Ways the games industry can improve its image
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Let's clean up our act
The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary set off intense political discussion on what groups in our society could be ultimately responsible for the incident, and talks of prevention have sprung forth. Some say it's the NRA's fault, others say video games cause people to be violent. Vice President Joe Biden recently met with representatives of the games industry to discuss solutions to the issue of gun violence in the United States, and the result came with a few suggestions.
His task force's advice to the games industry was to consider changing its public image, which, we agree could use a bit of spit-shine. So, games industry, no need to worry. We got this. We know just where games' messy spots lie, and we've got the polish to clean it all right up. All you have to do is follow these simple dos and don'ts.
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DO: Get parents to use the ESRB ratings
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DON'T: Make Bikini Torso Special Editions
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DON'T: Refer to a mode designed for less skilled players as 'girlfriend mode'
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DON'T: Use actual dangerous weapons as limited edition paraphernalia
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DO: Make a happy train
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DO: Make great games for kids
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DON'T: Make games with little or no value
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DO: Have awesome female lead characters
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DON'T: Put outrageously large breasts on them
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DO: Be honest in what you say and do
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DON'T: Eat Doritos and drink Mountain Dew
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DO: Show consequences for in-game actions
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DON'T: Glorify in-game violence
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DO: Know your target audience
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DON'T: Make mature games' ad campaigns target children living with their moms
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DON'T: Write a Top 7 about the most violent video games
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DO: Write a Top 7 about the least violent video games
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DO: Make artistic, thoughtful, interactive experiences
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DON’T: Include a token “controversy bait” level
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DO: Listen to your fans
What ways do you think the gaming industry could improve its image? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. We're listening.
And if you're looking for more, check out our 100 most anticipated games of 2013 and this week's Top 7.
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GoldenEagle1476 - January 19, 2013 1:56 p.m.
If parents can't simply read the ESRB ratings now, what's going to make them in the future? -
Pruman - January 18, 2013 10:38 a.m.
Part of the problem is that a large cohort of the baby boomer and older generation, or at a minimum, that generation's elites, views video games as a silly habit for children (blame whoever you want for this, but I tend to finger Nintendo and their perception as the Disney of video games). Everyone born after 1970 obviously knows better, but whenever something like sex in Mass Effect or the latest Grand Theft Auto comes along, the idiots who have no idea what they're talking about get up in front of the cameras shrieking "OMFG this game rewards kids for rape and murder!" because of this unfair stereotype. Normal people hear this and think "my God, how horrible!" Then, video games end up taking the beating because there is no one out there defending them, and even when they try, the right answer is still to "do something about it for the CHILDREN!!!!!" The first step in getting video games accepted by society as a legitimate and respected form of entertainment is killing this preconception that video games are all made only for children once and for all. Oh, and cutting the crap with all 5 things on this list would help a lot too: http://www.cracked.com/article_18571_5-reasons-its-still-not-cool-to-admit-youre-gamer.html -
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g1rldraco7 - January 18, 2013 6:26 a.m.
Good list,I just wish violent games would stop being targeted. -
CUFCfan616 - January 18, 2013 1:43 a.m.
I think the industry needs to find a way to fully educate parents buying games for their children beyond just sticking an age rating on the front cover. However, with brick and mortar stores closing down (GAME in Australia and now HMV in the UK, tell me if the same's happening in America), more and more people are buying games online and for some parents I'd imagine they'd be getting even less information about what they're buying than if they went into a store, even though there's probably more information available from an online store. -
punkduck2064 - January 18, 2013 9:25 p.m.
The industry has done everything they can to educate people on the rating system, but people are dumb. The MPAA didn't do much more to educate people about movie ratings other than "stick an age rating" on movies, but they've been doing it since the late 60's. The ESRB has only been around since the late 90's. It takes time for people to learn these things, and like I said, people are dumb and don't like to change. -
RedHarlow - January 17, 2013 9:48 p.m.
We need more games like Spec Ops: The Line that explore the dark side of war/violence and the effect it has on people instead of just glorifying it. But for every year the video game industry matures itself, take away one year when Nintendo claims "story doesn't matter". -
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oryanbelt - January 17, 2013 8:05 p.m.
