How come there isn't more video game analysis?

[DeathReaper47]

Films, books, music, comics, television...that all have plenty of blogs and websites that dissect the meanings. There are thousands of sites devoted to writing about games and hundreds of thousands of people talking about games, but almost no one is doing so from anything resembling a critical perspective. It all dissolves into "Wow, the graphics for this gun is super realistic!" Reviews are great before you buy a game, but doesn't really hold up afterwords.

When I watch a movie or read a book, its great to go online, go into serious criticism(enriching the experience), and then re-watching/re-reading with a whole new understanding. With video games, its just "Wow, that was fun" or "Wow, that sucked!" and a thousand little variations of the same theme.

Is that the fault of the gaming industry? Of course, its a business and they want to make fun things people will pay money for, but can't the same thing be said for the film industry? Even in movies made for more general audience, like Star Wars, has a lot of deeper themes to ponder and analyze, which is done regularly on countless blogs and message boards. Gaming doesn't have something like that. I mean, Halo wishes to have some kinda of deeper though and commentary going on, but its end up being generic space alien wars and foul-mouthed kids fragging each other.

Its kinda like the entire industry is filled with nothing but summer blockbusters. Some of these end up like Michael Bay, others end up like Steven Spielberg, but its all made for entertainment, isn't it? Surely you can't go too deep into the realms of Super Mario Bros 3, hmm?

Should the game industry step it game up?

[DaDesiCanadian]

It's mainly because most games are really, really shallow, and a majority of the people discussing them online are young.

Obviously, there are exceptions.

[Vicious_KAT]

I once attended an academic conference and gave a presentation about the relevance of political ideology in the Front Mission series. Another guy gave a presentation about Super Columbine Massacre 3D, and another guy still about Metal Gear 1. We got questions about the "revolutionary potential to develop critical consciousness" of these games. Do you really think that games have this kind of purpose? I think most gameplay falls outside the realm of "critical consciousness" as it stands right now.

I think games CAN be criticized on traditional terms, for example I want to write a paper about Okami and religiosity, but really game criticism is in its infancy and we don't have a very good vocabulary to talk about games yet. If you want to see that change work on helping to develop it!

[Darkstalker]

I don't think games currently have much to say when it comes to say, critical thinking or subjects of similar ilk.

However, I feel that there is a lot to talk about regarding the construction (or deconstruction) of genres, interface issues, game mechanics, and the like.

[Taito]

Video games are a juvenile pastime. There are only a few games you can point out with a story and presentation with artistic merit anywhere near the ballpark of quality cinema or lierature. The publications that attempted to analyze gaming with any degree of maturity were beaten out by fanboy journalism. Hell, vg journalism in general is endangered because there's no demand for it.

The best you're going to get is knowledgeable technical analysis in vg production, modeling techniques and sales/industry trends.

[DeathReaper47]

I've been in some pretty big discussions involving Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Half-Life 2, and Braid, but for every one of those, theres a Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War, and Madden to fix the balance.

[Radiantsilvergun3]

I think LOK is an interesting commentary on Free Will and Destiny.

[ElderGOD]

Video games are a juvenile pastime.

In the early/mid 90s, SF was cool and it was cool to play it regardless of age.

Now gaming has degraded to teens and preteens and macros.


As far as this thread goes, OP should research Starcraft in Korea.

[pherai]

Games telling stories is just a by product of delivering a fun interactive activity. I think applying literary analysis to games is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. As much as I loathe video game reviewers, they at least still attempt to review games that aren't in the hotter genres (puzzle, fighters, strategy). I think starting to review games as movies looking for symbolism and shit is losing track of what makes games different from movies, and discourages games that don't make an effort on that front (STREET FIGHTER). The true innovation in gaming isn't some carefully crafted story, but creative new game designs.

[FurryCurry]

You guys all pretty much hit the nail on the head.

[EVARGNUG]

I'd often thought about games like Final Fantasy but without the "fantasy"; it would have good production values in everything in a game like FF but not necessarily be a contrived (not to mention gaudy) RPG. It'd be great, though, for someone to "break out" with a game that was conscious in how a movie or a book might be.

[tsj76isback]

Short answer: Because, according to the mainstream media, video games are not art.

Everything you mentioned (books, movies, TV shows, etc.) is considered art by most people in the world (not just America and the East). Plus, gaming is something that developed in a niche community, and even though many more people play games now than say the 70s and 80s; the vast majority of people don't game.

Plus, like what's already been said. 70% of games now are a rip off of the other 30%. How many knock off Halos/Call of Dutys/Devil May Crys/Grand Theft Autos/Final Fantasys have you played recently? And generally speaking, because the community is so small, we decisively define what is "good" and what is "bad," something that leaves little room for debate. Finally, unlike say books, movies, or TV - there are objective and identifiable things that can move a game from good to bad. I.e. Bad controls, bad camera angles, etc. Thus unlike a book, nobody debates the merits of (insert broken, unplayable game name) because the controls were so bad nobody played past the 1st level.


