I honestly think this comes from the insecurities gamers faced during the crusade against games in the 90's and early 00's. Back then, "Their coming to get your games." and "censorship" were very real possibilities. And back then, gamers united against any outside threat, imagined or otherwise, and rightly so.
Today is different, much different. Something I almost never see mentioned is the fact that video games are protected speech (speaking of the US). That alone has made them pretty much impossible to "censor", beyond the few "standards" in place for the larger games market. Indies have much more freedom in that respect. I mean, we are talking about challenging a decision the Supreme Court ruled on, you need a little more than some videos about tropes or a blog to take that on.
Now if that were the only obstacle to any sort of "censorship", I'd say games are pretty safe, but we also have the giant multi-billion video game industry to back that up.
On that front, the idea that anyone could force censorship of anything in a game, we are safe, safer than we've ever been.
I believe another part is, which has been mentioned, is that criticism, particularly of a "social" nature, is taken as a personal insult. For me personally this is a foreign concept, and it has led me to be somewhat insensitive to those who feel that way. I don't take what someone like Anita Sarkeesian says about my hobby personally. Nor do I feel ashamed for liking those games even if I agreed to some of her points. Its her opinion and I'm free to agree or disagree as I chose. Nobody should be ashamed for liking a game someone has said was "sexist", "racist", or whatever.
Criticism is just that, criticism. In and of itself it has no real power. The real power is with the developers/publishers and ultimately gamers. That's it. You don't buy a game or kickstart a game, game doesn't get made. This is even more clearly defined with indie games, where the target audience is really the only thing that matters beyond the developer's own creative decisions. They aren't under any real pressure to cater to an audience that has no interest in the game.
If we "gamers" believe we are mature enough to handle serious games we really need to start adjusting how we take criticism. Our games are safe, WE WON! And coming from someone who was very afraid that my game choices would be limited to "Barney and Friends", that feels really good. Say what you want about my hobby, I don't care, in fact I welcome it. If Anita Sarkeesian's videos (or really any other person with an opinion) inspires some developer to try something new or possibly give attention to an under developed character, great, we need this, games need this. Just like they need a developer to say "Yea, that's great, I'm going for boobies and bikini armor, thanks for the input." opinions be damned.
Movies, books, TV, all have had to deal with this and they are still around probably offending someone. Games have just reached that status. Which is what we always wanted. Its time we powered down the shields and allowed games to be taken seriously instead of trying to root out certain types of criticism. As long as games attempt to tackle social issues (of various forms) then that is going to be talked about, just like the other forms of mass media.
I can't stress it enough, criticism is so vital to video games, all forms of it. You can and should continue liking and playing your games despite what criticism is leveled against them. You are not a misogynist for liking The Witcher and the criticism of the "sex cards" produced, what I believe, was a far better way to present the sexual content in The Witcher 2. That's why I welcome this criticism, It challenges developers to do something or solidify why they should not do something different. Both are important.
TL;DR
I understand some of the reactions to criticism, but trying to get rid of it scares me.
Today is different, much different. Something I almost never see mentioned is the fact that video games are protected speech (speaking of the US). That alone has made them pretty much impossible to "censor", beyond the few "standards" in place for the larger games market. Indies have much more freedom in that respect. I mean, we are talking about challenging a decision the Supreme Court ruled on, you need a little more than some videos about tropes or a blog to take that on.
Now if that were the only obstacle to any sort of "censorship", I'd say games are pretty safe, but we also have the giant multi-billion video game industry to back that up.
On that front, the idea that anyone could force censorship of anything in a game, we are safe, safer than we've ever been.
I believe another part is, which has been mentioned, is that criticism, particularly of a "social" nature, is taken as a personal insult. For me personally this is a foreign concept, and it has led me to be somewhat insensitive to those who feel that way. I don't take what someone like Anita Sarkeesian says about my hobby personally. Nor do I feel ashamed for liking those games even if I agreed to some of her points. Its her opinion and I'm free to agree or disagree as I chose. Nobody should be ashamed for liking a game someone has said was "sexist", "racist", or whatever.
Criticism is just that, criticism. In and of itself it has no real power. The real power is with the developers/publishers and ultimately gamers. That's it. You don't buy a game or kickstart a game, game doesn't get made. This is even more clearly defined with indie games, where the target audience is really the only thing that matters beyond the developer's own creative decisions. They aren't under any real pressure to cater to an audience that has no interest in the game.
If we "gamers" believe we are mature enough to handle serious games we really need to start adjusting how we take criticism. Our games are safe, WE WON! And coming from someone who was very afraid that my game choices would be limited to "Barney and Friends", that feels really good. Say what you want about my hobby, I don't care, in fact I welcome it. If Anita Sarkeesian's videos (or really any other person with an opinion) inspires some developer to try something new or possibly give attention to an under developed character, great, we need this, games need this. Just like they need a developer to say "Yea, that's great, I'm going for boobies and bikini armor, thanks for the input." opinions be damned.
Movies, books, TV, all have had to deal with this and they are still around probably offending someone. Games have just reached that status. Which is what we always wanted. Its time we powered down the shields and allowed games to be taken seriously instead of trying to root out certain types of criticism. As long as games attempt to tackle social issues (of various forms) then that is going to be talked about, just like the other forms of mass media.
I can't stress it enough, criticism is so vital to video games, all forms of it. You can and should continue liking and playing your games despite what criticism is leveled against them. You are not a misogynist for liking The Witcher and the criticism of the "sex cards" produced, what I believe, was a far better way to present the sexual content in The Witcher 2. That's why I welcome this criticism, It challenges developers to do something or solidify why they should not do something different. Both are important.
TL;DR
I understand some of the reactions to criticism, but trying to get rid of it scares me.
