Modern Myths

On my quest to become a legitimate writer I'm doing some freelance work for other blogs! This particular freelance job has to do with video games and going to the Montreal Game Summit and writing about the talks I attended.


Here's one about the blockbuster video game

Blockbuster Video Games= Modern Mythology?

As a first-timer at the Montreal International Game Summit and a novice at gaming I went through a quite tremendous experience. Not only was it entertaining and informative but it opened my eyes up to different ways of thinking. As an avid pop culture consumer, I feel as though maybe I’ve been missing out a bit. Gaming is a huge part of popular culture, of course, but I find it a very expensive and constricting hobby that can also immerse you into things that are completely unknown and that you will probably never experience. In Raphael Von Lierop’s talk about the blockbuster game he goes to great lengths to advocate saving the blockbuster game. One of his main arguments was that blockbuster games are like modern mythology. While there is some truth to that I found that a very grandstanding statement. Sure, games, movies, television shows and books are a reflection of our culture and thus can be considered modern mythology to a certain extent but how can you qualify blockbusters to be common cultural compass point and thus a modern mythology of our time?

Blockbuster games

I don’t want to dump on something so important to so many people but I don’t understand the classification of modern mythology. According to Van Lierop a blockbuster game is one of those “triple A games” like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Halo. Most of these games have a main character that is a criminal and are first-person shooter. I’m in no way advocating that all of our modern myths be PG but I find this ridiculous. Sure, we do put a lot of value in violence and the glorious accuracy of said violence in our popular culture, so perhaps it is wise to classify big budget high production value killing spree video games to be a “common cultural compass”. However, Van Lierop also mentions that “blockbuster games [are like myths because they connect] us to something vitally important to our existence as human beings”. Say what? Do we as individual humans have an innate need to kill people for no good reason? Do we as individual human beings have a need to steal cars and fight zombies? Yes, we perhaps have a need to do so in a video game sequence because the option is there but are these things vitally important to our human existence? Maybe. But I say no.

OMG Darth Vader!

How can we define our mythology as a story where the main purpose is to kill everything in sight? How can we be okay with saying that it is part of our modern cultural framework? In his talk Van Lierop likens his astonishment at a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 level where killing civilians is allowed but not necessarily encouraged to a young boy’s shock at finding out Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father. Being enthralled surprised and shocked at that level does not a modern mythology make. The reason you are in awe about Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker’s father is because you realize that there must be an incredible story (if only!) behind it and that story of adventure, love, jealousy, bravery, sacrifice and emotion is the myth. I am in no way advocating that video games do not possess that kind of emotion or relevancy, many do. However the blockbuster, high budget, triple A , high production values games that Van Lierop mentions do not seem to fit the bill. They are not stories we will tell to our children, they are not stories that will carry on throughout the ages. They are stories that we may have lived through in a virtual reality and that is wonderful and exciting. But it is not mythical.

Furthermore, learning about how much money is spent on producing blockbuster games is staggering. Suddenly I understand the extreme prices of the games out there. And I totally agree with Van Lierop, a middle ground needs to be established. His solution to the problem of blockbuster games is to provide mid-level games. This game would provide 3-4 hours of gameplay, a smaller budget without compromising that big budget blockbuster feel; it would be a shorter and more compartmentalized experience at a cheaper price. This is very cool and provides the groundwork for some much needed experimentation in the world of blockbuster games.

I love video games and I love blockbuster video games and I do think their stories are entertaining, well thought out, culturally relevant and create a certain mythology within their world. Nevertheless I do not believe blockbusters can be a common cultural compass for us as a culture.  A myth is a story you tell your kids and have your kids tell theirs. I don’t see myself sitting down my children and telling them the story of when I robbed cars and killed Nazis in a virtual reality. However, exploring different types of stories is a good place for the blockbuster to go and is one of Van LIerop’s suggestions. It’s a huge gamble though because of the stagnation in the industry. There is a problem when the new exciting blockbuster games are all sequels (ie. Sure bets). How well will new types of game play and experiences do in the market?

As a twenty-something woman living in the western world, I have yet to find a blockbuster game that I totally get and love. I don’t find blockbuster games to be an expression of shared values. My values are not reflected in most of the really lucrative and successful games out there. So, to me, they do not provide a common cultural compass point. Furthermore, I don’t know the statistics but what percentage of people are gamers? And how many of those people are men (sorry ladies but it’s true) and how many of these games are made primarily by men and for men? As a woman I don’t need a game to be about Barbies and fashion but I do need something that reflects my culture. And there are games out there that do that, definitely. Those games are probably not the blockbusters.

As Van Lierop mentions, experimentation is key to saving the blockbuster. Mythology is about so much more than the blockbuster games mentioned in the talk. I believe games can reflect all of the intricacies of a true modern mythology but we have to open a bit more our minds and let them.


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Follow your dreams!

On my quest to become a legitimate writer I'm doing some freelance work for other blogs! This particular freelance job has to do with video games and going to the Montreal Game Summit and writing about the talks I attended.


Here's one about following your dreams!

