Video Games

[RedSunsZenith]

In a socialist/communist society, would video games (and other forms of entertainment, such as trading-card games) exist? Personally, I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.

[Psy]

In a socialist/communist society, would video games (and other forms of entertainment, such as trading-card games) exist? Personally, I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.
Hell yhea. The reminds me, is there any leftist Minecraft server?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

They would continue to exist,at least video games,maybe not trading cards but I suppose this is a matter of opinion.

[Decommissioner]

In a socialist/communist society, would video games (and other forms of entertainment, such as trading-card games) exist? Personally, I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.

I don't see why not.

In a socialist society, we all equally become the owners and the producers of commodities. If people want video games, people will make video games. If anything, as a whole we would get more of the things we actually want since we would democratically control the production of commodities.

[Hexen]

Corporations like EA, Activision, etc would be abolished and everything would be like the modding communities today (http://forum.zdoom.org/) and everything would be released as freeware. Not to mention every source code for every game would be released as well which would actually strengthen the modding communities.

This is perhaps good introduction of what socialism really is and the same applies to everything else in the industry.

[Nox]

people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling.

Yeah, that's utter bullshit right there :rolleyes:

There would be much entertainment available, from video games to television to sports.

[Caj]

In a socialist/communist society, would video games (and other forms of entertainment, such as trading-card games) exist?

Yes.


Personally, I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.

Do many leftists actually assert this? I've certainly heard leftists assert (correctly) that work will be more fulfilling with the abolition of wage slavery, but I've never heard a leftist claim that all non-labor forms of entertainment would be rendered unnecessary because of this.

[socialistjustin]

Emma Goldman once said;

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution."


In other words there will be video games damnit!

[Ose]

I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.Who the fuck told you that? Anyway, entertainment, for the most part, requires a lot of labour. Video games, for example, require a vast amount of effort on the part of their developers. The point is that it will be possible for a lot more of our collective labour to be dedicated to leisure.


They would continue to exist,at least video games,maybe not trading cards but I suppose this is a matter of opinion.Yes, trading cards exist purely as an instrument of bourgeois hegemony! lol.

[RedZezz]

Perhaps there will be more variety in electronic gaming without the pressure for companies to invest in same-ish games to expected return in profit, but I will not pretend to know what this medium will look like under a socialist system. Perhaps nothing will change at all.

However, video games are a form of creative expression utilizing modern technology, so I don't see why they would disappear.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Yes, trading cards exist purely as an instrument of bourgeois hegemony! lol.

I was thinking about how trading cards function in capitalist society: you pay for a pack which increases your collection.This seems like more like a commodity plot for the capitalist to gain profits.I don't see anything wrong with trading cards it's just I find it hard to imagine what their fate would be under communism as it would either be reduced to requesting (ordering) a set or simply a collectible.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Yes, and plenty more of them. The video game business is exactly that, a business. Hordes of mediocre, generic First-Person shooters are pushed out because they're guaranteed to sell millions. It seems like the past decade, publishers only worry about blockbuster hits (not nearly as many video games are developed compared to the 90s). A lot of really good games are canceled or never pursued because it had been decided they may only sell a couple hundred thousand (nothing to scoff at) or less. This has been discussed by game producers and publishers before, and its' a damn shame.
More unique, experimental, and interesting games will thrive in post-capitalist society.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

They would continue to exist,at least video games,maybe not trading cards but I suppose this is a matter of opinion.
If I can't play Magic: the Gathering like I have the past 11 years, then I'm going to reconsider this whole "socialist" thing. :p
I have no clue why you would think card-games wouldn't continue, it's literally millions of dedicated players... I think a lot of people would disagree with you.

[eric922]

Emma Goldman once said;

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution."


In other words there will be video games damnit!
I could be wrong, but wasn't that Rosa Luxemburg? And yes there will be videogames, whats a socialist world without Bioware games and Legend of Zelda:p

[Misanthrope]

Who knows? Of course everyone has their own opinion and preference but one person's opinion isn't what communism's about.

[khad]

After the revolution, we'll drink moxen wine and dine on lotus cake.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

If I can't play Magic: the Gathering like I have the past 11 years, then I'm going to reconsider this whole "socialist" thing. :p
I have no clue why you would think card-games wouldn't continue, it's literally millions of dedicated players... I think a lot of people would disagree with you.

I just find it unlikely.I mean,card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!,Pokemon,Digimon,and Magic the Gathering have many series versions which they essentially just repeat the same kind of card over and over again with a slightly different effect (Pokemon is the worst offender).

I can imagine card games still being around just not in the current state which serves the bourgeoisie to make huge profits.I can't imagine workers taking the time and resources to make variations of same cards just so people can instantly procure the entire collection (after all,the only reason card games sell in capitalist society is because in order for players to win/loose some people must have better cards than others.The people who have money to buy the best cards will have the upper hand against those who can't afford it.Under communism,with this removed,there is only strategy which is honestly better served in video games).

