作者：Jesse Meixsell

随着新年曙光的到来，电子游戏的苦难日也已经持续了一段时间，而热情的玩家对当前电子游戏的状态又有何反应？毕竟，这对我们来说非常重要。这与那些热衷于体育运动或连续剧的人一样，那些真正热爱电子游戏的人也不会只是将其当成是用于消遣的娱乐活动。

随着2013年的到来，我们对于电子游戏未来的发展充满了期盼与焦虑。

媒体的成熟

在过去几年里，像《暴雨》，《行尸走肉》等游戏均呈现出具有深度且吸引人的游戏情节，从而证明了随着媒体的发展，电子游戏也日趋成熟，并发展到了一个全新的高度。同时我们还需要重视那些没有信仰之人在玩《行尸走肉》这类型游戏的态度变化。

walkingdead（from VentureBeat）

作为玩家，你曾多少次被告知“这只是一款游戏”？尽管并不是所有人都能理解，但事实上，电子游戏与书籍和电影一样能够将玩家带进它们的世界中。另一方面，当游戏突出较高水平的玩家选择时，玩家便会投入更多情感于游戏事件中（比起其它故事媒体）。在这个时代里，开发者们已经能够使用各种全新的游戏创造方法，而回顾电子游戏刚出现的时候，它们只是一些基于8位体图像且以双键布局呈现出来的简单游戏。

当然了，我们面前也仍存在着种种阻碍。如今的游戏开始碰触到一些较为严肃的问题，如性别歧视，贪婪以及新闻诚信等，而我们也不能再忽视这些问题了。当我提及产业中的“问题”时，我并不是指任何形式的精英主义或滥用范围和类型，而是指那些存在于任何社区，但是最终都不得不被接受的某些元素。

当提到性别歧视，我们总是需要装作不知道当前的电子产业中仍存在着许多性别歧视元素这一事实。这不仅是源自开发社区，同时也是源自开发者本身。在《杀手5：赦免》的预告片（游戏邦注：即主角屠杀一群穿着性感的修女）以及最近发行的《死亡岛：激流》合订版本所引起的轰动来看，性别歧视仍是当今时代一个突出问题。当看到游戏社区某一利基群组出现这种敌意时，我们也会感到非常难过。换句话说，那些敢于说出自己观点的女性会遭到攻击，而那些支持她们的男性也会被贴上“白衣骑士”的标签。

对于那些抱着怀疑态度的人，我想说的是在过去一年时间里，“为什么需要揭示游戏产业中的性别歧视”这一标签可以说主导着整个游戏社区。女性开发者和玩家便是使用这一标签去提升自己的地位，并勇敢地说出产业逐渐疏远她们这一事实。在如今的电子游戏中，衣着暴露且个性粗俗的女性角色似乎已经屡见不鲜了。

除了性别歧视，如今的游戏产业也充斥着许多贪婪的心态。用磁盘去打开可下载内容，或在发行可下载内容的同时推出零售磁盘等做法已经不止一次让游戏社区感到愤怒了，更别说支付10美元而加入在线多人游戏是否公平。

当然了，我们也不能忽视产业中的新闻诚信问题。很多人都相信，一款游戏的名气越大，它便能够获得更大的宣传与更多评论，而劣势者就只能被默默地置于一边，并遭遇质量上的种种谴责——但如果对象是著名的AAA级游戏，结果就不同了。这一话题总是会引起数个小时的争议。

主流媒体对于电子游戏的观点

说实话，主流媒体根本就不重视电子游戏。这种媒介通常总是被当成一种笑话看待。就像之前出现在电影或电视上的玩家形象，通常都是懒惰，不爱交际或身体欠佳。不管你是否认可，这都是来自主流媒体的看法。而现在，这些特征是否足以代表整个游戏社区？当然不行，实际上，主流媒体从未真正了解电子游戏。当人们不能理解某一事物时，通常都会将其归为“怪类”，而不会从内在角度去了解它。

如果你们觉得这还不足以构成逆流的话，我想说，电子游戏产业还经常被当成是人们指代某些事件的替罪羔羊。我绝不会无视上个月在康乃迪克州所发生的悲剧（游戏邦注：校园枪击事件），或者之前出现的类似惨案。但我也不会无视那些以此为由而对电子游戏充满敌意的态度。我当然能够理解那些遭遇了这种惨痛经历的人为什么会有这种想法，他们有理由去憎恨这个社会。但犯人根本就未曾指控电子游戏才是始作俑者。不过我相信，大多数人都知道谁才是真正值得谴责的对象。

不幸的是，就像之前所说的，大多数主流媒体都不能理解电子游戏；因此那些被牵扯进各种政治迫害，并因此反对电子游戏的人总是多于那些愿意维护电子游戏和社区的人。这便是典型的替罪羔羊——就像之前那些替种种暴力行为承担罪责的各种媒体形式。

