If you have been following the Game Developer’s Conference this weekend there are a couple talks which really stole the show. Two that have been making headlines is the “Sex in Video Games” talk given by David Gaider, lead writer for Dragon Age and the “We Are Not Heroes: Contextualizing Violence Through Narrative,” talk given by Spec Ops: The Line Lead writer, Walt Williams. Both presented strikingly interesting opinions about the future of the industry and how its lackadaisical approach to such topics as violence and sex hurt the creativity of the industry.
I don’t personally think that sex or violence are inappropriate in games, I don’t think that violent video games leads to violent people. I think the people who play games are –for the most part– well adjusted, socially amicable human beings. However, I do think that games consistently suffer from forcing violence and sex into their products in an attempt to become maturely provocative, and while the themes are mature, the execution of them often is not. It is rare that people question why they are killing their way through room after room of enemies or how they manage to wipe out a hundred villains with barely a blink, instead it is an assumed part of gameplay that is more a box on a checklist than a creative decision. The same is true of sex, where these scenes are often more about the titillation of young men, than telling a story about romantic relationships.
Gaider gave an interview to Rock, Paper, Shotgun before taking the stage at GDC where he talked in great length about the fine line between creating sexuality in a game and creating sexist material. The topic of sexsim has been hot recently. Anita Sarkeesian has started releasing her Tropes vs. Women series, reviewing sexism in games. Gears of War designer, Cliff Bleszinski, wrote a blog article about Sarkeesian’s series defending her position. Other articles have also addressed sexism in the industry in general as Kotaku wrote about two high ranking developers leaving the International Game Developer’s Association after the non-profit organization had lewd dancers at its party. Also, former games journalist and PR representative Meagan Marie recently wrote a fantastic blog piece about her experiences with sexism in the industry. The issue of women in games–both in the industry and audience–has been a subject of debate for what feels like an infinity. However, Gaider’s speech at GDC spoke about the topic with some real insight.
Summarizing his ideas, Gaider said, “I’m not talking about needing to go out and say, ‘Oh, how do we attract women?’ How about we just decide how not to repel women? I think that’s all they’re asking for, really! That’s how you invite them, because we see they’re already interested in playing, so welcome them to the table”
Women are a key demographic in the games industry, in any industry, and pushing them away is an impractical business move. As Gaider states, the goal isn’t for the industry to go out of its way to create female-specific content, the goal is to make the great content already in the industry less gender specific. Instances like the Dead Island: Riptide special edition pre-order with the limbless, bikini-clad torso, or the trophy controversy in God of War: Ascension shine a negative light on the industry. The argument isn’t about whether or not people should be offended by these things. The argument is, in an industry where big name companies are going under or surviving by regurgitating sequels, can triple-A titles afford to drive away an entire demographic?
Then came the talk from Spec Ops: The Line writer Walt Williams who admitted in his speech that he was surprised Spec Ops even made it to store shelves. Williams confronted the idea that the reason video games are consistently violent is because the violence is an easily consumed way to create “filler” material in between story beats. Williams talked about how Spec Ops used the audience comfort with violence to bring attention to what the player was actually doing.
Williams continued, giving some critical analysis on why violence in video games was so widely accepted, “[Developers have] allowed killing to become not simply mundane, but run-of-the-mill.”
While Spec Ops: The Line pulled off an impressive trick, drawing the players attention to the horror of their body count, it was an easy tick. One that relied on the current state of video games and players disassociation with their actions on screen. Williams continues to look deeper into the issue stating, “…we’re an industry full of very intelligent, often aggressive people, and we know that the blanket use of violence is wrong. It’s getting harder and harder for us to play these games and to look at them critically and say, ‘This is okay. This makes sense.’ Especially as we get older, especially as we play more of them.”
This reminds me of a line Cliff Bleszinski used in a personal blog entry stating, “Why are there so many shooters? Because it’s easy to make a trace in code to see if you virtually “tagged” someone.” The laziness of violence in video games is what strikes home to me. How often have shooter mechanics felt run-of-the-mill? In games like Mass Effect or Uncharted, how often do the gun battles feel bloated or uninteresting?
Sex and violence are part of any medium. They are part of the human experience and thus important to any story that is attempting to be told. I don’t have any qualm with the use of either. However, as the industry evolves and progresses, it becomes interesting to see how these sensitive subjects will be treated in the future.
Did you catch any of Gaider’s or William’s talks? Are there games you felt handled their violence or sex in good way? Any that were particularly bad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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