War, Realism and Art in games

One of the big discussions about gaming today is about the realistic qualities that can be placed. The idea of making characters become real is tried both graphically, and through storytelling. For First Person Shooters, the experience tries to make the guns feel as accurate as possible.

The problem with any realism is that it is still a game. So, if you play a game about the modern political turmoil in a country, you may think that what you see is real. The thing is, war is nothing like a video game. The idea offends people who have been to war, especially in how it is presented. The Red Cross is trying to make games where people are punished for war crimes.

Gamers themselves are not keen to the idea of being held down by such rules. They seem to have a double standard about games, it is either a game or super real representation of war.

In the same story, many people point out the awkwardness of how games portray themselves as real, but seem to only involve psychopaths. The players say that it is a game, and that it should be viewed that way. The game does not effect them mentally at all. Yet, they will try to say the opposite when games are brought up as art.

Roger Ebert, one of the most well known movie reviewers in the world, said that games could not be high art. He received thousands of emails, letters, and questions about his opinion. Most of them acting hurt, or angry that he had such views.

The thing is, art means it affects you. If you see a movie about Rwandan Genocide, you want to do something about it. Thousands of documentaries are made with the idea of persuading people in one direction or another. Pieces of art are meant to evoke emotion, and desire to do what the art is pointing toward. It makes you think, and in thinking acknowledge the artists desires, and views.

In other words, if games are real, and can be artistic, then every study that says they make us more violent is true. In fact, it should. Otherwise the art being presented can not rise up to the needs of high art, and thus make Roger Ebert completely right.

War in games is a heavy subject, and the ideas of games needing to be art creates a game of tug and pull. People play the game because it feels real. Then claim that this reality is just a game. If this is true, perhaps the game is just a joke.