"...intense political discussion on what groups in our society could be ultimately responsible for the incident..." There is "no groups in our society" that is responsible for this tragedy. The one responsible is the single man that committed this act. Society may want to look for something to blame this on to make itself feel better, but ultimately its Society itself that is to blame. Hypothetically speaking, if video games was the inspiration for this mans act on Sandy Hook, then what if we took away video games from the equation. Would this have changed anything in his life that eventually lead him to committing the shooting? I doubt it. Video games might have just been the easiest thing to latch onto for him. If video games didn't exist, then he would have gone to the next best thing, whether it was TV, movies, books, and hell, actual weapons are even a possibility. In summary, whether this man used video games as inspiration for his violent acts is inconsequential. I believe he was just a disturbed individual and chose a very dreadful target for his actions to be expressed in. Look to our Society today where 10 year old children can go see something like Star Wars Episode 3, with the scene where Anakin Skywalker gets chopped in half by a light saber, burned alive in molten lava, and it gets passed off as okay cause its considered "sci-fi violence". Look there, people... -
brickman409 - January 17, 2013 7:14 p.m.
I liked games better when they were obnoxious and immature. -
taokaka - January 17, 2013 6:43 p.m.
I think 19 and 20 could very well contradict each other, an example I can think of is spec ops: the line. Despite the fact that I seem to be the only person that didn't find its story to be amazing I can still admit it had its heart in the right place and could very well be described by those who enjoyed it as an artistic, thoughtful, interactive experience. However there were certainly scenes which could have been just as provoking as no russian. -
7-D - January 17, 2013 6:13 p.m.
Journey is a landmark game. I put it on for 'non-gamers' when they come over and let them wander about in it. It's been nothing short of a unanimous sense of amazement with the general feedback being (roughly) "Wow, i never knew there was anything like this?". I even had a giddy 'non-gamer' go out and buy a PS3 off the back of a session with it, although I did warn her it was a rare & beautiful beast. If Sony have any sense they'll get Thatgamecompany on-board for a launch title on for the PS4, or at the very least snap them up for something major for the console. It's games like that that will set them apart. -
ObliqueZombie - January 17, 2013 4:30 p.m.
Agree with all of these, GR Staffers. Except for showing consequences. Not that I don't like that, but I think Dishonored's was... shabby. The increase of Weepers/rats was nice, but the "consequences" of using what's in your arsenal to kill bad people was abrupt and a little lazy. I would've been a littler more angry about that if the Ghost/No kills playthrough wasn't so damn fun. -
C.King - January 17, 2013 4:10 p.m.
agree with most of it but the don't make top 7 violent list and enormous breasts i disagree with. i like top 7 lists even if they are ranking bad qualities, and i don't care about the absurdity of breast size/physics unless it causes too large of a contrast between the characters based on gender making the female characters nothing but a pretty face and a personality you hate -
n00b - January 17, 2013 2:28 p.m.
And for your information there are plenty of women in real life that have naturally large breasts yet because of how we as a society view their bodies we type cast them to an eye candy role in our media or they simply turn to modeling. We need to get past body images and just write characters as people. Actors like Christina Hendricks should be put in serious roles where they can display their talent instead of just their bodies. Oh well enough ranting -
ThatFanInThePeacoat - January 17, 2013 3:05 p.m.
The difference between live actors and videogame characters is that the latter are designed by artists. If a 3D artist makes a first draft of a character in a game, the creative lead could walk up to the artist and say, "hmm give her bigger boobs so more 14-year-old boys will buy this game." Or the director could say, "give her a slimmer, more muscular build since this character is going to be a ninja, those boobs would just look like they would get in the way." This is different than real people acting. Hendricks gets her roles for her skill in acting and probably because she also has a good manager. If a television director wanted a character just to put bigger breasts on the screen then they could hire someone who would ask for less money and just tell them to stuff their bra or have the makeup crew put a pair of prosthetic breasts on them. -
RebornKusabi - January 17, 2013 2:26 p.m.
Okay some of these don't exactly make much sense because as a medium, the amount of violence and exploitation in a video game shouldn't be held up for the rest of the medium. Don't want to make anything that challenges or goes against someones per-conceived notions, no we shouldn't challenge them. I just saw Django Unchained two nights ago- that movie has (historically accurate) racism, harsh language and scenes of violence and gore. So by this list, they shouldn't have used those instances of savagery and violence because it would undermine the medium. All movies should be Kung Fu Panda or whatever the hell children watch nowadays. Don't want to make anything that challenges or goes against someones per-conceived notions, no we shouldn't challenge them. Just because some retard shot some kids up doesn't mean an entire medium needs to be changed drastically. Hell, if that is the case, games and movies and music should have drastically changed after Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings. No, sorry, but the victimizer needs to be held accountable, not the victims and especially not some tertiary medium he used to further differentiate himself from reality. -
n00b - January 17, 2013 2:23 p.m.
You are miss guided Gamesradar. Women more over people come in all shapes and sizes. How dare you limit strong female leads to only non top heavy characters. Your just enforcing another type of idealization of a single body type. Heroes and video game lead characters should be of all shapes and sizes.
mozaralio - February 13, 2013 10:40 p.m.