Last week David Cage, CEO of Quantic Dream, delivered his keynote speech at D.I.C.E. Summit held by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science and what he had to say did not please many gamers. This conference is intended for the video games industry but consumers have a big role in what the developers create.

The entire speech can be found here:

Cage strongly asserts that the video games industry is suffering from what he calls the "Peter Pan Syndrome." He claims that video games have not change much, if at all, in their 40 year history. Yes, there have been technological advances and graphical improvements, but the core of today's games haven't changed. I couldn't agree more and I feel the genre suffering from this problem the most is the RPG.


This is a concern of mine because RPGs have strayed very little from the "save the world" paradigm. On the other hand the games can very little substance, like the Fable series. This genre is a very adaptable one that can easily handle mature themes.

Themes that are more mature are found in Role Playing games, but they are always hidden in the subtext of the narrative. I could extrapolate that Final Fantasy XIII dealt with prejudice and societal perception of the "other," but I had to look beyond the facade of the game to glean these issues. I wished that this was the focal point of the story, seeing how the cast would cope with and overcome being labelled as corrupted outsiders.

It seems that RPGs are used as a means of doing and seeing things can exist beyond our reality. Slaying dragons is fun, but it needs to have meaning. There is nothing wrong with a fantastical game with magic and monsters. They can be very enjoyable providing an escape from our real life problems and worries. However, as a gamer I want to see what happens if RPGs used these authentic issues as primary themes.

I am currently playing through the Level-5 and Studio Ghibli collaboration Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. The bright and beautiful colours of this lighthearted game disguise the more serious issue which lies at the core. Ni no Kuni is about loss - how the loss of a young boy's mother can completely disrupt his world. The fantasy setting of the surreal parallel world is used as a narrative device to portray the difficulties Oliver experiences while dealing with the death of his mother. It does not take a stretch of the imagine to consider that losing a dearly loved family member would turn one's world completely upside down. This is also what makes the game great. The theme has meaning and is relatable; it is accessible to anyone even those who have little to no interest in video games.

Accessibility is another area RPGs falter. More often than not these games will not interest someone who does not play games. The stories could be deemed too strange, the characters might be to silly looking. How about a Role Playing game with realistic humans set in a world within the confines of our reality trying to overcome something that is relevant to our modern world. An example could be a man or woman living in persecution for his or her beliefs and how this person copes in a society in which they are not welcome.

I hope to see more mature, more relevant RPGs in the upcoming generation of consoles. This genre is certainly able to tackle more than it is given credit for.

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