Games Aren't Numbers

This essay called Legitimacy For Game Developers by Brian Green address the growing anxiety among some maturing gamers that games somehow aren't "legitimate" enough. Green explains his definition of legitimacy and how games aren't legitimate (yet) very clearly so I'll spare you of a summary. However I have some major issues with the article. I feel Green has an elephant in his room. He is completely unable to explain "legitimacy" without making references to other forms of media. His article leads me to believe that, on some subconscious level, he wishes games to be just like movies, books, and all the other "legitimate" medias, because his entire definition is relative to their statuses. Of course at the end of the article it becomes clear that he's actually more concerned about gaining cultural respect and he constructed this legitimacy definition to explain it. If he wants respect, then he should focus solely on that rather than develop another issue to use as a proxy. The two are completely different things.

The whole debate about video game legitimacy is kind of silly to me in the first place. I tend to agree with Matthew's reaction in how it seems to be more of an insecurity than a serious issue. I don't want to look like I'm just picking on that one article, because it's more of the entire gaming community that appears to have Film Envy. Games try to be like movies (or any culturally respected media) and it seems to be almost impossible to have a lengthy discussion about games without someone drawing a comparison between the two industries.

This is a problem for me because all reaction is dependent on and limited by what it is reacting against. Gaming doesn't need to compare itself to other industries, in fact doing so constantly only cripples it. To think something like Hollywood is the standard for legitimacy is just crazy. Not only are games and movies extremely different, Hollywood has its fair share of problems which I would rather games not inherit. Hollywood is an example of a respected (and thus "legitimate") industry that I feel doesn't deserve 99% of its given respect. If developers want to gain cultural respect by taking on the habits film has made then that's a good way to ensure I'll never give them my respect. The idea of legitimacy and respect are simply social constructs without any meaningful value in them.

Comparisons between industries aren't inherently harmful, in fact it can be helpful or interesting to note historical trends. But building a comprehensive qualification for "legitimacy" based on other industries and then applying it to games is just an awful idea.

The article could have been worse I guess. At least it didn't mention Citizen Kane.

The statement in bold is a paraphrased quote by Gloria Anzaldúa which has nothing to do with games but I recycled for my purposes.