We all know the old prejudice against us gamers (usually brought forward by non-gamers) that the extended exposure to graphical violence in games (not to mention horror movies and Heavy Metal music) has a desensitizing effect on us.
Of course we all know how ridiculous such accusations are and that they are based on skewed aesthetical conceptions of people not being in touch with our specific sub-culture.
However, as much as we tried in the past we’ve always failed to rebut these prejudices and come up with a comprehensible proof of our moral integrity and intact sensitivity.
Until now …
Valve (probably the world’s most sensitive game developer) in cooperation with the incommensurable TF2 community has started a global field test to generate irrefutable proof that the gaming community – despite violent graphical content and gameplay - is still as sensitive as your average Joe.
And indeed, after less than 24 hours after start of this field test the Steam Forums, as always serving as the intellectual and moral backbone of the community, has already produced satisfying results.
The emotional attached, yet sophisticated reaction to the new game element called Jarate is showing a promising and positive relation to the perception of computer games and confirms the assumption, that gamers still perceive the depiction of the artificial virtual reality in a computer game with a differentiated and highly sensitive attitude. Though in its early stages this test already clearly disproves the general theory about gamers being indifferent and blunt. I’m positive that stage two of this test, projected to be implemented before the weekend, will only confirm these promising results on a larger scale.
This experiment will be a major step stone in the endeavor of stopping the false perception of computer games and the people playing them, as well as redeeming the negative image of gamers which will hopefully lead to a well deserved recognition of the equally developed sensitive nature of the gaming population.
I think during his presentation of the field test yesterday Valve’s Spokesman for Public Relation, Archie Medes, summed it up very eloquently when he said:
“Give me a jar of piss and I will change the world”.
RSS 2.0