Escapist Expo: Writing the Hard Stuff

[Team Hollywood]

Writing the Hard Stuff

Games are under a simultaneous tension: A demand for more thoughtful, mature material coupled with a knee-jerk condemnation of ?inappropriate? subjects. Can game narratives tackle questions of current events, political hot-buttons, race and gender issues, religion and more, or are we doomed to be perceived as strictly light entertainment?

Participants:
Toiya Kristen Finley
Jay Posey
Richard Dansky

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[LysanderNemoinis]

I think games can, but I hope that they don't, for the most part. Games are already art and are not just strictly entertainment. I mean, do we really need the games industry to get as whiny and preachy as television and movies? And honestly, did anyone complain about something like BioShock Infinite?
All I hear is people talking about "controversial" political and social issues, but all it really comes down to is the same tired cliches. You want to be controversial, tell me how much of a total shitstorm would be created if a game set in the Middle East included torture scene where a muslim villain tortured an American or an Israeli and showed them to be absolute monsters for doing it. Yes, there would be an outcry all around the world, but having the opposite featured in a game like Call of Duty, and no one bats an eyelash, and just says, "Well, that's just how it is." Give me a break...