sort of feelings that were put forth in this article:

But misery? Misery, as said above, sticks with you forever. Misery can ruin your life, and fuel your creativity. Misery can give you purpose and drive where simple happiness and contentment lead to stagnation. Not to get any more philosophical or condescending than I already have, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see that misery present in video gaming, as well?

Not to be superior or snarky, but philosophical and condescending peg this article quite well. People (hopefully) grow out of this mindset as they leave their teenage years. At best, this attitude could be described as adolescent, and at worst this sort of wallowing is pathetic. So much great art has been inspired by natural beauty, or aspiration to create something beautiful, or to prove your love to someone, and to suggest that all art comes from misery is downright mean and cold to the bone.

Have the chutzpa to enjoy something - in the words of South Park:

BUTTERS: Wuh-ell yeah, and I'm sad, but at the same time I'm really happy that somethin' could make me feel that sad. It's like, ih ih, ih it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt somethin' really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I'm feelin' is like a, beautiful sadness. I guess that sounds stupid...

GOTH 1: Yeah.

STAN: No. No, Butters, that doesn't sound stupid at all.

BUTTERS: Well, thanks for offerin' to let me in your clique, guys, uh but, to be honest, I'd rather be a cryin' little pussy than a faggy Goth kid. Well see ya, Stan.

STAN: He's right. I don't even know who I am anymore. I like liking life a whole lot more than hating it. Screw you guys, I'm goin' home.

GOTH 2: Go ahead and go back to your sunshine fairytale!

No Butters, it doesn't sound stupid to me at all.