National Myths of Gaming
While discussing videogames with a friend, I brought up the idea of nationalism. My friend pointed out that I missed out on an important part of the use of nationalism, the myth. This is taking something like the past, which is just as changeable as a stick, and making it into an amazing tale.
We must understand why Myths are told, and then why they are told about a nation. Then, we must see how they are used within videogames. Let’s remember that this is a mini nationalism, and not a full blown thing.
As a history major, I had to learn that there were really two types of history. The first was the history of exactly what happened. This history is hard to find, and often impossible to fully create. We don’t have time machines, or mind reading devices, so guesses have to be made. When studying history, we do the best we can to get all of the information possible on the given subject. Even then, there is a knowledge that our own opinions and lives will get in the way of factual truth. It will always be, what I think history is, and not what happened.
The other side of history is the legends, and ideas. The idea of fact does not show up, and is not needed. Even if someone was a real person, who lived an actual life, we end up making tales about him, and believing those tales. In the end, it is the legend we discuss and not the real person. Legends are just as part of history as what actually happened. Often, it is not what actually happened, but what we believe happened.
Most history is caught up within these two ideals. Basically, the first tries to describe the stick as accurately as possible. The seconds tries to describe the stick as you imagined it to be.
A myth is not only a legend, it is a grand story that has near religious meaning. George Washington was not just a great man, he was a saint. His death was a grand affair that people around the world mentioned.
The myth is used to keep a people together, and to unite in a single thought. It makes people believe that they are continuing a grand, blessed event. There is mysticism placed on doing things, and the idea that only people of this particular nation can do it. For example, many Americans believed that moving the US west was part of a divine decree.
On the other side of this myth, are those that oppose the ideas. They are compared to devils, and given all sorts of evil stories. Surprisingly, the myth of other cultures tends to sound about the same. The other has big stupid men, who do not understand things, and are violent. The women are beautiful, and will fall in love completely with a member of the true nation. They have weird powers that can not be explained. When pressed as the villain, this same idea is pushed to incredible degrees.
So, let’s look at how this myth is used today for videogames. Each company has a myth of their company. Nintendo is said to have created everything about games, while the other systems merely copied what they could. There is some truth to this, Nintendo as a company created the standard controller design, and then thumb sticks, and how they all worked in 3D. They also created Wii games, which was a totally new design for games. But when you look at it closer, you can see how Bungie and Rareware created the FPS design for a console. The standard videogame controller is actually a Sony invention, even though it has a lot of basis to Nintendo.
| Here, you be the judge. |
In opposition to the great Hardcore myth, is the casuals. The casual is someone who only plays games for the fun of it, and is not intending to find every little secret. They can not handle the difficult games, and don’t seem to want to play the harder games. Demographics wise, a lot of casuals are women.
Is there an actual difference in players? It depends on who is playing and why. Someone may play a game like Wii Fit every day, for hours on end. For FPS deathmatches, I only play if a bunch of friends are doing it. I will say this, when I see someone enjoying Wii Bowling, or Just Dance, they end up stop playing when they go into a zoned out mode. While people who play games like Black Ops try to zone out faster. That is a difference I really want to study, and see why it works.
The major point is that Nintendo created the Wii, and changed the way things were played. The other companies used that to create a Myth that Nintendo abandoned the hardcore. The hardcore are the only people who buy games for the industry, so Nintendo stopped making games. If that sounds ridiculous, it is. It also fits common beliefs about foreign people.
About ten years ago, I had people asking me why Germany was abandoning the US. I had to explain that A) I was born in the US, and B) Germany is not part of the US. The reality was that the German chancellor disagreed with the US on Invading Iraq, and did so publicly. I loved how everyone kept calling the people of Germany unAmerican though.
While videogames are a culture, and they do have companies that push nationalistic ideals, it is still just a mini nationalism. We are not about to declare war on Atari. I hope most gamers are not attacking each other over which game is better, or which system they support more.
Remember, your views of gaming are just like a stick. You can change it to become whatever you want. In the desire to gain power, national myths are made up which make the views of a nation (stick) as some great amazing divine thing. Videogames have the same thing happening today. We have Nintendo’s myth that the company created all great gaming. We also have the Hardcore vs Casual myth. In the end, it is just how we use history to view things.
As we look at games, we see them slowly move toward the spotlight. Gamers are accustomed to being in the background, unseen, and unknown. Talking about games was something you did because you loved games, but it came with a price of popularity. The spotlight turns on us, and we try to explain what is going on, and how gaming has become this way. In those explanations, myths are made and retold. Even when I told my friend about what I would write, he was a bit shocked that some things were not true. The thing is, they are true, just not factual.