最近，美国政府开始对电子游戏是否孕育着暴力行为而进行广泛研究。事实上，作为玩家的我们都知道，只要是精神正常的人都能有效地区分虚构世界与现实世界。因此，任何暴力行为与电子游戏的牵连其实都是非常轻微的。如果电子游戏并不会引起任何暴力行为，那么定有科学研究能够证明这一点，我们也不需要为此多加担心。

电子游戏越来越受欢迎

近几年，电子游戏的普及率出现了大幅度的上升。可以说，电子游戏已经变成了一种“趋势”。一方面，我们可以看到自己所热衷的事物获得了更广泛的认可，另一方面，这里也出现了各种“交配变异”，而这也是那些长期忠实于电子游戏的粉丝们所不愿看到的。尽管电子游戏的高产为新进者们降低了门槛，并让更多人愿意接受这种媒介和游戏社区，但有时候，面对这种“潮流”也不是件易事。实际上，电子游戏中也仍保留着任何媒体中所存在的情况：后来者总是不可能取得像先驱那般出色的成绩。

曾经有一段时期，人们都认为玩电子游戏是件愚蠢又无聊的事。如果你碰巧是那些遭遇无视的人之一，那么现在的你便可以勇敢地抬起头了，因为如今的电子游戏已经获得了普遍的认可，不再被当成是辱骂的对象了。比起多年来始终对电子游戏充满热情的你来说，那些只是遵循着趋势而选择游戏的人又有何发言权呢？

我们需要正视的是，也有不少新玩家是真的喜欢电子游戏，并逐渐像资深玩家那样重视电子游戏。所以他们也拥有验收的机会，就像你期待别人接受你那样。最后，我们认为是“冒牌货”的通常都能够吸引大量的注意。而有人便会说“这有什么大不了的？”当你是一名经过认证的体育，音乐或电影粉丝时，你便会跳出来维护自己所钟爱的事物，并警惕着那些只是想借此赚钱的人。

结论

与其它产业一样，电子游戏也一直都在经历着起起落落的变化。游戏社区将为电子游戏正采用创新方法而走向全新时代感到骄傲。要知道，每当事物已经处于最糟糕情况时，我们要相信，好的结果也即将到来。同时我们还需要记住，比起好游戏，媒体在呈现坏消息时更能取得成功，并且很多时候，当我们想要达到事物的最佳状态时，把握切入点才是最关键的。

电子游戏产业的艰难时期还不会那么早结束。即使前方存在着种种障碍，我们仍需要坚定地向前走。虽然从错误中吸取经验教训是前进过程中最困难的，但同时也是最有帮助的。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The state of video games in the current generation

By Jesse Meixsell

In the dawning of a new year and the midst of difficult times for video games — between government spotlight and media scapegoats — a longtime and passionate gamer may or may not find himself reflecting on the current state of video games. After all, this is something of great importance to us, more important than many onlookers may understand. Just as others easily become engrossed in the sports season or their favorite running television series, those who love video games truly see them as more than just entertainment to pass the time.

With 2012 behind us, we look forward into the future of video games with both wonder and angst.

Maturing of the medium

In the past few years, titles such as Heavy Rain, The Walking Dead, or almost any game showcasing an in-depth and involved storyline stands as proof of how video games have matured and reached new heights as the medium progresses (even if only a little at a time). Take a nonbeliever, have him play a title like The Walking Dead, and witness how quickly his opinion may change about whether video games deserve to be taken seriously.

As a gamer, how many times have you been told something along the lines of, “It’s just a game”? Though it may be a bit difficult for some to understand, video games have the uncanny ability to pull players into their world much like books and movies can. On the other hand, when games feature a high level of player choice, players may feel even more emotionally attached to the events transpiring onscreen than in any other medium of storytelling. In this day and age, developers have been able to use new and improved methods of gameplay, and looking back at where video games began, one cannot deny how far they have come from a simple two-button layout with 8-bit graphics.

Of course, there will always be obstacles holding us back. Gaming has reached a level of severity where issues such as sexism, greed, and journalistic integrity can no longer be ignored. When I mention “issues” within the industry, I am not referring any form of elitism or overused tropes and genres, for these things will always exist in any sort of community and are aspects of it that eventually have to be accepted.

On the subject of sexism, you would have to be living under a rock to be uninformed about the staggering amount of sexism in the video game industry today. This stems not only from the community but also from the developers themselves. Between the stir caused by a Hitman: Absolution trailer (see below) and the recent collector’s edition of Dead Island: Riptide (pictured above), it’s clear that the issue is still a prominent one in this day and age. It’s also painful to witness the hostility coming from certain niches of the gaming community on the topic. In other words, women who are unafraid to voice their opinion are attacked, and men who support them are labeled as “white knights.”

For those of you who are unconvinced, the hash tag #1reasonwhy practically dominated the gaming community on Twitter late last year. Female developers and gamers used the tag as a way to step up and talk about exactly how the industry is alienating to them at times. Scantily clad women with one-dimensional personalities have practically become commonplace in video games at this point.

