Hello Readership!
I'm in a very interesting place right now as a gamer. I'm 27, i'm growing older and gaining some maturity as a human being in general. For the younger readers here who are asking themselves what's that abstraction called maturity, well it's a virus that strikes when you get 25 years old, enjoy youth while you can!
The point I'm getting to here is that I'm growing older a lot faster than video games are. As they have been gaining considerable maturity since the eighties, since the inception of shooter games in the mid nineties, it's been nothing but a long teenagehood for that art medium we all love. From the snappy retorts of Duke Nukem to the high fiving retards of Army Of Two, I don't feel that much have changed. They keep getting caught in the same wars, fighting the same bad guys, but they just act less and less maturely about it.
Thing is, gamers are growing old just like me. There is a lot of kids still playing but the average gamer is in his mid twenties, just like I was two years ago. I was reading a very article by Russell Carroll, a Wii game designer, on his blog and it got me thinking. The Wii, despite all of my attempts to make fun of it, it talking to a different generation of people.A generation which I will soon be a part of, the 35 years old and plus.
That places me in that interesting position I was telling you about. In eight years, will I have to let go of the gun wielding madness and get a Wii Fit? Dear god, if you're around, please strike me down before I get there! I sound drastic a little, but there is this cut made when it comes to older type of gaming. One day, everything seems cool to play...and the other day, you want the Wii Fit to stay in shape and turn your back on the shooters and all these other frantic games. I still want to play video games in eight years so, what will be there for me?
The industry will have to make some choices pretty soon, but these will be hard. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 just racked up some incredible numbers, but a lot of the core of the gaming community is growing older, our reflexes are slowing down and we get cranky having to deal with all these fourteen years old kids online. The numbers speak for themselves, but how long will it last? Infinity Ward is sitting on top of some very convincing numbers in order to continue doing what they do, but every concept has a life cycle. To make it last longer, you have to create new variables.
The safest variable there is, is us, the already acquired demographic. Despite being in it's all out glory of sixteen years old teenagehood, gaming HAS to evolves. Therein lies the paradox. If you were a gaming executive, what would you do? I'm going to preach to the choir a little bit here and invite them to start producing more mature stuff. Why? Well, Army Of Two and its buffed up jocks can stay, but creating diversity is going to please the almost-thirties demographic and bring new people in, like the Wii is doing.
I can see the argument: ¨Our target customer is an escapist, he wants to leave his reality for a few hours, so we give him an idealized alpha male role to vent his frustrations¨. That might excuse the existence of Marcus Fenix, but that still doesn't excuse Rios and Salem, my two favorite idiots. They are lazy, opportunistic character design and they pretty much embody the problem I'm discussing today.
So, where do we go from here? I've annoyed you guys with Heavy Rain for the last few weeks, but I still have to stress out it's importance in the future of video games. More than a groundbreaking format and narrative, it's trying to nail down mature thematics like no game ever did before. The success of this game will start a tidal wave of ¨Oh damn, I can do that too¨ reactions. So if it nails the box office, we'll experience a structural shift in game design. Games will stop targeting only fourteen years old and it will reach the next step of it's evolution towards getting to be recognized as a mainstream art medium alongside literature and cinema.
But, not all the games have to take that much risks. Some IPs are starting to take smaller steps towards maturation. Kane & Lynch who got maimed for having a terrible shooting system offered the gamer a very interesting story where the hero has to deal with flashbacks, medication and doesn`t take any apparent pleasure in doing his work. Dialogues were pretty vulgar at times, but the characters were strong enough to grant a sequel and I'm pretty happy about it. Eidos invested in narratives and it carried the game on its shoulders. Grand Theft Auto IV also tried to take a more mature approach. It turned it into some king of curmudgeon of a game though. When I beat it, I felt more depressed than anything. Rockstar was a little clumsy at it, but they are actually good at immaturity. They make it fun and not just a series of iconic images on a game that lack substance. Ubisoft Montreal with Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell also have to be mentioned for offering something more intellectual to its gamer. They replace reflex time by strategic approach to a level. I can't help but to like the games they are doing.
So you can see the problem. Taking risks will eventually be necessary to keep the audience they worked to hard to get. It's easy to close your eyes and to rehash your stuff, saying that you have good sells, but truth is, everything has a life cycle, games, genres...audiences... Just evolve along, the industry will grow richer and more diversified than ever.
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