Article: Getting Into Gaming

There is something strange about gaming that infects and quarantines those who play games, and blockades those who don't.

It's a comparison I stand behind.

For the most part, people either consider games a part of their everyday life, or they have a stock phrase in their vocabulary: "I don't play games."  To me, of course, that's like saying "I don't watch movies."

But I realized something the other day:  I don't watch movies.  Movies don't grab my attention anymore.  Previews don't look good.  The very concept of sitting in front of a screen for two hours while doing nothing else just turns me off.  I feel like my hands need to be doing something.  That's part of the reason there are always snack foods and popcorn in movie theaters.  You need to give your hands something to play with while you watch.

But other people--the "I don't play games" type--find games too intimidating, or too boring, or too complex, or too childish, or too something.  Games are for children, games have too many buttons, yadda yadda yadda.

Even people who play board games with their family or betting card games or sports seem to find videogames specifically just turn them off.  I can sympathize, because I feel that way with movies, because watching movies to me is just an activity that dropped off my radar in recent years, and I can't get back into them easily.

So the question becomes:  how do game developers create gamers out of non-gamers, when the instinct to avoid them is so thoroughly ingrained?  How do we entice potential players into trying a new game?

Once upon a time, mascots worked.  They really don't anymore.

A large segment of the population got into gaming through the simple, low stakes videogames like The Sims, and we can be thankful for getting those gamers, but there are still others where neither hardcore nor casual games hold any attraction.

So if we've addressed the complexity problem, what other obstacles are there?  Certainly, we should consider the misbelief that games are for children.

It's so strange to me that, in an era where the average player is over thirty years old, so many people still hold onto this belief that videogames are the lowest form of entertainment, and someday children must grow up and out of games and into enjoy movies, books, or whathaveyou.

And of course, these people are the kind that draw a huge distinction between videogames and sports, as if the physical activity in itself is what makes sports noble.

Sidenote: This is more of a rant than anything, but I always thought it was sillier to watch a game be played by others than to play it yourself, yet this is what a lot of people do, who are perfectly happy to sit in their chairs and watch a baseball game or football game, while complaining that videogame players are sloths that need to get out and exercise and that playing videogames will rot your brain.  But I digress.

A lot of people feel that this segment of the population is a lost cause.  I like to be optimistic, but some people are completely hopeless, like those who feel any sort of interaction means that medium is lower than passive forms of entertainment.  Novels are art; choose-your-own-adventure novels are crap, etc.

But I remain idealistic that someday most everyone will consider games a part of their life as they would consider any other entertainment.

So let's consider those who simply look at a game and see no appeal, either by graphics or content.

I think one solution is to make games with more movie-like content.  We have enough action games; let's try making a drama.  How do we make a Schindler's List game?  How do we make something so powerful that will hook non-players into trying a game?

Many avid gamers will pick out some of their favorite games with the best storylines and say that they would be Oscar-worthy if the Oscars did games.  But look at the trailers for games these days, and tell me if they capture the drama.  We get explosions for shooters, beautiful settings and striking melees for fantasy games, but we don't often see trailers that suck in non-gamers that show off the tragedy, the drama.

The first trailer for Dead Island had the right idea, with clever storytelling through reverse footage and a sad soundtrack, but there were two major problems with it, and both were systemic to games in general:

1. The CG looked like CG; and

2. The game is about zombies.

The first objection is simply one of technology.  People who like to watch live-action movies often have a more difficult time getting sucked into CG movies.  People who cried during Up don't have this problem, but a lot of people do, and would prefer real actors to CG models.

Of course, I think our foray into full-motion video is over with and probably shouldn't be brought back, but the technology of CG visuals in games still needs tweaking until you literally cannot tell the difference between a model and a real actor.  Only then will non-gamers who view a trailer like Dead Island's think it looks cool, especially if a person can be fooled into thinking it's a live-action movie.

The second objection is simply that no matter how dramatic such a game may be, the initial subject matter is enough to turn off most people, except to those who like zombie flicks.

I think a game trailer similar to Dead Island's, but for a war game, might strike a better chord.  People eat up war movies; they're realistic, dramatic, high-stakes.  A zombie movie could be just as dramatic and high-stakes, but few would argue realism.

If the latest Modern Warfare game had such a trailer, perhaps it would get more attention from non-players.

However, war games are also too common.  Another piece of the problem is that, no matter how good a single game might look to a non-gamer, it doesn't justify $300 for a system plus a $70 game for one experience.  The whole field of gaming needs more variety.  There need to be comedy games, drama games, and so on.

Well, I didn't say those genres don't need work.

When enough games of various genres come out for the PlayStation 7 or the Xbox 1080 that look ten times better in graphical quality than the Dead Island trailer, we'll see more non-gamers decide it just might be worth it to get the console.  Heck, as long as it doubles as an UltraVioletRay player, it can't hurt.