Aside from sexism, the industry today also suffers from an unsettling amount of what many see as greed. Disc-locked downloadable content, or downloadable content released the same time as the retail disc, has been creating tension and outrage among the community for quite some time — not to mention the varying opinions on whether paying an extra 10 dollars or so to partake in online multiplayer is fair or not.

Of course, how can we forget the questionable journalistic integrity of the industry? The answer is not one that can easily be revealed, but many believe that the bigger the name of a franchise, the friendlier the publicity and reviews will be for that particular name as the underdogs are shamelessly cast aside, ignored, and criticized for qualities that would most likely be excused in a popular triple-A title. This is a subject that could easily spark a debate lasting for hours on end; therefore, I’ll leave you to decide the matter for yourselves.

The mainstream media’s opinion of video games

Let’s be honest here — the mainstream media does not take video games seriously in the slightest. The medium is more often than not looked down upon as shameful or as a joke. Think about the last time a “gamer” was portrayed in a movie or on TV. They’re usually lazy, antisocial, and out of shape, right? Like it or not, that’s how we look from the mainstream media’s point of view. Now, do these traits accurately describe the entirety gaming community? Of course they don’t, but the fact is, video games are an area that the mainstream media may never quite understand. And when something is difficult to understand, it is always far easier to cast it off as “weird” than to put forth the effort required to see it from an insider’s perspective.

As if this wasn’t enough of a setback, the video games industry also acts as a convenient scapegoat for those looking to blame an easy target. In no way will I attempt to downsize the tragedy that occurred in Connecticut last month, nor will I attempt to do the same toward any sort of past event. However, I can’t ignore the level of hostility targeted at video games in the wake of any occurrence of this sort. It’s completely understandable that anyone experiencing that kind of loss would feel a certain way, and that person undoubtedly has the right to feel anger toward his society. This is not the guilty party who points the finger at video games for causing these attacks of senseless violence. I think it’s safe to say that most people know who exactly is to blame and who it would benefit to divert attention on to video games instead.

Unfortunately, as stated earlier, the majority of the mainstream media does not understand video games; therefore, the number of people involved in a witch hunt against them is often far greater than those willing to defend video games and their communities. This has always been the set-in-stone structure of scapegoating, seeing how other types of media have also taken the blame for violence before video games came into the picture.

Just recently, the U.S. government has been given the go-ahead from President Obama to conduct extensive research on whether or not video games actually plant a seed for violent behavior. As much of an outrage this may seem to be, the truth is, we as gamers know for a fact that any human being in his right mind would be perfectly capable of separating fiction from reality. Therefore, those with a close connection to video games may feel a slightly lower level of anxiety toward the matter, knowing that there’s nothing incriminating for these government researches to find. If video games do not cause violent behavior, then scientific studies should prove this, and we should have nothing to worry about.

The rising popularity of video games

In recent years, video games have reached a status of popularity within pop culture that’s greater than it’s ever achieved before. One could say that video games have reached a “trendy” status above all. On one hand, it can be quite encouraging to see something you are passionate about rise to a new level of acceptance, but on the other hand, a certain amount of bastardization is to be expected, to the dismay of many longtime video game enthusiasts. While it is productive to be open to newcomers and help showcase the medium and its community as an accepting one, it is also difficult at times to deal with the “bandwagon.” It’s understandable that appearing like an elitist in a situation such as this is highly unavoidable, but the fact remains the same with any type of media: those who arrive late to the party do not always come off as legitimate or as genuine as those who were there to begin with.

There was a time when playing video games was considered “uncool” and being a “nerd” was condemning. If you just happen to be among those who were unfortunate enough to be looked down on, the fact that it’s now acceptable and even encouraged in some cases may or may not come off as insulting. You’ve been passionate about video games for years, so how does anyone slavishly following a trend have the right to make the claims that they do?

Now, let’s get one thing straight. There are quite a few of these newcomers who genuinely feel drawn to video games and eventually grow to care for them as much as some of the veterans do. And it’s only fair that they are given a fair chance at acceptance, just as you would expect anyone else to do for you. In the end, those we may see as “fakes” more often than not stick out like a sore thumb. Some may ask, “What’s the big deal?” Look at it this way: when you’re a tried and true fan of a sport, a genre of music, a series of movies … of anything … and your passion reaches a trend status on the border of exploitation, you too would jump to the defensive, keeping a keen eye out for those who are simply looking to cash in.

Conclusion

Like in any other industry, video games have and always will experience its ups and downs. The gaming community can take pride in the innovative ways that video games are advancing into a new generation. On a different note, one has to remember that whenever it seems like things are at their worst, the best is never too far ahead. It’s worth remembering that the media finds more success in showcasing the bad over the good, and a lot of the time, to find the best in the state of things, one must simply know where to look.

As for the video games industry, rough times are to be expected just as they are anywhere else. We still have much to look forward to even if certain obstacles may distract us from our main goals. Learning from our mistakes is often the hardest method of advancement, but it’s one of the most beneficial.(source:venturebeat)