Of Love and Games

Crazy in Love

To be sure, there isn't a game we could design that would discourage this kind of behavior. That Sonic the Hedgehog grabs rings and spins does not lead us to the inevitable conclusion that someone out there will want to marry him, and while JRPGs may cater to a more obsessive crowd, level grinding doesn't necessarily lead one down the path of abusive fan LARPing communes. I don't think this kind of behavior is to be wholeheartedly scorned or feared, either. We've probably all known somebody whom the FF7 House or the Sarah Saga reminds us of. What's more, we've probably all seen a little bit of ourselves in some of these people. As jaded as I am now to the adolescent escapism that gaming, animé and sci-fi fandom provides, I've experienced moments of fandom myself. Gawky awkward teenage Pat Miller has been to a Xena: Warrior Princess convention, built a handful of Gundam Wing models, read much of the Star Wars Extended Universe novels and tried to holla at a girl who told him he was going to be the strongest ninja in the village. (Google, please do not pick that one up.) Let those without latent fandom urges cast the first stone.

At some point, however, we realize that we've outgrown these stories that once captivated us. Once this happens, we may find that we cling to the old for new reasons. Alix Henriol may love Sonic, but she's turned that love into a tool for self-promotion in her quest for Internet celebrity. Sarah's connection to Suikoden is strong, but it's undoubtedly reinforced by her connection to her boyfriend (who is soulbonded to a dragon, apparently) and her generous followers. Others move on in search of a new fandom high: The remaining FF7 House members have reportedly moved on to other fandoms, including Hellsing, The Incredibles and Heroes, among others. Hopefully, most of us will discover something else that provides us with a sense of social worth and validation.

This piece isn't a condemnation of gaming fandom. Rather, it's a plea to those who make games: Give us a medium that we can grow into, instead of something that we must grow out of. Give us games that are mature not just because they're gritty and violent, but also because they have characters that are too complex for children to understand. Give us portrayals of romantic relationships that we could only relate to if we've been in love before. Give us the gut-wrenching moral dilemmas that we regularly encounter in our lives that for some reason never make it into our PlayStations. Let's make it so it's not just the extreme elements of gaming fandom that stay interested in videogames and videogame characters long after their teenage years are over. Let's play games that we can make time for after we've got the house and the job and the spouse and the family.

Let's make it so we can all keep playing games.

Pat Miller has been doing this for way too long. Stop by his blog, Token Minorities, for more on videogames, race and other fun stuff.