Gamertell

Caveat Lector: This post may be considered offensive by some readers as it contains references to The Bible. I do not intend any disrespect and the references presented here are just facts.

Videogames have been under constant criticism and heavy scrutiny from different groups and people. Most of the time, these attacks are heavily biased and uninformed. People with little or no insight or experience with video games utter opinions as if they were experts and these comments are generally blown out of proportion by the media. These attacks will undoubtedly continue unless the perception of videogames changes from just toys for kids to a medium for telling a story equal to movies or books.

There is an interesting article by Bruce Everiss that uses the Bible to help put things in perspective regarding the ratings system and how it is used.

The Bible is considered by many to be the most important book in the world and one that is taught to children all over the world. Some people lead their lives by it and abide by its teachings.

If we were to examine the Bible under the same light as so many videogames, we would find it potentially inappropriate reading material for children. A website that can search the King James Bible for content was used to look for some references, the results show that the word “harlot” is used dozens of times as well as others such as “fornicator” and “sodomite.”

I have never read The Bible, but if I was to take the role of some of the game critics that have been on the news recently, namely Cooper Lawrence on her attack on Mass Effect on Fox News, I would never allow my kids (if I had kids) near reading material where those words were used.

This example shows how misinformation can take a story - be it a book, movie or videogame - and turn it into something totally different. Every story has a certain context and it can’t just be taken out of it and turned to pieces and then exposed and criticized for its elements. Maybe the rating system has to be rethought and not just based on the words or images shown in a story. Maybe it could take into account other factors such as the context in which a story develops or the motivation for the actions of its characters.

Videogames are a way of experiencing a story in a more immersive and interactive way and they should be treated as such by critics. As long as they are seen just as toys gone bad, people are going to judge them using a sex = bad and ponies = good approach and we will keep on getting this kind of episodes on the media.

Allowing for diverse stories and themes helps in involving different kinds of people and in time this will help games evolve as a form of entertainment and hopefully for us people who like games, foster better and more innovative titles.

Read [Bruce on Games] Also Read [PRWeb] Site [Bible Gateway]