Sweet Baby and the Unseen Enemy
Howdy all,
It appears that the "Gamergate" spook is here again, and I don't care about it. Meaning, the endless shoving and screaming and general unpleasant-ness of video game companies (and video game consumers) is of little interest to me. I would like, however, to use the situation surrounding Sweet Baby Inc. as a cautionary example of the power of the "unseen enemy".
Regardless of its actual truth, folks in certain circles have been decrying a perceived decline in the quality of games for years. The complaints involve things like
-Rushing games' development, at the expense of quality
-Placing little emphasis on gameplay itself, leading to "cutscene collections"
And, most frustratingly to these people:
-"Wokeness" in games, the meaning of which needs no explanation.
Again, I do not mean to express any opinion on the video game issue itself (frankly, there are already enough good games in the world for me not to care, and I don't play them too often anymore), but what is fascinating about this resentment is that it has not had a name attached to it; "wokeness" in games has been attributed to the machinations of vague and nondescript forces. So, forming a movement of any kind was impossible, until Sweet Baby Inc. emerged.
Of course, Sweet Baby is not an all-powerful organization with ties to the secret order running the world, but it is a company with a name and a face. Put simply, it is a target. Whatever resentment and anger has built up among disgruntled gamers has been refined and directed at this company because it is the first visible manifestation of the abstract forces that have been built up in their minds.
I believe that this small and inconsequential situation can serve as an example for us, both as a tool and a warning. The force of people is very real and exceedingly strong, but usually, it has no point on which to focus. For example, in the United States, certain people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the economic system, but discourse is scattered and focuses on unrelated "problems." Some blame excessive taxation, others blame corporate price control, still others blame bankers, and shadow cabals, and the list continues. In all sorts of problems and bad situations, this can be seen. When it happens, I do not mean that you should seek the central cause as much as this: that you should be careful if someone points out a target for you to destroy. You and I are not immune to propaganda, and it is foolish to join a movement, or even form an opinion, based on the thought that we have finally discovered the cause of our ills, and that the natural solution is to remove the offending element. Being a Christian, I think that the sin is the problem that causes all others, but if we fashion ourselves as saviors and infallible conquers of sin, the final condition will be worse than the first.
I could write more, but I hope that this burst of words is sufficient to get my original idea across. All I want is for us to keep our heads attached and our consciences clean.