I’m going to admit something that should come as no surprise: I enjoy reading comics. In fact, I’m willing to wager that many of you reading this also look forward to Wednesdays and the promise of new titles hitting the shelves of your local comic book store.
Yet if you were to publicly admit to being a fan of Green Lantern or The Fantastic Four, you’re likely to get more raised eyebrows than if you said you played Modern Warfare 2 or Madden 2010.
So why is one hobby looked upon with scorn while the other is safer to admit to in mixed company?
Chris Hecker believes he knows the answer.
At a keynote address at last November’s IGDA Leadership Forum, Hecker, a respected independent developer, warned that video games were at a crossroads. “If we continue on our current path, we'll end up in the pop cultural ghetto where comics are.” He went on to state that “games will be the preeminent art and entertainment form of the 21st century – if we don’t screw it up.”
There it is. Comics are the bottom rung of the cultural ladder. But are video games in danger of joining them?
I don’t see it happening for two key reasons:
1) As bad as Jack Thompson is, he’s no Frederick Wertham: A psychiatrist by trade, Dr. Wertham wrote the book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 that claimed comics were responsible for juvenile delinquency, homosexuality, and Communism. Spurred by the book, the U.S. Congress got involved and recommended that publishers adopt self-regulation. The Comics Code Authority was created, a de facto censor for the industry that not only buried the top publishers of the day but crippled the medium’s momentum into the mainstream – a cut so deep the scar is still felt today. It’s fortunate that no detractors of video games today are willing to make such fanatical claims and the ESRB is a regulatory board, not a censorship agency.
2) Comics aren’t looking to expand their readership: Aside from the sporadic re-launch of a marquee title like Batman or Iron Man to draw in new readers, comics are laser-focused on the same audience they’ve always had: under- or overweight guys with bad personal hygiene that live in their parents’ basements. Video games, however, are actively looking to broaden their appeal, as anyone who’s bought a Nintendo Wii or spent countless hours playing FarmVille or Mafia Wars on Facebook can attest. With easy, intuitive controls and a low barrier to entry, more people are likely to call themselves gamers than pick up an issue of The Flash.
So, no, I don’t necessarily agree that video games are in the cultural ghetto. If you’ll excuse another crude metaphor, video games are in the cultural suburbs. They enjoy a healthy existence in the pop culture spectrum between books and television with an audience that grows wider and more accepting of them with every passing day. For the most part, it’s a safe and comfortable existence.
However, I also believe that video games can’t stay in the suburbs forever.
If we hope for games to someday be taken seriously as a medium with depth and substance, they’ll need to evolve and develop along with the audience. Much like kids growing up in the suburbs, they can’t hope to reach their full potential unless the dare to venture out of the security of the familiar. It’s a challenging and painful process to be sure, but unless developers are willing to take chances and occasionally break from the safe bet of Call of Madden Rock Band Hero, video games will eventually be disparaged as a medium that delivers no meaningful or worthwhile experience, much like comics books are today.
The burden of responsibility also lies with us as gamers. We should expect, even demand, more of games. There’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying titles like Left 4 Dead 2 or Street Fighter IV. Much like The Avengers or JLA, they’re enjoyable distractions of little substance and lots of style. We should also desire to see games like Heavy Rain and The Last Guardian that push emotional boundaries as well as technological, much like how we should be familiar with comics that attempt to raise their profile, like Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus or Alan Moore’s Watchmen.
It’s unlikely that video games will be discussed in The New York Times anytime soon as Chris Hecker hopes they will. But I do believe that the day is soon approaching where discussing games at a dinner party will be met with thoughtful discussion instead of sarcastic contempt. At least, I hope they will.
In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy this week’s Green Lantern Corps.