Edit: As pessimistic as that may have sounded, doesn't mean they won't get there. Comic books in particular were around for a very long time before they were considered art by the mainstream community. And then, only a few.

[The Damned]

Even though everything has mainly been said already, I would also think that part of the reason that games aren't reviewed very much would also have to games being time-consuming.

Sure, there are speed-runs and such, but a lot of the games with kind of "deep story" (or at least aspiring to) are RPGs, which take at least 20-30 hours on average. That's like 10-15 movies right there, at least twice as many TV episodes, and even more comics. The only media that regularly comes as close to being possibly as time-consuming are (really thick) books, but that all depends on your reading speed, interest and the type/"depth"/technality of material; due to the textbooks not really being reviewed (at least in the popular sense), that last "obstacle" for book length is often moot.

I mean, hell, I finished the fourth Harry Potter in like at most 10 hours because it was engaging; I don't think I've ever played an RPG for that long.

On top of that, for all the length of said "story-based" games, even with save-states, it's not easy to go back to the area you want to analyze. You either have to make save-states for every point in the game (and maybe even record all the cutscenes unless the game is "nice" like FFX and let's you view them later on in the game) and transcribe all the dialog or you have to find someone else who did it already or played through the game on like Youtube or something.

I really don't think any other media would really so much on the (lacking) kindness of strangers. With everything else, you can just turn to a page or particular time and review that scene in-depth. Not so with games (that have "deep" stories).

Hell, as much as I like Final Fantasy Tactics, I don't think I would ever (have the time and concentration) to transcribe the entire Game Script of it that's over on FAQs.

Then on top of that is basically what DaDesiCandian and others have said: most of these "deep games" have immature, overly emotional, blindly devotional fanbases "discussing them" (read: either masturbating over them or yelling at each other, often both) that no professional (or semi-professional) is going to put with.

As usual, stupid fans kill things.

[ckrazy]

I see games made into movies or tv shows all the time in Asian media.... for what it worth America will follow suit sooner or later.

[The Damned]

I see games made into movies or tv shows all the time in Asian media.... for what it worth America will follow suit sooner or later.

Not to be an ass, but I fail to see what that actually has to do with the analysis question. Unless you're implying that somehow being made into a movie or tv show would make a game more in-depth than its original form already is, which I would say that not been the case for anything made from a videogame. (Well, anything well-known anyway.)

For example, Mortal Kombat, for all its sucky gameplay outside of one or two games, probably has the most in-depth story of all fighting games out there and is also most likely the one to have the least episodic nature. (I'm looking at you Tekken Tag Team.)

It got reduced to episodes like (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-zLJpUMtk) this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CZQ0D1K6xU&feature=related)

So unless you count negative reviews as a good thing, I don't see how it becoming a poor movie or TV series would help it become anything other than a meme. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzuNIokrJZw)

(Let's not even talk about Mortal Kombat Annhilation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKxpkcvL84&feature=channel_page).)

[Black Chanler]

Good points are being made.

I think there is little analysis because Videogame culture encourages you to play to improve skill instead of analyze. Then so much of the story aspect is either written bad or froced on you.

[Madden:RobotBMX2K9]

Academia is filled with douche cunts who like using words that only they know, and in general, has had a history of douche cunttery of epic proportions.

To be fair, video games, or as i call it "interactive art" (because it makes me look cultured) has been around for a few years. Movies were just for cheap thrills back then. All the academic hipsters in their high horses drinking exotic wine with their pinky's up laughed at the masses who enjoyed this "crap".

It might be a matter of time before video games will get there, comics are there or are on their way there and they used to be looked down on.

The consumers want cheap thrills. This is why games are SO easy today, compared to back then. there has not been any innovation made in gaming in quite some time.

[Taito]

Good points are being made.

I think there is little analysis because Videogame culture encourages you to play to improve skill instead of analyze.
That was probably Smithsonian's rationale for inducting Virtua Fighter to their museum.

[P@nToM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s&feature=channel_page

Also check out his other videos, they are excellent.

[Kromo]

Too many opinions
Not enough consensus
No established institutions
no standard dialogues
Very complicated finances
Too many games
I think the reason games aren't taken seriously is entirely cultural, it just needs time.

[TigerGenocide]

You basically have to be high to sit around and talk about games on an in depth level since they are just a means to an end, they get your rocks off. Just like hookers and blow, its simple really.

[pherai]

I think the reason games aren't taken seriously is entirely cultural, it just needs time.

