If any of you pay attention to video games, you know that the indie games have been making quite a bit of noise lately. Arguably, most of these games are complete and utter crap. Others rise to become more popular than the others, such as Limbo.
Unfortunately, most of the quality indie games get overlooked. One such game is a game I recently watched a full playthrough of and actually purchased on Steam called To the Moon. This game has one of the best stories I've ever experienced in ANY medium, not just video games. I've only ever been moved by a fictional story as much as that a few times in my life.
But, a lot of people don't know about this game. And it there are two factors as to why. First, it's a video game. Second, it's an INDIE video game.
How is it being a video game a factor? Let me clarify:
Video games are still very much the little brother to cinema and television. While it's very lucrative, it's still a form of media that's looked down upon and not recognized. Sure, you all know who Morgan Freeman or Tina Fey are, but do you know who Nolan North is? Do you know who Jennifer Hale is? Do you know who Troy Baker is? Are you familiar with them without having to look them up? Chances are, most of you don't and those three are all veterans in their own field.
I can say with almost 100% certainty that most people don't look at video games as an art form. Let me use the previous example of Morgan Freeman. He's a well-respected member of society who earned that respect through his ability to act. How many voice actors have earned that? Granted, they haven't been at it as long. But, in ten or twenty years, will these veteran voice actors earn that kind of respect, or anything close to it? It's hard to say; I don't have any kind of foresight. But, I find it highly unlikely.
And yet, video games have the potential to be as legitimate an art form as books or movies or television or stage or painted art. There are some truly fantastic games out there with great stories, beautiful environments, fleshed-out and interesting characters, and engaging storylines - all created by people who have spent years perfecting their craft, just the same as any author, director, or painter would.
Even still, many of these go unnoticed by a majority of the public. People still see video games as childish and immature when, for the most part, it's the opposite. As time passes, (most) games are maturing with their audiences. And I'm not just talking about adding in more sex or violence. There are subtleties and themes present in games that younger crowds may have a harder time grasping. Of course, there are still plenty of games that spoonfeed its audience, as if we're idiots and need everything explained to us.
That brings me back to my point. People will ignore games with fantastic stories like To the Moon for the simple fact that they're video games. But, games like these deserve to be experienced. It has nothing to do with it being a video game and everything to do with the presence of such a fantastic story. You should want to experience these things because of the story and nothing else. If you like good stories, you're doing yourself a disservice by not witnessing some of these stories, such as the one from To the Moon.
In a lot of cases, you don't even need to purchase and play the game to experience what it has to offer. Many games, including To the Moon, have playthroughs on YouTube - many of which are divided up into manageable chunks of time, since most people don't have time to sit for four hours straight (the approximate playtime of To the Moon) to watch a playthrough. Not liking to play video games isn't much of an excuse anymore.
That leads me to another question. How many more games like To the Moon are being neglected, not just by the public, but by many so-called "gamers"? This isn't just exclusive to games either. Books and movies are also just as susceptible to it. It can be discouraging from the point-of-view of a storyteller (which I am one) to know that no matter the quality of your work, it still may go ignored by a great many people.
It just goes to show that big companies care more about selling big than giving their consumers a quality product. After all, companies like EA or Activision keep regurgitating the same product under the guise of new, and people keep buying them. I bet if they actually improved the quality of their products, a large portion of people who previously purchased their products wouldn't buy what they were putting out. Change scares people. Gamers are no different.
I'll close by saying that if you made it this far, seriously go and check out To the Moon. Seriously. Either buy it on Steam for $10, or watch people playing it on YouTube. You won't regret it.
No comments:
Post a Comment