Video games have been evolving for more than 20 years in the industry. From generally simple mindless fun gradually turning into the most epic and cinematic storytelling mediums yet, video games are beginning to impact society in many ways.
Even the movie industries are beginning to take video games seriously and adapt them into the big screen. However, all forms of media have been subjected to numerous controversies, especially on violence, whether genuinely valid or just pure misunderstandings - and video games are no exception. Discussing this in detail is "Doom" designer John Romero in one of his keynote talks at the GameOn Ventures conference in Toronto.
In a report by GameIndustry.biz, Romero mentioned that the reason why there are video game-related violence in society is because "the culture" and "not the player." The game designer believes that "games are cultural and the violence that we see in the world goes beyond games."
"Plenty of countries play games," said the game designer. "Canada, Germany, Japan, England, Ireland... They're all hardcore consumers of games, yet we don't see similar outbreaks of violence in these countries."
He further added that "it's not the game, it's the gun. It's not the computer, it's the culture. It's not the player."
Romero continued on with this discussion on defining what a game is. He also stated that video games were not considered as "games" back then in the '70s, "while console games were not games according to computer game players in the '80s." He even pointed out that the game industries are continually expanding such is the cases of "Gone Home," "Life is Strange," and "Her Story," which he does consider them to be primarily video games.
"When we push the boundaries of games, when we experiment with the medium to see what it can do," said Romero. "There are always those who will question if the new work at the end is still within the boundary, when in fact it has just pushed it."
In an earlier article from Gamespot, Romero predicted that the medium of video games in the future will be considered by people as an "ultimate art form." He was absolutely convinced of this since he pointed out the aspects of programming, level design, animation and modeling, and writing as all types of art form.
"All of that put together create a kind of Mega-art form that's very complex, especially when done well," explained the game designer. "In the future, museums will fully understand and be able to explain why games are the ultimate art form."