What is games being taken seriously? Korea takes gaming as seriously as anyone, but they don't has video game critics analyzing games to my knowledge.

To be honest, anyone who tries to analyze the stories of games sounds like a douchebag.

[FurryCurry]

You basically have to be high to sit around and talk about games on an in depth level since they are just a means to an end, they get your rocks off. Just like hookers and blow, its simple really.

Eh no.

Even hookers and blow get analyzed.

[Radiantsilvergun3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s&feature=channel_page

Also check out his other videos, they are excellent.Dude...thank you for that. Tis very awesome.

[Aria]

Yeah, I'd pretty much concur with most of the points mentioned here. You could go into analyzing the game development process or how one's skills should be adapted to a game and whatnot moreso in an article or two than telling how Bison made it alive after he was killed once, or how Mario always manages to beat Bowser countless of times, even beyond galaxies.




Then on top of that is basically what DaDesiCandian and others have said: most of these "deep games" have immature, overly emotional, blindly devotional fanbases "discussing them" (read: either masturbating over them or yelling at each other, often both) that no professional (or semi-professional) is going to put with.

As usual, stupid fans kill things.

This goes especially with the case of a popular, well known RPG series (or rather installment of that said series, where I have seen fans do some rather creepy shit, analysis or not). Then again, this can extend beyond video games into other genres/hobbies as well.

[PsychoSquall]

I once came across a great site that broke down the symbolisms within the Silent Hill games. Now those games are very interesting to dissect.

[shortpitched713]

To put it quite simply, for the most part games aren't about all that artsy fartsy shit. Game analysis tends to be much more utilitarian in nature, which I wouldn't at all consider a bad thing. And if you're looking for game analysis, well you're fucking reading the SRK forums, parts of which go as in depth into fighting game analysis as you could hope for.

But yeah, a majority of the "literature" about gaming is shallow and sucks. And the only real reason is that most people don't take video gaming seriously.

[Lantis]

Here is one theory I have.

Battletoads was created especifically to DESTROY CHILDHOODS!

It would ease the ground for later gruesome revelations like...Santa Claus doesnt't exist or....pubic hair....

[PsychoSquall]

Pacman is a tale about a man trapped in his own personal purgatory where he must reflect on the wrongdoings in his life. The ghosts are mental visualizations of people he has greatly wronged in the past coming back to haunt him, and no matter how much he tries to escape they will always come for him and make him suffer for as long as he tries to run away from the past.

When he obtains the power-pill this is an obvious reference to turning to substances instead of facing your problems. When you obtain a power pill your troubled past can no longer hurt you but only whilst you're under its influence, the ghosts come back to haunt you after you've 'sobered up' so to speak. If you try to escape from the gaps in the side of the screen you're brought back to the other side showing that this cycle will repeat for eternity until you face your inner demons.

Just look at Pacman, he's a circle with a piece missing, representing his incomplete self journey and him eating the pills littered throughout the maze is symbolic of him trying to find distractions and fill a void in his life. The only true way to win the game is to face your past head on and be set free from your entrapment in the maze of your mind, only then can you be whole again.

I didn't write that. Found it from somewhere I can't remember.

[Madden:RobotBMX2K9]

i would not be surprised if that got props from some intro to postmodernity bs class.

[shortpitched713]

But yous gots to eat the power pill before you face your demons head on, otherwise you die. Don't know how the hell you could fit that in though..

[felineki]

Super Mario RPG is pretty straightforward in its symbolism: Weapons destroy hope. Looked at in a broader sense, it's a metaphor for the human condition. Smithy and his weapon army embody humanity's negative, destructive traits (warfare, tribalism, greed, etc.). The Star Road, with its power to make wishes come true, embodies humanity's positive traits (empathy, benevolence, capability to improve the world). The message becomes clear: the negative easily overpowers the positive, preventing us from achieving our true potential. Only when we find a way to defeat the negative will we truly be able to shine.

[Gray Fox]

There's a conflict of interest between A) making a coherent deep plot, B)making a game people want to play and C)something that greedy corporate fucks will profit off of.

Usually A is the first to go followed by B.

[Pat the Great]

Speaking as someone who writes lots of video game analysis:

there is. there's a lot of it, in fact. it just isn't published in big magazines because no one wants to pay money for it, and whenever someone DOES write something provocative, they get mobbed down by haters saying that there's no point in analyzing games because they're not artistic like movies are. 90% of the comments i get on my blog are like that (http://tokenminorities.wordpress.com) - well, that and people asking me why i hate white people.

besides my blog, check out Escapist Magazine (www.escapistmagazine), the SelectButton (www.selectbutton.net) forums, Insert Credit, the occasional post at RockPaperShotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/)... just kind of click around from those sites and you'll find plenty of interesting stuff.

Also plenty of self-important douchebags, but hey.