discourse meta

i think what finally depresses me most about videogames is a sense that the way we talk about these things grows ever more nuanced and sophisticated, while the things themselves remain the same old shit. in the wake of political failure, when nothing else seems possible, speech attains a new spirit of freedom in being able to apply any possible lens to a subject in the happy knowledge of none of it mattering. is the catholic church a repressive apparatus? do bears REALLY shit in the woods? are videogames bad or do we suffer insidious false consciousness, where if we truly understood the craft and working conditions, the subtleties etc, then we might finally coerce ourselves into satisfaction.

many people have written thoughtful, nuanced things about meeting the format where it's at and accepting the bad with the good. and to me it's like hearing talk about the great chain of being and the folly of worldly vanities from some middle ages crop farmer about to die at 25 from drinking water infused with human shit. it's not that what they're saying is wrong per se - more like, it'd have more weight if it didn't feel like the only game in town.