Inspiration: A Game Don't Need Guns

Grand Theft Auto V. As if you could not guess.

I ended last week’s entry with, “Another thing I don’t like: non-violent videogames aren’t taken seriously.” That’s what it looks like to me anyway.

I need to clarify. What I really meant was that abstract and creatively-inspired games are not taken seriously. This degradation isn’t limited to videogames. The animated movie industry has produced some amazing titles (particularly from PIXAR studios). The sad thing is, few people give such films the credit they’re worth.

They just don’t take them seriously! Of course most of them are comedies (that’s a whole other issue). But, come on people, these are works of art. ART!

The devs themselves are partly to blame. Any colorful and abstract game is typically geared toward children, or at least overly considerate of them. They have  a watered down meaning. It’s like the games themselves are acting the fool just to get people to like them, throwing out their dignity for laughter. Kind of like a clown.

Nonsense. This needs to stop. If shooters, racers, and button-mashing action games can be taken seriously, so can games that tell a story or games that require one to think a little differently. The fans need to demand  more or the developers need to give more. I am happy to take the first step.

Short End of The Stick

As a child, I was limited to playing Everyone rated games—there were few exceptions. My parents were good intentioned and I agree with the majority of their choices.

With such a large library of awesome rated E games, you have so many amazing choices! I’m joking.

My situation was complicated even more by these restrictions: no magic games, no games with demonic references , no blood, no swear words, no half-dressed women. At all. That leaves me with...not much.

The rules aren’t as strict in our house anymore. But what this created for me was a gameography of essentially “kiddy” titles. Some of those titles were excellent (I really enjoyed Super Monkey Ball 2) and others were junk. I learned how to distinguish between the two early on.

Nintendo was a close friend for me. I could rarely find a great, acceptable game that they didn’t publish.

Today the world is a bit different, but in summary:

•      You have bright casual games for people who don’t even play games (E rated)
•       You have shooters and racing games for the mainstream hardcore (T and M rated)
•  You have cheap shovelwear for kids and the family (E rated)
•         And you have the Indie library which is THANKFULLY expanding with great and decent titles! (E to M)

I’m not focused solely on the ratings themselves (and just so you know, I have my racing, shooting, and action games that I like…especially action.) What disturbs me is that people are so short-sighted, and all they want is their adrenaline rush. On the other hand, developers are so narrow that all they conceive to produce are these action-thriller games.

There’s a connection, isn’t there? Either the devs need to offer more, or the gamers require more.

“The Amoeba Of Light” isn’t a magic bullet. I just want respect for my game and for the art I see in games. And “The Amoeba Of Light”  is going to be serious and deep enough to change a least a few people’s minds.

Grand Theft Auto Screen from http://www.thegamingliberty.com/2012/11/19-brand-new-high-res-grand-theft-auto-v-screenshots-right-here/ , “19 brand new high-res Grand Theft Auto V screenshots RIGHT HERE.” Original image from © 2014 Game Informer.