[Die Rote Fahne]

I could be wrong, but wasn't that Rosa Luxemburg? And yes there will be videogames, whats a socialist world without Bioware games and Legend of Zelda:p

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution. A revolution without dancing is not a revolution worth having." - Emma Goldstein

[Dzerzhinsky's Ghost]

No, video games are obviously bourgeois capitalist decadence designed to keep the masses numb and pacified; it must be destroyed. So must all merry making and laughter in general. If it's not working, drinking vodka or eating potatoes then it mustn't be accepted, should be seen with suspicion and outlawed.

[Sheepy]

I only have one word for this thread: Tetris. :wub:

[GPDP]

The only thing I'm still not sure about is whether we'll still be gaming on consoles or if every game will just be developed for PCs.

[Black_Rose]

I don't see anything inherently reactionary/bourgeois about trading card games. It seems like a cheap way to entertain children and adult gamers, and it allows them to express a sense of individuality through the construction of custom decks.

However, it seems that a socialist regime would try to make the rare cards in the trading card game in question to be more accessible (i.e. not prohibitively expensive) to all serious gamers.

"I mean,card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!,Pokemon,Digimon,and Magic the Gathering have many series versions which they essentially just repeat the same kind of card over and over again with a slightly different effect (Pokemon is the worst offender)."

Ha ha... Pot of Greed has been banned and reborn into Pot of Duality, Pot of Avarice, Allure of Darkness, Solar Recharge, and Destiny Draw. Change of Heart was replaced by Brain Control (both cards are now banned). Raigeki into Lightning Vortex, and so on. Treeborn Frog replaced Sinister Serpent. The Charge of the Light Brigade is an obvious rip-off of Reinforcement of the Army for Lightsworns.

Regarding YGO: I was a fan of the Japanese anime a year ago (this is pretty unusual for a woman in her 20s), and know a bit from the game by visiting a few people at a swapmeet playing and doing a few hours of research online.

Yusei Fudo seems like a "cool" character since he is not arrogant nor selfish as he cares about the welfare of his friends: sadly, although he is portrayed is a stratified society earlier in the series, performing the menial task of recycling garbage from Neo Domino City, he doesn't have any revolutionary goals. He went to Neo Domino City merely to retrieve his "Stardust Dragon" that Jack Atlas, Yusei's childhood friend who betrayed him to leave the Satellite, absconded because the card symbolized the bonds and hopes of his friends. I really liked how the final antagonists Z-One, Aporia, Antimony, and Paradox were sympathetically portrayed.

[Black_Rose]

The only thing I'm still not sure about is whether we'll still be gaming on consoles or if every game will just be developed for PCs.
I thought gaming consoles are relatively cheaper systems for the amount of processing power required for graphically demanding games compared to a personal computer at a similar price, although only a top-end computer can only run Crysis on the highest setting.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I just find it unlikely.I mean,card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!,Pokemon,Digimon,and Magic the Gathering have many series versions which they essentially just repeat the same kind of card over and over again with a slightly different effect (Pokemon is the worst offender).

I can imagine card games still being around just not in the current state which serves the bourgeoisie to make huge profits.I can't imagine workers taking the time and resources to make variations of same cards just so people can instantly procure the entire collection (after all,the only reason card games sell in capitalist society is because in order for players to win/loose some people must have better cards than others.The people who have money to buy the best cards will have the upper hand against those who can't afford it.Under communism,with this removed,there is only strategy which is honestly better served in video games).

Games like Magic: the Gathering are so complex that small, different variations on cards make huge differences, so that's why the game hasn't run into a brick wall even after 18 years, while pushing out an average of 800+ cards a year (one year = first set in block usually 350+, 2nd = 150+, 3rd = 150+, base set around 200-300).
It's a little harder for games like Yu-Gi-Oh! (the game itself appears to run into a rut, where most decks are 75% the same, or so it seems, never had an interest in me) and Pokemon. However, Pokemon is surviving and keeps an interest, although I will say compared to MtG it is incredibly similar in cards. The newest block, Black and White, is basically a homage to the original cards from 12-13 years ago (something I don't really like...)

The thing is, although companies like Nintendo and Wizards of the Coast make a lot of money from these games, it's purely based off the selling of booster boxes. The small, local Gaming stores and online-shops are where people can make real money. Wizards does not directly sell Magic singles, which is what rings up the cost of the game so much. I could buy a booster (currently $3.99) and pull out a rare that sells on the market for $1, thus I made a loss on money. Or I could open a pack and pull out a rare that sells for $30 on the market. At the end of the day, all they make money off of is set-price of a booster, among other products. The game stores can make a killing on selling Magic singles because of how much people are willing to spend for a piece of cardboard. Black Lotus apparently sells for $3000 now (I did a quick search for it on SCG... funny fact, when I first started playing 11 years ago, it sold for about $700). The only reason these card stores aren't more profitable are because they depend on trade-in and store credit. They would probably make a lot more bank if a power-heavy set was released, and they simply cracked open all the packs and put the singles in the case. Sure, a lot of jank would be in there, but they'd easily make profits just from 8 solid packs (how many are in a box, around 36?)

