4 ms·

Because the people making them have absolutely nothing to say. The writing is a pretentious sideshow to wrap the game with, like the plot in a movie musical (or

Because the people making them have absolutely nothing to say. The writing is a pretentious sideshow to wrap the game with, like the plot in a movie musical (or in a porno.) To get around vice laws, they used to have naked women paint themselves like Roman statues and strike poses on stage, or read Shakespeare. Alcoholic drinks were sold by the gallon as "health tonics." It's a sign of the decadence we find ourselves in that the pretense becomes honestly mistaken for the actual purpose, rather than something that merchants say and customers smirk at. Even worse, since the vast bulk of the information we have about the past comes from marketing material of various sorts, we simply assume that the world was populated by rubes who just slurped it up. They weren't as shrewd as we are, wondering why the plots of video games are stupid. I can't wait until generative AI eliminates the entire narrative industry: "Alexa, tell me a story about the war that glorifies the EU and also implies that the CIA is the shadowy unappreciated force that is holding together an unruly human race." "Cortana, make me a zombie video game that's really about depression, but offers no answers."

everdrive 3y ago
This is just simply not true. Whatever you may think of their efforts, there are many people trying to say deep and profound things via the medium of games. I don't particularly like some of the heavy-handed messages in a lot of indie games. But it's clear that the creators really have specific and deep ideas they're intending to convey. Same with something mainstream like the new God of War game. Again, it's not something I particularly enjoyed. But the writers clearly put a lot of time and effort into it, and wanted to convey specific themes and ideas. At this point, it's a settled question whether people are putting effort into games as art, and the only real question is "which games succeed?"

everdrive 3y ago

This is just simply not true. Whatever you may think of their efforts, there are many people trying to say deep and profound things via the medium of games. I don't particularly like some of the heavy-handed messages in a lot of indie games. But it's clear that the creators really have specific and deep ideas they're intending to convey. Same with something mainstream like the new God of War game. Again, it's not something I particularly enjoyed. But the writers clearly put a lot of time and effort into it, and wanted to convey specific themes and ideas. At this point, it's a settled question whether people are putting effort into games as art, and the only real question is "which games succeed?"