At E3 in 2016, I was in a roundtable presentation of Sony Santa Monica’s freshly announced God Of War reboot. And, rarely for me, I asked a question. I was struck by the stark tonal pivot on show; on how a series I’d always known for its out-and-out, over-the-top god-killing ultraviolence was now telling the supposedly tender story of said god-killer raising a kid.
Another interesting thing about the "Dad-game" phenomena we're now seeing all over gaming as industry professionals grow up and have children is that it shows, despite claims to the counter, that it isn't just market forces that steer creative decisions. Specifically I'm thinking about all the hand waiving around options for female character choices and clothes and non-white male protagonists (GTA, Assassin's Creed).
Now we get a slew of games (and games journalism) about parenthood just because that's what creators care about. Which is perfectly fine, it's a creative medium. But it does raise the ol' eyebrows when marketing and programming reasons have been leant on to explain away 'isms' in gaming and yet more evidence that diversity matters. Bring on the dad games, the mum games, the menial job games, the asexual games, the marginalised games, the depressed games.
Another interesting thing about the "Dad-game" phenomena we're now seeing all over gaming as industry professionals grow up and have children is that it shows, despite claims to the counter, that it isn't just market forces that steer creative decisions. Specifically I'm thinking about all the hand waiving around options for female character choices and clothes and non-white male protagonists (GTA, Assassin's Creed).
Now we get a slew of games (and games journalism) about parenthood just because that's what creators care about. Which is perfectly fine, it's a creative medium. But it does raise the ol' eyebrows when marketing and programming reasons have been leant on to explain away 'isms' in gaming and yet more evidence that diversity matters. Bring on the dad games, the mum games, the menial job games, the asexual games, the marginalised games, the depressed games.