by Adam Churchill

Created on: May 05, 2008

I'm voting, and writing for the "no" side, not because I think that Video games can not be used for this purpose, or that they are even a good medium for it.
I'm voting, and writing for the "no" side because I don't want REAL LIFE encroaching on my fantasy worlds.
Grand Theft Auto's realism was bad enough.
I don't want to play "Racism Awareness" games. I don't want to play games the illustrate how difficult it is for American Families to live on, while their' family member fights in Iraq.((I'm not American; I don't care. Enough with the spam mails, and the TV Ads already.))

I hate how my favorite game has been spoiled by realism. "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" has a strange realness to parts of it, including the main character, and his brother, having lost their' dad in some war, and how hard it is for them to make their' own decisions and grow up.
When I played Final Fantasy 12, I smiled. Squaresoft understood what consumers like me wanted.
When I played that game, I found no trace of this world, other than some forms of humor. The races were different, even the human ones.
And it's a good thing, too.
Here's the problem with using Video Games based on Social Issues, to "Educate Audiences on Complicated Issues".
One - Video Games shouldn't be made to appear "REAL".
Let's face it. When children play realistic games, and then go and play not-so-realistic games, they aren't going to be able to tell the difference, if the parents pawn parenting off on Video Games.
Think about this, before you try and argue this point:
Grand Theft Auto.
Really want your kids trying to play that game in the real world? Keeping in mind you can't use "Infinite Health" hacks in real life?
Two - Video Games are supposed to be Fantasy. To challenge one's imagination.
Playing games like Final Fantasy, or Mario, or Zelda, where bosses are bigger than humanly possible, with weapons, power-ups, and insane ideas like warp pipes, Magic swords, or my personal favorite, Shiva, the ice-goddess, who is a summonable force in most Final Fantasy Games((I think there might have been one or two she didn't appear in.)) are supposed to be fairy-tale like.
Not real. In any way, shape or form. You should only be able to relate to them, by challenging your' imagination.
Three - You can't cast "Fire", or "Life" in this world. Why should children believe that anything else in video games is doable here?
A sort of backwards version of point number one. If a child DOES know that Video Games are fantasy, then it's entirely possible the point will be missed, and then the exact opposite happens, of what you are trying to achieve. The child believes the problem DOES NOT EXIST.

I could probably write for hours on this subject, but I'll keep it short, and readable.
Three perfect points on why Video Games shouldn't be used for this purpose.
But if you need a fourth one, keep this in mind: Video Games tend to over-simplify everything, so you can play them with simple button pushes. Can you really simplify a "complicated issue" to 8 to 12 button game-play?

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