Guest Post: Coming of Age in the Gaming Industry

Big news! Today I’m handing over Ms. Pixel’s keys to a man. 

Lately, I’ve been thinking and blogging about gaming startups and gaming entreprenuship in New York. I’ve also entertained thoughts of starting my own gaming company. So when I meet gaming entreprenuers like Dale Beermann… I’m in awe. Entering an industry with established players like Electronic Arts, Activison and THQ takes a massive amount of guts and skill. That’s why I’m handing him my blogging reigns today. And only today. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Dale Beermann is a Software Architect and Co-Founder of Sharendipity.  He blogs regularly at DaleBeermann.com. Be sure to follow him on Twitter. 

I don’t write about games. I write about being an entrepreneur.  Yet, games are my business.  I read more blogs and news sources about games than entrepreneurship.  Given that I may be more knowledgeable about the gaming industry, I still don’t write about games. Stereotypes surrounding games and society have kept me from tackling this topic.  

At the pop culture family gathering the gaming industry sits at the kids’ table.  In order for gaming to grow up and prepare its own plate of food, the industry needs to be criticized in the same way as music, movies, and television. 

I enjoy reading Ms. Pixel because she tackles the issues surrounding gaming and society.  There’s more here than news and reviews; there are real issues being addressed.

These thoughts began stirring in my head when I read a post here about the way that homosexuals are treated in the gaming industry.  This is a culture which doesn’t condemn and reprimand the use of the term “fag” as an insult.  Somehow it has even become accepted and commonplace.   My thoughts were solidified at the end of the Game Developer’s Conference.

Before then I always tried to make it to one thing at the conference: the Experimental Gameplay Sessions. I’ve added the Game Rant Panel to that list. I have never seen so many people band together to openly criticize the gaming industry and I’m glad that a few of them tackled the topic of the gaming culture.

“The medium is in a stage of adolescence.”  This quote is from Heather Chaplin, for whom I have recently gained an incredible amount of respect.  She also states, directed at game developers, “it’s not that your form is adolescent, it’s that you yourselves are stunted adolescents.”  Ms. Pixel touched on this topic in the post about Jamie Durrant, the game developer who was nicknamed “fag boy Jim” by his peers.  By allowing this activity to persist in our companies, we allow it to persist in our culture.

As adolescents, we lack the ability to reflect on the effects of our actions.  It’s why we continue to create characters in metal bikinis and games where you shoot a bunch of zombies (something Chaplin also mentioned).  I think that it’s also why we are unable to confront issues of race and sexuality.

This is beginning to change.  We are beginning to see games like Flow and Flower gain widespread acceptance. They are coming from Indies and, unless truly embraced by the larger studios, will continue to revolutionize the industry.  Either the AAA producers will be pushed out or they will adapt.

The responsibility doesn’t fall on just the game creators however and this is where I believe Chaplin comes up short.  Games are a part of society now.  We will begin seeing more of them in education, marketing, training, and general everyday life.  The responsibility now falls on the player, the critic, the blogger, the parent, and the rest of society to hold the game creators to higher standards.

Tagged as: dale beerman, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, gaming entrepreneurs, gaming entrepreneurship, gaming startups, guest post