As Gareth Higgins put it, critics are the spiritual directors of our times, who make sense of books, films and art. They are an informed hermeneutic community that reflects on what these stories mean. Like good priests they don’t control a story but nurture a space in which people can find their own interpretation.
However, unlike books and films and faith, most video-game criticism describes the experience rather than mediating between it and human life. There is very little ongoing conversation where we can negotiate what video-games mean, and how we might relate to and make sense of them. No wonder so many feel confused and excluded from this world of games, there is simply no way into it for a grownup thinking individual.
I’m calling for a new “priesthood” of critics who know about games and want to relate them to being human. We need new perspectives on video-games that nurture space in which we can make sense of them.
The absence of this means that while games have sustained interest and profits, they haven’t managed to sustain a cultural voice. Global excitement for gamers hasn’t translated into engagement or discussion at the school gate, town hall, workplace or breakfast table. Global universal appeal has been at the expense of the local and human engagement.
While we can identify in great detail game-play mechanics, graphics, sound and level design; in ethical, physiological, sociological and even spiritual terms we simply don’t know what video-games are.
We need perspectives that talk about the latter, and provide a vessel to catch this sand that is falling between our fingers. Finding better ways to understand and engage with video-games is crucial not only for families, but for video-games themselves if they are to capitalize on their potential.
But where to start?
