Don't Take Offense and Let Games Be Art

A look at the controversy surrounding Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number and how it could have changed games forever.

Aside from the disturbing content some games present, another point of controversy in contemporary game development is choice of protagonist gender and ethnicity.  It is easy to see that a large cast of white males make up a distinctly large portion of game protagonists. But in the end, it’s all about numbers. Publishers are afraid to take risks for fear of alienating their target audience. Yet, this superstitious ideology does more harm than good. Video game marketer Chris Wright relayed the plight of the developer, and responds to a change in the industry in an interview with CNet:

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“AAA games are now so expensive to develop and launch, and must sell so many copies to break even, that it’s of critical importance that they are as inclusive as possible and do not exclude large portions potential audience, especially when there are so many alternatives to choose from. In my view, it’s more commercially risky to exclude the very significant female audience than it is to risk alienating some of the less progressive audience.”

Women over 18 are now the fastest-growing gamer demographic, making up 38 percent of Xbox Live users in the US and 50 percent of Nintendo users. Keep in mind these numbers are slightly out of date, but the rise of women in gaming is growing stronger and stronger.

In these cases where choice of protagonist comes down to a target audience, developers should be encouraged to take a chance on different characters, whether they be non-white females or any blend other than the traditional white male. This same problem comes in in Hollywood all too often. When screenwriters introduce their character, they’re allotted a few words to describe the individual. In many cases, none of those words pertain to the aforementioned traits, unless they specifically contributes to the work in some shape or form. For example, a film about the black man’s struggle during the 60s better not star a white man, but a film about being the the best downhill skater in all of San Francisco could star just anyone.

There is, however, a case to be made for games that require certain gender roles for their theme, and in doing so, should avoid public outcry in the name of artistic power. Sometimes a game’s themes or tale demand a starring male, or other popularly represented demographic.

Take for example The Last of Us. Imagine the roles of Joel and Ellie were reversed. A mother who lost her son is tasked with escorting a young orphan boy across the country in the hopes of developing a cure for mankind. It would result in a completely different game thematically, particularly regarding the roles of patriarchy in wasteland America.

hotline miami, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us
The Last of Us shows what games are capable of being

(Caution for those who have yet to play The Last of Us, as this article will delve into some spoilers for the game.)

Before we analyze the outcome of events in The Last of Us, one must first look to the time period in which Joel was raised. Joel was born sometime in the mid 1980s and grew up in Texas raising his younger brother Tommy. Coming from such a strong, conservative upbringing in Texas, it’s safe to assume that Joel had a more traditional idea about his role in society.

After having his daughter Sarah at a young age,  Joel felt his only role in life was to build a life to afford his daughter the life she chooses. And at the beginning of TLOU, we see that Joel is on his way to doing just that by starting his own carpentry business. Yet, unfortunately, tragedy strikes when the outbreak begins, causing him to lose his daughter in the process. Fast-forward twenty years, and now Joel has had time to brood in turmoil over his failure in life, the loss of his daughter, and failure as a father to protect her.

After being introduced to Ellie, Joel does his best to keep her at a distance. But Ellie’s personality remind Joel of his daughter Sarah so much that about two-thirds of the way into the game, Joel sees her as such. He sees Ellie as a second chance to make-up for his failure as a father, yet this in turn clashes with Ellie’s personal sacrifice as a grown woman to save humanity. Their conflicting goals can be the subject of various scholarly works, that sadly this article has no time to delve into. This character dynamic, however, did stem from the gender of Joel, his traditional views on gender roles shaping his actions and reactions throughout the game.

Yes, there are issues in game development that need to change. Shock value for the sake of being deemed “edgy” and the stereotypical white male protagonist are but a couple of the major weaknesses that plague video games. There are instances however, where these overused tropes are used with artistic merit, and in turn, prove to show that the medium of video games are capable of eliciting catharsis for players everywhere. We must first learn to not be offended by the works that attempt to say something profound about everyday life, and only then will we reach a golden-age of narrative driven games with thought-provoking messages.


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Author
Chris Jecks
Chris Jecks has been covering the games industry for over eight years. He typically covers new releases, FIFA, Fortnite, any good shooters, and loves nothing more than a good Pro Clubs session with the lads. Chris has a History degree from the University of Central Lancashire. He spends his days eagerly awaiting the release of BioShock 4.