Gaming.

Gaming as an artform.

 

Gaming will never be recognised as an artform. A bold statement, you say? Let me add a clause, ‘not yet’, at least. This is the justification. Negative media portrayal. Many of you will be familiar with the game Grand Theft Auto, whether you are gamers or not, you will also probably be familiar with the claims of some of the media that it is the cause of a number of murders, such as a thai boy allegedly wishing to see if hijacking a taxi was as easy as it was in GTA. There are similar stories to other violent games, such as Manhunt and Condemned, which have had censors rushing to refuse certification.

Surely, you cry, it is not just games that have been blamed for this. That is exactly my point, throughout history, new media has felt the wrath of the popular press. It is new, threatening, challenges the status quo and, god forbid, makes people question authority. Yet, with time, these are recognised as baseless claims, quickly ignored in favour of the potential revenue. This is what is slowly happening with gaming, the Wii has brought gaming into the living room, exposed several generations to the media and is therefore reducing the stereotype of the gamer as a lone, rather pasty teenager sitting alone in their bedroom at 3 am *cough*.

In a few generations perhaps, we shall all view the sensationalist reports in the daily mail with the same derision that we now view claims against rock music. We can but hope.