An Argument for Following your Passion

I am no stranger to inspirational speeches. After watching Steve Jobs’ commencement speech on YouTube the day after he died, I went on a commencement speech rampage that I hoped would thrill and inspire me. And it did! So when I had to choose the talks that I would attend at MIGS 2011 it was only obvious that Alex Alvarez’s talk would be one I wouldn’t miss. The description alone made it a worthwhile speech to attend even though it was classified as being in the “design” category.  My fellow ‘gamedevourers’ were confused as well but we went with it. There was a very real chance I’d end up in a technical talk I wouldn’t understand, but it would be inspiring as it was described as: “Inspiration through lifelong education-The importance of creative development in the world of entertainment art”.  I like to feel inspired!

I was pleasantly surprised when the talk was essentially a commencement speech and, as advertised, an argument for entertainment art. Alvarez is a pretty staunch advocate for the fine arts. He was an artist as a child. He loved drawing, he loved experimenting with computers and, as most of us do, he loved Star Wars. However, his education in his formative years took top priority and that education did not include art. He is quite right in saying that school is not a place where you can get a proper art education. We are always told it is a difficult path to take. We are told to stay in school, become business and science majors and take over the world! Well I am a living proof that fancy pants undergraduate and graduate degrees need not necessarily lead to the easy life as promised. So why should an art degree be any more ridiculous than a business degree? In my experience, it is difficult to find a job that you’ll like in any professional area, so why not choose one that you love and just be done with it? This is the crux of Alvarez’s argument. Do what you love and you will be happy.

As Alvarez was recounting the events that led him to doing what he loved, it was apparent that this is a route most people take to finding their passion. After years of setting his art aside to be a good student, Alvarez ended up in an Ivy League college doing a degree that he found useless and discovering that there is probably more to life than the Ivy League, a fancy degree and conforming to the so-called norm. So he dropped out and decided that he was going to have a career in the arts. After exploring many avenues like colouring for comic books for $7 an hour, he signed up for a design school where he learned about graphic design. As he went on to become a professional in the arts, he decided that he wanted to create an art school that would benefit amateurs and professionals alike and that would foster artistic creativity. This would be a school where amateur artists would learn from real working artists and would be given the resources to follow their dreams. And so he founded the Gnomon School of Visual Effects which boasts a staggering 95% placement rate due to its "pretty treacherous portfolio requirements". The goal of the school is to promote a creative environment by bringing like-minded people together and to be able to learn from others and to teach others about the craft. It’s an amazing and inspirational idea. Be critical of your educational environment and, if it doesn’t suit you, find a way to make it right.

All in all the talk wasn’t really about games, and yet I found it critical for someone trying to get into working in the gaming industry. We are always told about how important it is to stay in school, get a degree and that somehow, that route will be the key to instant success. And it is! But study a subject you love! Work in something you love! If you do, you will definitely be happy. 

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Overheard on the train

When I need to go into the city for work and other city related things I generally take the train in to avoid traffic. It is WAY cooler than the bus and is a guaranteed 30 minute journey.

With the exception of occasional crying, screaming children, a hippy playing the guitar, high school students and girls fighting with their significant others on the phone and crying, train people are very quiet and peaceful. They read on their various devices, listen to their music, watch their TV shows and look out the window as they slowly fall asleep with the soothing rocking of the train on its tracks. If people are talking it's usually in hushed tones about business ventures or their Thanksgiving dinner. 

Today was different.

I was unintentionally eavesdropping on the the most revealing, depressing conversation I have ever been privy to in my entire life. 

Two ladies speaking a mixture of French and English seemed to be having a competition for who had the most depressing story to tell. 

Lady-sat-diagonally-from-me seemed to have won. See her mother was very sick when Lady-sat-diagonally-from-me was a child and had a life threatening illness for as long as Lady-sat-diagonally-from-me can remember. Her mother died when Lady-sat-diagonally-from-me was 11 years old of something OTHER than the life threatening illness though. It was something that put her in a coma that inevitably killed her. Her brother was 13 and very distressed by this. Also 13 is a distressing, life-altering age in general so Lady-sat-diagonally-from-me says her brother was basically a little shit after her mother's death. Her father didn't take it well either. See he was never really home. He worked a lot and so she didn't really know him. It was rough. And then her father died when she was 17. How, you ask? He killed himself because it was all too much for him. He had the whole thing planned out. Left his kids all the money and killed himself. Apparently her brother was a little shit then too. So basically she was on her own.

Lady-sat-diagonally-from-me's husband also has a depressing job. Also her daughter is married to a guy who doesn't want to have kids but her daughter wants to have kids and is sad but has basically given up on trying to have kids for this guy.

In other news, Lady-sitting-next-to-me's friend's daughter was pregnant. She was due this month but today she was taken in to give birth to a stillborn child. The sadness doesn't end there. Apparently the father of the child died in August of diabetes related causes and so, though that was really sad, everyone was really happy this baby was coming along. It's just ridiculously sad and depressing.

Also a man that both these women work with is having an affair that exploded in his face. It was a weird situation in which his wife broke with him because she found out he was having an affair but then his mistress broke up with him too because she ended up being married or having another boyfriend or something. So his life is in the shits too. It's really ridiculous and depressing. 

Yeah. I'm not making this up.