This week in DMS448 Games Gender and Culture, we analyzed the debate regarding whether or not video games are better without stories. Bianca Batti and Alisha Karabinus’ article, “A Dream of Embodied Experience: On Ian Bogost, Epistemological Gatekeeping, and the Holodeck,” critiques Bogost’s proposed ideas that “the idea of games seeking to tell stories is an ‘unambitious goal,’ one that he says games should abandon in order to ‘pursue the one they’re already so good at: taking the tidy, ordinary world apart and putting it back together again in surprisingly, ghastly new ways.’ Essentially, they argue that his claims are politically driven and as a male, his arguments negate intersectionality and its presence in gaming narratives.

In Cody Mejeur’s essay, “Too Narrative, Too Queer: The Border Wars of Game Studies,” he argues his personal viewpoint backed by evidence that narratives do matter and serve as a tool for exciting and marketable games. He states, “The narratives we have about games and the peoples who play them affect our realities of what games are and who gets to play and be represented in them.” Using the example of the game, “Gone Home,” a narrative can contribute to both the actions and mechanics of a game. “Gone Home” displays queer representation and weaves a narrative that circulates around the relationship between queer males. Thus, it received criticism of being too queer and too narrative in reviews.

Personally, I find that video games should almost always feature a narrative or a story. Video games serve a different purpose for everyone who plays them, as some enjoy them as a tactical form of entertainment while others value an escape from the outside world; an opportunity to be/play as whoever they desire in a virtual reality that differs from the world they live in. The opportunity to utilize a character’s skills while also understanding their background, the events that have shaped them, and their values/desires prove to give virtuality a humanistic appeal. I believe that any opportunity for humans to exercise empathy or emotion, in general, in regards to another human being (whether that character is ‘real’ or not) can benefit the human race greatly.

In today’s culture, turning a blind eye to others and their problems and conflicts is ever-present. Beyond the boundaries of everyday life, video games serve as a way in which human connection and interaction can be promoted and highlighted. On the other hand, a narrative can push a storyline that can ‘trigger’ or hinder an individual’s identity in their real-life outside of the game. With the presence of trolls, as well as narratives that promote stereotypes and violence, certain narratives can negatively affect the progress of queer and transgender communities, as well as other communities. Narratives can also fail to acknowledge an individual who feels underrepresented or unrecognized. For example, many narratives feature a woman who is depicted as an ‘object’ or simply placed in the game for visual sexual appeal. She is not given a rich backstory nor as much focus as the male characters. She also lacks the ability to be able to do as much as the male characters. I do believe, however, that the positives outweigh the benefits in regards to narratives’ purposes. Narratives have the ability to bring individuals together through commonality and humanistic appeals.

Sources used: “A Dream of Embodied Experience: On Ian Bogost, Epistemological Gatekeeping, and the Holodeck article and Cody Mejeur’s essay, “Too Narrative, Too Queer: The Border Wars of Game Studies”