A grown up medium

Do video games need to grow up? I often hear this argument when browsing around online. Video Games need to grow up. We need to grow as an art form. Video Games aren't child toys anymore.

But that is exactly what they are... among other things. Video Games are a huge market and I would say that they already have grown up. I mean this culture is now in it's thirties. It better have.

Also what does ''grown up'' actually mean? If only ''deep'' and thought provoking experiences are grown up, that means that nothing is.

At first let's take a look at the movie industry, because this is the obvious goal and inspiration for the video games need to grow up crowd.

Movies are a medium for grown ups. One only has to look at the movie festivals like Cannes or Venice or the Oscars. Movies tackle deep sociological questions and give us food for thought.
But is that all? I have the feeling that many critics and fans of art house movies forget the simple fun one can have with movies. I once even heard the argument that having fun is childs play and a responsible adult needs to be intellectually challenged by his media.

Bullshit!

But this is not a rant about the movie industry. When we take a look at this industry, or general every industry that is considered art, we see that they are all very diverse. Not diverse as in racially diverse, but diverse in the content provided. When I watch movies I have a huge selection available. I can watch thought provoking art pieces or popcorn entrainment. I can watch Dallas Buyers Club or Sharknado. I can choose.

So lets compare the video game industry to movies and you will see that these two branches aren't so different anymore. In video games we also have huge popcorn entertainment like Call of Duty and smaller more thoughtful games like Limbo. We can choose between many different forms of video game entrainment.

And this brings me to the main gripe I have with these people, who want video games to grow up. They have a very childlike opinion about growing up. Their goal is that some kind of games aren't produced anymore, because they are not ''grown up'' or not ''art''. They often say that we need to get away from games like Bayonetta, which are pure mindless fun and need more thought provoking pieces. But the simple truth is that we can have both. We can have a huge array off different games. Why should we give that up, just that some guys in San Francisco can tell everyone how mature and ''grown up'' the gaming industry has become. These people often forget about the most important thing a video game can provide. A damn good time.

Taking something away. Reducing the options. That has nothing to do with growing up. The games industry is already grown up. Sometimes it even manages to combine thought provoking with mass appeal as seen with the Last of Us.

We even got something that both, the film and the music industry, lack. Gameplay.

  

picture source: Nintendo 

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was my game of the last year. It didn't challenge me intellectually (now technically is another story, because this game is fucking hard), but I simply had a great time playing through it. The perfect controls, the vibrant worlds and the challenge. This all created a experience that not movie ever could hope for. Gameplay creates a feeling of accomplishment. Something movies, books and music can't. It was I who navigated Donkey Kong and his friends through their perils. I reclaimed Donkey Kong Island. And the good thing is, that if I wanted a thought provoking game I also could've got that. This War of Mine is an excellent example for this.

Being Grown up also means that you have to accept that not everything is catered toward you! Some products just aren't meant for you. I'll never be a X-Box customer because Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty and Co don't appeal to me. I accept that. That also probably means I won't play Sunset Overdrive even though it looks like a lot of fun, but that is ok. As an adult I can make my own decisions and stick with them.

Many of these people want only what they deem ''grown up'' but in the process they appear as children, who just throw a tantrum.

Also if you read their demands on can only come to the conclusion that they just want another movie industry, because Gameplay, the one huge strength video games have, is only a secondary thought to them.

And in that case I have a simple solution... join the movie industry.

In essence what I wanted to say is that I'm for an open and diverse gaming industry. But taking away possibilities and fitting everything in your narro definition of ''grown up'' is pretty immature. Art defines itself through it's subjectivity. There is no universal guideline for it, and it's good that way.

So does the video game industry need to grow up?

No, because it already is.

Thanks for reading