Article Watch: Can Video Games Be Our Friends?
Posted by ASandoval on November 3, 2009 under Games | 
3 Comments to Read
I very rarely read the long pieces at Kotaku. Not for any particular reason against the site, but I’m generally not interested in what they have to say and they can be a bit on the long side. I’m the kind of person who likes to just grab my news and go; I’ll just stick to the latest magazine like top 5 or developer interview at 1up, thanks.
Tim Rogers of Action Button Dot Net’s article grabbed me for two reasons: The title, seen in my title, and that it had to do with Love Plus, a dating simulation game in Japan. Dating simulations are by no means rare, but this one has been stirring all kinds of controversy in its native country because of its use of the DS function. For example, Tim begins the article by explaining the difficulty he had saying I love you, a word he mentions he does not use normally and has difficulty saying in actual situations, into the DS microphone to advance the game’s narrative.
What goes from their is an extremely indepth look at the emotional connections we make with our games, and the societal and design problems when a game like this one tries to force that connection onto the player itself. Insightful but never pompous thanks to Rogers’ loose humor, the article hits on many angles. Some of its educational as to why Japanese culture is so open to dating sims, hostess bars and general issues of sexuality, to the divide between ‘casual’ and ‘core’ gamers, and to the heart of the issue: How can a video game be considered art?
Its worth noting that the article is more than a tad on the long side and has a tendency to veer off course, but it never seems haphazard and all threads opened do eventually get closed, albeit not always in the same paragraph. There’s also a bit of sappiness every once in a while, some of which may be the emotional pangs of someone who is growing up (On some of his longer rants about the connection he has to games as well as the people who play them, Rogers constantly reminds us to how old he is), but again, there’s enough light hearted humor before it goes into the realm of being pretentious.
This was a somewhat touching and insightful read, so I decided to share. Hopefully you’ll feel the same way.
Source: Can Video Games Be Our Friends? (Via Kotaku)
furrykef said,
For example, Tim begins the article by explaining the difficulty he had saying I love you, a word he mentions he does not use normally and has difficulty saying in actual situations, into the DS microphone to advance the game’s narrative.
I find this particularly interesting considering that the concept of the phrase “I love you” — in the way that we usually use it — simply does not exist in Japanese. You will often see it translated as 愛している (aishite iru, often romanized as ‘aishiteiru’ without the space), which does quite literally mean “I love you”, but Japanese people just don’t say it to each other. The Japanese sentiment seems to be, “Don’t say it, show it.”
Strangely enough, when a Japanese person wants to ignore convention and say it anyway, they often choose to just say it in English.
- Kef
JRGBruno said,
“Its worth noting that the article is more than a tad on the long side and has a tendency to veer off course, but it never seems haphazard and all threads opened do eventually get closed, albeit not always in the same paragraph.”
That’s the case with pretty much everything Rogers has ever written. But pound for pound, I think he remains the most interesting writer about videogames today. Have you read his review of Super Mario Bros 3 over at action button dot net? It’s classic.
ASandoval said,
No, I have not but I think I will seek it out now. Thanks!
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