I See No Halo 2 – Article

Like Lord Nelson who raised his telescope to his blind eye and declared he could not see a flotilla of French ships, the main stream media has done the same with the launch of Halo 2.

Halo 2 is a game that grossed $US 100 Million within its first day of release. People were queuing up outside stores in cold November evenings just so they could get a copy of this game. Like it or not, Halo 2 is a significant release in any kind of entertainment media. It brings with it a very advanced online play mode which encourages people from all over the world to compete with each other in the comfort of their living rooms.

Gone are the days when people will have to patch their games and sit hunched over their keyboards to play games over the Internet. Now you can sit on your sofa whilst yelling at the TV screen while you shoot someone who happens to live 5000 miles away. This is a-big-deal. Yet, did the mainstream media talk about this? Did they review the game, do some Vox-Pops on the people queuing up outside stores? No they didn’t.
Bridget Jones takes down Master Chief Shock!

Here in the UK another new media release appeared in the form of the new Bridget Jones film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, at the same time as Halo 2. The mainstream media was falling over themselves trying to interview actors of the film whilst writing reviews and plastering them over every news paper you could imagine. They interviewed anyone who had a faint link to the film which, by all accounts, is a poor film anyway! Yet, it gripped the section of the media that covers all things entertainment related for an entire week. It’s enough to make a grown man weep. Here we have a 30 something fat-bottomed neurotic blithering idiot taking down Master Chief. What is wrong with the world? How can a mediocre film get more attention than one of the biggest selling video games of all time?

Video Games are not ‘Media Friendly’
I think the issue here is how the people who control the media view video games. None of it is positive. They either regard them as a threat to the medium they serve i.e. TV or as a general disruptive influence on people who play them. The only time video games get any kind of attention is when a parent of a victim of a violent crime blames ‘x’ game and the right wing media swings into action and decries all forms of video games because it was the direct cause of their children’s demise. A perfect case in point is the recent Manhunter game that was blamed for a death of a 14 year old. The Daily Mail was quick to blame this game for the child’s death despite the fact that the game was found in the victims home, not the perpetrator’s. But this article isn’t about that for that’s a whole other issue which has been talked about ad infinitum. No, this about how video games are killing TV.

Did you see ’such and such’ last night?
Taking from my own personal experience I have to say my consumption of TV has dropped considerably since the arrival of online gaming both on the PC and XBox. Why sit there and passively take in what’s offered to me and just accept it while I can shoot some people/play golf/drive fast cars with a group of friends who happen to live all across the planet? This has lead me to say the phrase ‘I don’t do TV anymore really’ when confronted with the above question. Noting this has led me to believe that the mainstream media genuinely feels that video games are a threat to their advertising revenue! Why cover something that actually takes people away from their output and thus prevents them from being exposed to their sponsors

Wake up! Video games are mainstream, whether you like it or not!
Since the arrival of the PSone there has been a rise of prominence in video games as a form of entertainment that is recognized as being ‘acceptable’ to the average person. They are lumped with film, books and music so much so that stores both off and online that sell entertainment based media always group all four of these means to entertain under the same roof. Yet the mainstream media just can’t cope with the youngest one. It doesn’t know how to cover it. When ever it tries the results are normally atrocious TV shows that are catered for 10-14 year old boys with presenters screaming at the camera whilst some spotty kid plays Pro Evolution Soccer 4 against another nameless spotty teenager.
Is G4Tech TV the way to go?

In the US there is a cable channel that covers all things video game related. From all accounts it’s certainly a step in the right direction with shows that cover not only FPS tournaments but also ways to create your own game maps and tips on how to improve your play. This week they covered Halo 2 extensively as they know the game is a significant release. Sadly I never got to see any of this as I live in London where there is no TV channel on video games. There was one called ‘Game Network’ but that has inexplicably now degenerated into soft-porn premium rate phone in channel.

Time will tell
The only way things are going to move forward is when the people in control of the mainstream media get replaced with people who have grown up in a world that takes video games for granted as a form of entertainment and don’t see it as a threat to their livelihood. With the arrival of G4tech TV this certainly signals a change but it’s a small one. We’re just going to have to be patient.

Editorial by Chris O’Regan AKA Kropotkin

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