January 15th, 2008
The Lens #3 (Special Marketing Edition)
This special edition of The Lens (where my poor daughter’s gaming life is recorded on this blog for any fool to read) deals specifically with a slight marketing angle for gaming. I knew this would happen and I should have gone with my gut in the first place but as much as you try to protect them from the evils of the world, sometimes it turns out the problems are right in front of you. I recently decided to show some studio and franchise spirit and wear more Tomb Raider related t-shirts from time-to-time. I’m proud that my studio works with Tomb Raider and consider it an important part of my gaming life, so it made sense to me to fly the company colors openly. Jen, of course, was not too happy but hey, it is my work so it seemed justified.
Once I started wearing them though, something struck me. Each and every shirt (except one) has Lara holding a gun usually in a very prominent way. I remember thinking to myself that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to wear them around Lia because of this. Then I talked myself out of it and figured she may never notice and really probably doesn’t care what is on my silly shirts. Well, turns out I should have listened to my gut (you can see where this is going).
As I was brushing her hair after a bath the other day she looked at my shirt and asked me some questions.
Lia: “Daddy, what is that lady holding?”
Daddy: “Who, this lady?” (Pointing to my shirt hoping she was talking about something else. Oh crap.)
Lia: “Is she holding a wand?” (Magic and Fairies and Mermaids is her life right now, thank the gods.)
Daddy: “No it isn’t a wand.” (Shit, let’s hope she doesn’t…)
Lia: “Is that a gun?” (I have no idea how she knew that really.)
Daddy: “Yes, that is a gun.” (Already knowing this is quickly going south.)
Lia: “What is she doing with the gun? Does she want to shoot people?” (At this point I’m not even sure how she knows that guns do that in the first place. The most violent game she has played so far is Zelda – report incoming, she likes the sword apparently.)
Daddy: “Well, she does sometimes, yes. To protect herself.” (Here I’m trying to soften the blow, of course.)
Lia: “Why does she want to shoot them? Does she want to kill them with the gun?”
Daddy: “Well, this lady goes on adventures and sometimes she need to use her guns to protect herself.”
Lia: “You mean she goes on adventures like princesses do?”
Daddy: “Well sort of. You could say she is a type of princess.” (Jen and I try to go pretty princess-lite but Disney is too powerful for us it seems.)
Lia: “Would she shoot me with the gun?” (Right about now I’m feeling like the hole I dug is pretty damn deep.)
Daddy: “Oh no, she would never use the gun on you. She is a sort of hero, like…ur…Peter Pan.”
Lia: “Can she fly?” (In the image Lara is jumping through the air.)
Daddy: “Oh no, she can just jump really high.”
Lia: “Is she bad?”
Daddy: “Well, not really, but she can be really mad sometimes.” (Thanks Toby!)
Lia: “She should be careful with her guns.” (And truer words have never been spoken…)
Daddy: “Ok, open your mouth for teeth brushing!”
I guess I’m not wearing those shirts after all. Back to Wilderness themes with trees and animals. Maybe they will make good cleaning rags.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am
It’s interesting. So, as you know, I just finished up TR: Anniversary. I had never finished the original (I was too busy playing games done by my new employer at the time!) and one thing that really strikes me is how few people that Lara shoots in the first one. It’s… three. 3! And they all are distinct people, with (thin) characterizations, instead of the millions of nameless/faceless in the sequels (I’m looking at you, Legend).
I don’t fault Crystal for that at all — I think the combat works and is appropriate for the game and I really enjoyed it. I would, however, like to see some individuality in all those characters. Nathan went through a lot of work in RC to differentiate the enemies, even though to George pretty much every Trandoshan is the same, ours wore different gear and all that stuff.
I’d love to have every bit of gameplay mean a little more, you know what I mean?
As for Lara and those guns, well, yeah, you might want to hold off on those T-shirts. But you can also accentuate that she uses them to protect herself from wild animals who are dangerous. Wild animals that all seem to be on the endangered list… hmmm… maybe you’d better not go there either
My boys are 7 and 9 and we still don’t play any games with guns or anything — they are still E-only kids (though I’d probably let them play E10). We play a lot more card and board games than videogames, though they get a couple of hours in each week with their DSes. I’ve tried to minimize the amount of violent stuff that they see, but you really can’t get away from it.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
As is evident by her knowledge of guns and that they can be used on humans, there is nothing you can do keep it from her. At least this way she asked you, instead of…
January 16th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Well…
Over in TRU/DF EX-PAT land we were talking about all the possibilities of a Tomb Raider game where Lara doesn’t use guns at all. For example, our fairly robust physics systems allows for many more opportunities for the player to use the environment as a weapon or a means of diversion to get past an enemy without killing them. Think of it like the mid-1980′s Jackie Chan movies (specifically both Project A movies if you haven’t seen them) where he fought multitudes of pirates and corrupt ministers without firing a single shot.
