I think of the scene in the Hurt Locker where the main character has to clean off the blood off of his bullets in order to defend against a sniper. I realize that gassing up a Sherman tank or thoroughly cleaning a rifle in the next Call of Duty game may be an idea left on the cutting room floor, but its representative how small steps could effect the larger. Much like how the Sims, fantasy MMOs and Second Life, illustrate the joy that can be found in dry tasks and poetic monotonous interactivity, subtlety is an art that should be further cultivated in our culture. The missed opportunity to vocalize to the gamer, that not only is war hell but it is occasionally mundane and more importantly, not fun - is usually overlooked for the sake of a fist bump and a ‘Hoorah’ moment. Two games that separately, at every turn, are communicating how hellish war is. Why not try for more? When I see a game like Bad Company 2 and Modern Warfare 2, I see two missed opportunities. Great minds have created source engines that stream off of core processors and process gigaflops of information. “Keep your politics and emotional leanings out of my video games.” This stance of games needing to just be games is something I tussle with. Its the execution of games of this nature that need to change. The debate here is, would I rather delve into my consciousness to relate to this heartfelt story or will I choose to playfully bop on the heads of the Goomba-like characters and disregard ‘all that thinky stuff’? I gather I’m not alone in thinking this way. Here is a game that is essentially Super Mario Brothers with a cool time reversal mechanic, but wedged within the ones and zeroes is a message of how one deals with the loss of a lover. Why don’t we demand this from games? I have to smell the salt and realize that when gaming does endeavor to comment on, say, child abduction from a family in Heavy Rain - we see more flaws than the honest, overall attempt.īraid, a game I wasn’t particularly fond of, illustrates my point and debate succinctly. Though it lacks the polish of the many films made as the technology improved, the discussion such a film forced the general public to address makes me envious. “Birth Of A Nation” may not be as visually jarring now as it initially was upon during the era of the movie’s release.
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