Gaming is always on the receiving end of scorn from society. Most consider it as an activity that only children and man-children engage in. When a game like Hatoful Boyfriend appears and proudly declares you can date pigeons I can see why. Unfortunately, this means many people miss out on the latest art form of our time. Some people will never get to see the real story beneath the glossy pink paint coat.
The Artless Art of Video Games
Gaming is not yet defined as an art. I wonder if the reason is because in many ways it surpasses what a piece of art can do. Art makes you feel things and conveys emotions and messages. Yet, it has limitations, a picture has to say everything it wants within its box in a still frame. Yet a game can pick you up and plop you into a scene. A painting can show you the execution of Lady Jane Grey, a game can put you in her place. Even the Call of Duty games point the gun at the player and pull the trigger to deliver one hell of a message. A game can do everything a picture can and more. The only reason it doesn’t get recognition is it written off before it starts.
I’m reading Extra Lives by Tom Bissell and there’s a moment that makes me sad in the book. Tom talks about a magazine asking him to write about aesthetic experiences. He puts forward Bioshock but self-censors himself when submitting it:
“I would hesitate to call [Bioshock]…a legitimate work of art,” even though “its engrossing and intelligent story line made it the first game to absorb me without also embarrassing me for being so absorbed.”
He describes the feeling after as a syringe of shame. I too have been in the position of having to tone down my love for video games around colleagues. I understand the feeling all too well. Being passionate about video games doesn’t receive much approval when you’re a teacher. There’s almost an unwritten rule that we’re also meant to scorn gamers. I try to incorporate video games into class when I can. The results are always positive, it’s a treat and a fantastic learning tool. Due to the content, there will always be push back, even if the students score straight A’s in their next test. People just aren’t open-minded to gaming in general.
Gaming? or Experiencing?
Video games are such an incredibly diverse medium. Some games are purely mechanical, like Pong, but even a game with just mechanics can tell a story. Other narrative focused games tell epic tales that even Tolkien would toast to. I can’t count the times I have cried playing a game. I’ve never found another medium that can deliver such an emotive punch. Being in the shoes of Zack Fair fighting a battle he can’t win makes you feel so much more than just watching. Even the most unexpected game can teach you and bring you to your knees. I never expect Hatoful Boyfriend to be the game that nearly made me miss a day of work on completion. I get so emotionally spent playing that game.
It is times like this we should think of a famous idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Gamers know it well. We are constantly judged by our covers and berated for stereotypes that barely have a foot in reality. One minute we’re dead the next we’re a religion, it’s exhausting to keep up with what society thinks of us. Growing up around this attitude changes us. We read about ourselves and can confidently say that a lot of it isn’t true or isn’t fair. We’re taught skepticism through prejudice.
Our cover is scrawled over again and again, but only those who open up that book know what we’re really about. Unfortunately, society pretty much chases its tail when it comes to gaming. Simultaneously writing it off as a kids’ activity and shaming it for having adult themes. The discussion on what games could be is crippled by pseudo-controversies and public opinion. I’m hoping that soon people will open their minds to gaming’s many applications. Right now, I see people taking their first steps toward that goal with VR being used to train nurses.
The Hatoful Boyfriend Metaphor
Hatoful Boyfriend is almost like a micro-version of the debate on gaming. People who haven’t played it have a lot of opinions about it. On the outside, it’s a joke, clearly a kids thing. A post-apocalyptic pigeon dating simulator can’t be a serious endeavor, right? Yet, only a few hours in and I’m tearing up in a way I can’t adequately describe. A pigeon dating simulator is not something you imagine crying over. Without spoiling any of the actual content can I just tell you how incredibly dark this game is? The game talks about forced rape, infanticide and the genocide of the human race. It usually manages to keep light-hearted. Next thing, it hits you over the head with “oh, by the way, he died because of you. So did his mom”.
Without giving you any context, this game involves:
Racism, Necrophilia, Suicide, A literal pigeon god, Murder(regularly), Political strife, Cross-dressing, social anxiety, Rape, Infanticide, Genocide, Parental grief, Psychopathy, Forced Marriage, Class hatred, Human/Pigeon experimentation, Terrorism… And just, some really repulsive stuff at times. It’s all wrapped up a presented as a cute, very self-aware loves story about birds. Even a game as basic as Hatoful Boyfriend, has a message.
Games are so much more than entertainment. Beyond delivering a message, they can put us in situations we might not otherwise understand. They inspire empathy in us. You can experience a visualization of grief playing That Dragon, Cancer. Learn to understand the pain a man feels when he is betrayed by the woman he loves in Dirge of Cerberus. Sometimes they make you judge yourself like Undertale. Games can even help you experience something awkward like One Night Stand Simulator. They help people with no sense of agency in their lives feel powerful and important. If you find yourself displaced a good MMO can help you cope. How many kids from dysfunctional families have managed to use gaming as a life-line?
Yes, it is escapism, yes, they are games, but you can’t ignore that they are also so much more.