The problem with Tomb Raider is that her guns have become too iconic a part of her character thanks to marketing. I mean, if you look at the first Tomb Raider, Brett mentions that very few shots are fired by necessity. In fact, from my own memories of the game, I usually only fired the guns because it was the first game to emulate the (then hip) John Woo Hardboiled style. Later in the franchise (including both of Crystal’s latest efforts), there is more shooting by design where the player is forced to shoot (and kill) to advance. I’m glad some people enjoyed the experience I tried to author with the combat in TR7, but other than the Jeep crashing into the electrical pole, it largely felt empty without more cause and effect (outside of empty carnage). For example, in the Peruvian town, there’s a sniper-style enemy in a balcony shooting down at Lara. However Lara wants to take him on, I wanted his death to result in him falling from said balcony onto a series of crates below the balcony which would break and reveal items. Our physics system (in that engine) unfortunately ended up with him ragdoll draped on top of them which made his demise that much more meaningless. One cool thing that many people didn’t do was try and use the grapple to pull enemies down from rooftops and balconies!
Anyway, i’ve rambled enough.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I’m with Weezie on this one though – it’d be really interesting to see a TR with Lara without a gun, particularly for these kinds of audience reasons. Maybe she renounces them at the start of the game as a narrative twist. The marketing could make it a selling point, the “new” Tomb Raider and all that. That’s what marketing does. Having (enemy) guns be rare and really deadly and defeating them through the environment has tremendous empowerment potential.
The grapple is actually a really interesting replacement for the gun. I’ve never been too fond of the grapple (it always felt significantly out of place). But it could occupy a lot of the same verbs (Break, Hit, Smash).
January 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
err, Dan even (above). Silly work keyboards, can’t even spell my name.
Related:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_132/2801-Play-Like-a-3-Year-Old
January 18th, 2008 at 5:28 am
You could always tell her that those are paintball guns. Then explain to her that when daddy was youger he used to snipe his classmates down by the river. If you can guess who this is I will tell you the funny story on how I found this sight. Nice sight by the way and I can vouch for your acting and singing ability. Vintage 1990 UGH
January 18th, 2008 at 8:31 am
You’ve acknowledged that your ill-conceived media blackout has failed to hide the existence or purpose of guns from your daughter, but somehow conclude that further enforcing it will be in her best interest? Best that she continue to learn about concepts from her mystery source without you having the opportunity to discuss and explain?
January 18th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Uh, DJH, I think the descision to not wear the shirts was more of one aimed at not glorifying the use of guns, rather than close any disscusion of them. I don’t think avoiding stupidly violent game play with her is an “ill-conceived media blackout”. Though media, for the large part, really has no purpose for small children except to advertise to them. Lia learned about guns from from kids at school before Tim and his wife thought there was a reason to introduce them. Tim and his wife explain and talk freely with Lia about anything she has questions about, including guns. The exsitence of guns was never hidden, just not presented in a positive way. Or before the age of four, which seems reasonable to me. (Untill the t-shirts which are now gone) Guns are inevitable yes, but something to get all fired up about and brandished happily? Pointless and stupid.
January 18th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Let’s empty the safe and take the kid to the range! Can’t teach ‘em young enough about muzzle discipline. …I got some low-load no-kick .45 rounds around here someplace…
Keep ‘em pointed downrange.
January 20th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Sweet, I got a mention!!
Corrupting youth is a hobby of mine. No, scratch that, it’s a full time job for all of us.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:08 am
There’s really only one option: Wear nondescript clothing without any reference to anything gaming-related ever. Even Zelda has a sword… Matter of fact, hide any form of literature ever written. Everything back to the Canterbury Tales has some kind of fight in it. Ban sports too! Football especially! It’s just a metaphor for ground battles!
Lifetime memberships to the NRA are $700.00. I’m in for $20 if someone wants to start the collection.
But seriously… Treat guns as tools. They’re not magical, they’re just a machine that throws a bullet. That bullet destroys what it hits. The sticky part is the application of the tool. We all trust policemen to carry weapons to better protect us, and I’m guessing you don’t want your kid fearing policemen. –cue the theme song from “SWAT”–
Besides, my mom wouldn’t let me play with guns *ever* as a kid. The result: I now collect them. Got a safe full of ‘em, a concealed carry license (Washington’s a bit more liberal with those) and enough ammunition to hold off invading Canadians for a week… or coyotes…
January 21st, 2008 at 5:27 pm
If you owned a T-shirt featuring topless Lara Croft (!), that you decided not to wear around your four year old because you were concerned about appropriateness, or the sticky questions, nobody would give you one iota of guff about it, or say “Why don’t you just start wearing burkas, you prudes?”
Handguns are like switchblades; they’re only made for killin’ people. It’s nice to play pretend with them in video games, and I grew up shootin’ em and lovin’em just as much as anybody else, but Jesus, give a kid ’till they enter public school before they have to have ‘em in their faces.
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Dear Steve,
Screw backup status. Will you marry me?
Love,
Jenny
January 25th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Hee!