Tuesday, November 23, 2004
A View to a Kill - JFK Reloaded is just plain creepy.
This one's all over the news today - a new game that let's you play at assassinating Kennedy. It might sound a bit sick, but the makers have a good point when they remark that this historical event has been depicted in every medium except video games, until now. Why is it that we're happy to watch films, documentaries, news reports, and even fictional shows (Quantum Leap, if anyone's interested) that explore this event, but putting it into a game makes it so much more distasteful? The object of the game is not to kill the president in as brutal a way as possible, it's to explore whether you can do it the way they said it happened. It's a simulation, an exploration of history, and apparently a damn good one at that. But obviously, with the likes of Vice City, Manhunt etc currently getting bad press for the games industry, people are happy to write this one off as an exercise in bad taste. I'd like to think (or at least hope) that it's closer to the educational experience that the designers claim it to be.
This one's all over the news today - a new game that let's you play at assassinating Kennedy. It might sound a bit sick, but the makers have a good point when they remark that this historical event has been depicted in every medium except video games, until now. Why is it that we're happy to watch films, documentaries, news reports, and even fictional shows (Quantum Leap, if anyone's interested) that explore this event, but putting it into a game makes it so much more distasteful? The object of the game is not to kill the president in as brutal a way as possible, it's to explore whether you can do it the way they said it happened. It's a simulation, an exploration of history, and apparently a damn good one at that. But obviously, with the likes of Vice City, Manhunt etc currently getting bad press for the games industry, people are happy to write this one off as an exercise in bad taste. I'd like to think (or at least hope) that it's closer to the educational experience that the designers claim it to be.
Comments:
There is a frightening amount of disgust levelled at the gaming industry. The reason for this off the top of my head is because the game is an active/ participatory interface.
When you watch JFK getting shot on TV you are watching something passively. You can kid yourself that you're not taking gratification in the violence and you can say its okay anyway because the program makers are feeding it to you, it's not your fault you're a consumer.
With a game you initiate several levels of activity. You had to want to buy that game, you had to want to play it, you had to want to participate in it. You didn't just come across it on TV and leave it on for educational purposes. So whether the game is educational or not people are going to direct their disgust at you because you admitted a level of morbid desire by participating actively in this game.
See www.gamestudies.org for some interesting essays on these kind of responses to games and gaming culture.
Only posted anonymously, by the by, because i don't have a username for blog, being a livejournal heathen.
Jen Crowe
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When you watch JFK getting shot on TV you are watching something passively. You can kid yourself that you're not taking gratification in the violence and you can say its okay anyway because the program makers are feeding it to you, it's not your fault you're a consumer.
With a game you initiate several levels of activity. You had to want to buy that game, you had to want to play it, you had to want to participate in it. You didn't just come across it on TV and leave it on for educational purposes. So whether the game is educational or not people are going to direct their disgust at you because you admitted a level of morbid desire by participating actively in this game.
See www.gamestudies.org for some interesting essays on these kind of responses to games and gaming culture.
Only posted anonymously, by the by, because i don't have a username for blog, being a livejournal heathen.
Jen Crowe
(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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