Rochard -- The Rise Of The Effeminate Henchman?

One man, one woman, and where the f**k is that lisp coming from?!
So I started writing about games again. I figured with the blossoming flowers and sunny Mid-West days, it would be a great opportunity to avoid all of that, and the humans that come with it. It also doesn’t hurt that I played Rochard whilst getting over food poisoning. Rochard is, and I rarely use this word, weirdly delightful. It’s a little strange and the controls are a bit unwieldy, but this game is worth it. Then there’s the effeminate henchmen.

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Are You The Character Or Are You God?

When consuming any media, our brains decide how much of our personality is invested. In games, chances are you are either the master or a slave to the narrative.
I’ve been watching how I play games as of late. Like a lot of you I have a 9-to-5 job and personally, nothing makes a better pixellated punching bag than a soon to be sniped skull in a round of Bad Company 2 or Team Fortress 2 multiplayer mayhem. This week I decided to buck that trend and play BioShock for the first time. Saving the review of the game for a later date, I’m noticing a stark difference in how I’ve consciously decided to play the game. Not only this, but the role I’ve decided to play in games differs from RPGs, RTSs and so forth. With this small revelation, I look at other media I consume and how it effects me. I look at the quality of games and debate whether I’m making the game fun or otherwise. Maybe you’ve noticed something strange in how you play games as well?

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Gaming Sensitive

Games as a means of exploiting the sensitive topics of pop culture and current events has never been the medium’s strongest suit. If Thrill Kill and RapeLay are the best we can do, then we are a far cry away from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Six Days In Fallujah could have been one of few first-person shooters that ignited a discussion on the war in Iraq between gamers and the general public. This growing schism of what gamers want versus what gamers actually play seems to go hand in hand with how the culture has matured. Do we want our games to comment on our environment? Is the quality of a game a factor when the plot is meant to be the focal point? Where is the line between addressing matters in our culture that are topical and when do we cross that line into insensitivity?

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