Myth: Videogames Make You Smarter
I'd have to argue with this point because two items are never established:
a.) Smarter than what?, and
b.) Do the "certain skills" more prevalent in video game players not constitute superior intelligence?
Myth: Game Testing Is An Awesome Job
True, it is not a "fun" job. But right now, it may be the most important job is the development of electronic entertainment right now; because I get the feeling that with the current development cycles and deadlines for modern games, not enough time is being allocated to see if some games actually work. Anyone else played Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas? Is anyone else sick and tired of the game freezing up at random intervals? Could this and other problems have been prevented by more play and bug testing? The same goes for many games riddled with horrible bugs.
Myth: Game Design Is An Auteur's Medium
At last count, it takes about 217 people to design, produce and market a killer game. (Miller Freeman)
Yeah, they're right... It takes up to 20 or so to do a game (depending on the time frame and the complexity of the programming, artwork, etc.), 10 or so to market, publish and sell it, and 187 to stand around, collect salaries and ***** about the stock dropping. Yes, that's correct. (Mark Shander)
'nuff said.
Myths: Girls Don't Play Games
... what are they playing. And how old are they? No, seriously, what are they playing?
Myth: Gaming Is Social
Not yet, or not anymore. Or did the author mean video games? That may make a bit more sense. Here's the thing: gaming is, was, and will be social. Always. Hide and seek? Cops and robbers? Require more than one player. Pen & paper RPGs? Good luck trying that one alone. Video games developers are looking to social games as the future of their medium. No, not that Farmville crap. Competitive or cooperative games available via social networks, possibly platform-independent. This is due to the fact that many games prior to video games were social experiences. MMORPGs came into existence because of this fact.
Myth: Games Have No Artistic Merit
"Games are art, just as gravity pulls you to Earth and water quenches your thirst. It's not even debateable."
SOME games are arts, others are entertainment, and the rest are crap. A few are both art and entertainment. But, as a rule, any game that does not entertain me is crap. Any game that makes me want to save a screenshot because the current image on the screen was "freaking cool" is art. The presence of the word "art" and the phrase "not debatable" is a paradox. Appreciators of all arts have contested and debated for centuries. Games are not different. But, again, not all games are art, i.e. have no artistic merit.
Myth: PC Gaming Is Dead
Other than World of Warcraft and other MMORPG clones, real-time strategy games, social network games, and the occasional FPS with incredibly steep system requirements developed somewhere in Europe... what else is there? PC gaming right now looks like a planet with five types of animal life and a few dozen trees on it; unless you took a microscope to it, you'd think think it was uninhabited.
Myth: Casual Gaming Is Killing "Real" Gaming
1.) They don't make AD&D Gold Box games anymore. Previously complex games and genres are becoming more and more simplified, and that trend has endured longer there has been a distinction between "casual" and "hardcore" games. Compare Daggerfall and Oblivion; as technology incresed, complexity decreased.
2.) Casual games are cheaper and reach a wider audience. Mention "cheaper" and "reach a wider audience" to someone in the entertainment industry, and they are all over that like white on rice. In the future, it will be difficult to prevent this migration.
