Bastard in a Basket

Pretty good counterpoint, Chris. A lot of what you say is valid, but I think you might misinterpret what Green counts as a “children’s” game. The classification isn’t necessarily in the game’s content alone, but also in the themes, narrative complexity, game mechanics, etc. Take say, the difference between Farcry 2 in terms of complexity of mechanics and production quality and another popular shooter title such as Killzone (and soon, sadly, Killzone 2). I realize Killzone’s a more dated game, but the comparison is more about what conscious design decisions were made, and basically the level of demand the game puts on the player to succeed. Also, they intersect in that, despite largely positive reviews across the board, Farcry 2 has not enjoyed commensurate commercial success. Killzone, despite being panned as a lackluster generic shooter, enjoyed a surprising amount of popularity. (Note I’m leaving narrative complexity largely out here. Given the setting of Farcry 2, the lackluster, sporadic story it churns out was about my only big disappointment with the game. Then again, as for Killzone’s narrative qualities… the Helghast? Dear lord.)

The point is essentially, part of the cycle we’re locked into in the industry is that a Killzone-esque game is precisely what a large part of the gaming community wants. You sometimes can take a shot with a unique, hybridized title and get lucky. But if you’re viewing development as a business, and you know you can get away with a hack coding job and few specialized systems, then why not do it? Not to paint the entire gaming community as a bunch of attention deficit suffering twitch-monkies, but that’s a large part of the market. A game can be jam packed with gore and ultra-violence, but at it’s core can have a childish simplicity and appeal.

My hope is that a lot of game development’s acceptance problems, be them the frustration of developers trying to make games that are “high art” or the episodic rise of anti-gaming legislation, are largely generational problems. Thirty years from now, there may well be a cultural legitimacy for game design. But a lot of this is reliant upon waiting for the first few “gaming generations” to start attaining political and cultural agenda setting power, and for the few generations who’ve grown up with even more gaming exposure to reach maturity. The problem seems largely structural. Once there are the demographics to support the sort of legitimacy Green wants, the issue will be moot. That said, I think you were spot on that there’s a certain insular “we’re so put upon, the general public just doesn’t get us” quality to the article that is pretty unhelpful towards making the case. I just think Green’s objections towards “childish” games are a little more expansive than just that narrow, and yes, incredibly crappy, genre.

Hoo Boy, Chris!
–I owe you a phone call–this looks like a perfect opportunity.

While you do make some good points, I think that Mr. Green deserves his day in court–Project Horseshoe as well.
It’s not whining (in my opinion), but more of a feeling of producers, developers, artists and musicians becoming more mature. Back in the 80s and 90s, it was the technology and the new-ness of the media that drove these creative people. As they all get older, I’m sure that they get tired of experiencing the same things:

SCENARIO-
Cocktail party at the wife’s workplace. She is introducing you to some of her co-workers.
WIFE-”This is my husband, George. George, this is Martha. Martha works in accounting with me.”
MARTHA-”Nice to meet you, George. What do you do for a living?”
GEORGE-”Well, I’m a musician and composer.”
MARTHA-”Wow–a composer–how interesting! Where have you performed? Might I have heard of your work?”
GEORGE-”Possibly–Have you ever heard of ‘The Seventh Guest’?”
MARTHA-”What’s that? A movie? A new Band? ”
GEORGE-”No, it’s a videogame. One of the best scores I’ve ever written.”
MARTHA-”….OH….A video game. Well–how…nice. I think I’ll go try to find the hor’derves cart.”

Call it whining if you want, but that kind of response enough times must be enough to pull your hair out!

Gaming industry professional’s entire hearts, souls, and creative energies are being poured into their jobs on a daily basis for years, and these very creative people are still being dismissed after over 25 years as ‘toymakers’. I don’t think the need is for fame, or attention (with the exception of perhaps Garriott and Romero), but more toward the feeling of appreciation for the medium. Game developers work as hard as (and even harder than) movie actors, producers, concert pianists, talk show hosts, rock musicians, and novelists. Mr. Green is simply pointing out that if that is the case, why are game developers treated like they’re street performers, rather than like the true artists, musicians, and producers that they are?
I think in the end, there’s no real way to force legitimacy. It simply takes time.