By how much do you suppose society's secular values influence the type of video games published these days?
Thinking back to the 80s, when there was a general emphasis on traditionalism, conservatism, family values, etc. under Reagan and Thatcher, many games were fitted to this model. Family friendly titles were the rule, almost without exception. Even through to the mid-90s, games usually did not push too many envelopes, although certain franchises like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter began to tilt the violence element like a pinball machine.
From the mid-90s onwards, games began to tack harder to the gaming demographic: the relaxation of moral standards made obscenity, sex, and violence more commonplace in video games to appeal to the teenagers who played them. Being daring was all the rage in a more liberal society, allowing titles like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil to be not nearly as egregious as they would have been to society only ten years earlier. "Talkies" were a necessary counterbalance against gaming cynics, who had appeared from the glut of games on the market.
While it would seem the demographic has fractured into various groups by now, there is an overarching pretence to realism and maturity still present. From the inception of this decade, there has been a building focus on protagonists characterised by...something completely different, which ousted "cool" from its coveted position. In the same way Sonic defined "cool", Shadow defined "angst" and Silver (sort of) defined "badass". Today, it's not appropriate to be cool, but to be badass. With anime becoming so popular in the West, video games have lurched to appeal to that base as well. And in a society where spectacle overrules substance, video games now are virtually required by unwritten law to be like interactive cinematic experiences with enough extra fluff to start a pillow-making company. Call me old school, but I preferred the age of the console wars when there weren't a billion and one identical shoot-'em-ups on the loose and corporations didn't have to show enough digital fanservice to give you a copious nosebleed before they could catch your eye. Sure, sex and violence have been around since the existence of man, but only in the last decade was that acceptable in gaming. How many social values are reflected in games these days?
Hmmm...nice topic, some friends and were discussing something similiar to this a few days ago. I used to be one that was totally fed up with all the FPS out there. It was like straight up competition to see who could make the best shooter. But this is where gameplay elements and storylines come in. Bioshock for one...violent to the extreme indeed, but there's a huge moral and humanistic like side to the game. Then with games like Mass Effect and GTA...you can choose to have sex...whether or not you actually do, is up to you. The realism in games might as well be a reflection of our society. I do miss that era of mostly fantasy, where we had our space shooters, platformers, adventure/quest type games, RPGs, etc. That was good stuff. 16Bit era remains to be my favorite of all time...even though I missed a TON of games then, I can definitely appreciate the ones I did play and hope to someday have atleast played[if not completed] the majority of the games from way back when.
It also stems from when you started gaming. Since I started in the late 80's, I've noticed a fundamental change in my own gaming habits due to the consistent evolution of the genre as a whole. I used to be willing to play anything at all, but as time went on, things began to get cloned and complex. I quit most sports games unless they had a unique quirk (Looney Toons B-Ball) I now absolutely hate FPS's, no matter what (ex: Metroid series survives with me only cause its Metroid.)
The console grouping also changed my outlook toward games. Now its about terapixelage, which I never cared about. Hence why I do not own any powerful systems (yet...damn you RE5/ToV). Its not that I wouldn't try these games (God of War what? Fantastic), but its just that everyone wants their game to be the best of the best-relating to us gamers in ways that parallel our lives.
I don't WANT my games paralleling real life, hence why I hate war games and FPS's..I play games for an escape.
So, to answer your question, Society and its secular values has an 85 to 90% chance to help shape and influence the type of video games published these days. Which is why things like Super Mario Galaxy and Boom Blox (What, Fantastic!) still hold strong to a larger berth, they don't delve into real life as much and they give us that break.
Yeah I wish IT WOULD go back to 1988, where ..well no, when the Mortal Kombat come out? Least go back to then. Things weren't getting too serious then-and life was still comical-with a hint of blood here and there xD.
Values? What are values and how DARE you have them!
