The Anti-Woke Can’t Save Gaming

Reading through the worst “Top 10 Games of the Year” article I was stuck by a thought. This hack had put together a terrible list, topping it off by calling Dragon Age: Veilguard the best game of the year. Insane but it was the lead up that inspired me. After lamenting the huge amount of layoffs that happened this year, the writer then goes into all the movies, the adaptations, and the Hollywood slop that surrounds video games today. Then it hit me that journalists can’t acknowledge that gaming is going the wrong direction. Journalists need to cover the mainstream. Their job and their loyalty to leftism makes them a defender of it. So while they’ll lament the consequence of what 200 million dollar budgets have done to the industry they have no desire to stop it and lack the means to. Journalists aren’t taste makers, they have no cultural clout. Most people don’t trust them enough to take their recommendation. Normies might see a 9 and think “This might be good” but marketing has already influenced them before that. All they do is cover the latest games and maybe give you a score. Outside of trying to enforce liberal orthodoxy their influence on the industry is small.

As my mind was thinking about journalists I realized that this applies to anti-woke creators. They are reliant on covering the mainstream. Maybe even more than journalists depending on how blood thirsty their audience is. Covering the bad parts of games is their bread and butter. Look at a Geeks and Gamers You tube page, you’ll be hard pressed to find a single video that sings the praises of a video game, it’s just Jeremy facepalming as he covers that latest celebrity tripe. How does getting mad at Rachel Zigler save video games? Side Scroller has a video calling journalists useless but as I scroll through his videos, where are the videos praising games? Where are the games that Craig enjoys playing? What studio deserves my money?

Side scrollers created an initiative to “Take gaming back” by hosting the Real Game Awards. An awards show like The Game Awards but “better”. Though quickly scrolling through the topics you’ll see things like “biggest cash grab of the year” and “worst journalist of the year”. Nothing against mocking the horrible state of the industry, but if you want to take gaming back, why not use the space to highlight different genres of games that deserve attention? There is no category for platformers, roguelikes, horror, or shoot ‘em ups but “Shitty Ass Game of Year” gets a slot. Gameplay is the heart and soul of video games and The Game Awards have abandoned them. The Real Game Awards could have picked it up but apparently “taking gaming back” means making fun of the “worst bait and switch” game this year.

This makes me ask the question: which game first? Does Side Scrollers have these categories because that’s what the viewing audience wants? Or is this what they have trained their audience to want? Maybe it’s moot, because either way these channels don’t seem that interested in talking about games that are worth playing. Maybe they can’t talk about games worth playing. Perhaps their channels views and sub are dependent on mocking the ridiculousness of leftist activism in popular culture.

There is a shift happening. Trump has won the popular vote, identity politics are as unpopular as they have ever been. There is space opening up for a positive vision of gaming. One that rejects bloat and focuses on gameplay. But it can’t simply focus on the mainstream. Mainstream gaming is too poisoned, you’ll only get a few games worth playing in a year. But if you look back at gaming history, there are hundreds of amazing games. Thanks to emulation and ports more games are available to play than ever before and more affordable too. A treasure trove of games lie before gamer’s feet for their enjoyment.

The issue is that this isn’t easy. The woke and the anti woke both hitch onto the marketing machine for clicks and views. Talking about the latest consumer release is rewarded by the algorithm. Generating interest without the assistance of the algo is a daunting task and not as rewarding. If the general audience of gaming can’t find an appreciation for what’s outside the mainstream then people are still just as reliant on leftist institutions for their entertainment. Anti-woke content creators are just as reliant of leftist institutions for content. For the past four years we have heard what’s wrong with gaming, it’s time we start to hear what is good with gaming, you just need people that are willing to look a little deeper then what mainstream marketing is showing you.