Trust me, if everyone could afford the cards, a LOT more people would be playing. I know a few co-workers who havent pursued the game as much as they want to because of prices, so they just play casually with what they have. If anyone can have access to the cards they need, people can focus on strategy and gameplay, like you said, which is a plus because I've had to let go of so many good ideas due to finances. It's been quite a dilemma for me, being a competitive tournament player and yet being flat-ass broke the last year. I'm actually entering a Grand Prix in February, hopefully it's a format I can afford (I play a lot of formats, and there's a pretty solid U/W aggro deck on the cheap ripping up T2 right now)

[Aleenik]

Of course there would still be video games. The types of games and the storylines attached to them may drastically change though. For example, I doubt we would be seeing lots of FPS games that feature the USA as the good guys. Also, as another example, developers of games may look at in game currency differently based on the real world economic model.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

I thought gaming consoles are relatively cheaper systems for the amount of processing power required for graphically demanding games compared to a personal computer at a similar price, although only a top-end computer can only run Crysis on the highest setting.

But that wouldn't be an issue in the post-revolution world, would it? I'd sure hope not.

[W1N5T0N]

We should thus make a "Modding vanguard party" tendency,
as we need people to lead the freeware and development revolution!!
FREE THE GAMERIAT!

[DarkPast]

The problem with trading card games is that the producers create artificial scarcity in order to pose to the customers the rareness of a particular cars or set of cards thereby increasing the price of these collectible trading card sets.In fact, the very idea that among two cards that cost exactly the same amount to produce one can cost 10c and the other $200 is very much capitalist in my opinion.

[Nox]

If I can't play Magic: the Gathering like I have the past 11 years, then I'm going to reconsider this whole "socialist" thing. :p
I have no clue why you would think card-games wouldn't continue, it's literally millions of dedicated players... I think a lot of people would disagree with you.

The owners of Magic: The Gathering are laughing in their chairs at its 'dedicated players' who spend thousands and thousands of dollars on card and are even willing to pay a few hundred dollars for a card with a different name/picture.

[Zealot]

Are you serious? I expect shit like that from anti-communists not revolutionaries, I've never heard anyone say that. If they don't like video games fine, but there are hordes of people that will still want to play them.

[DarkPast]

Are you serious? I expect shit like that from anti-communists not revolutionaries, I've never heard anyone say that. If they don't like video games fine, but there are hordes of people that will still want to play them.

Comrade, I thought you knew that playing video games, trading card games, night-life and similar "free time" activities are all bourgeois decadence. :sneaky:

Genuine communists should spend their free time reading the writings of great Marxist thinkers, making art praising our glorious revolution and its leader, procreating the worker's state or getting some sleep before another hard day of work in the coal mine. ;)

[hatzel]

To be honest I hope a socialist society will see a massive upsurge in people playing backgammon and Turkish draughts, so that I might have somebody to play with...I don't really care about the computer games, though, they're far too anti-social :tt2:

[Smyg]

Anti-social? There's plenty of games that are based largely or entirely around cooperation and teamwork. :rolleyes:

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Anti-social? There's plenty of games that are based largely or entirely around cooperation and teamwork. :rolleyes:

I imagine that such games would increase within a socialist society as it becomes more important to socialize with people even while relaxing.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

In a socialist/communist society, would video games (and other forms of entertainment, such as trading-card games) exist? Personally, I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.
I don't see why they wouldn't exist, although I would expect the shift in social consciousness would impact the types of video games created.

[Lord Marshall Draq]

No, video games are obviously bourgeois capitalist decadence designed to keep the masses numb and pacified; it must be destroyed. So must all merry making and laughter in general. If it's not working, drinking vodka or eating potatoes then it mustn't be accepted, should be seen with suspicion and outlawed.
lol stalin would be proud.:thumbup:
but seriously without video games, etc, so many people would wither and die... or go on rampages.

[ClearlyChrist]

I'd Like To See Video Games Exist In A Leftist Society, However, I Would Enjoy Seeing Activision, And Those Other Greedy Publishers Abolished Completely.

[EvilRedGuy]

Video Games will be like when they were in the 90s. Which means they will be good, actually be about having fun, have infinite customization (including free code released), and live longer because games who have better gameplay(not graphix, fuck that realism only wastes processing power and those electricity) and infinite number of mods coming from the easy-to-create customization. The hardware and software world is gonna change drastically under a post-capitalist society as it would be stronger, live longer, and software would be pushing everything so everyone can do everything for free just by some push on some buttons, we might also have a place for faster software installation or have all biggest/important software already installed on.

Cyberpunk = cheap technology, capitalist society.
Sci-Fi Utopia = expensive, useful technology, advanced communist society.

[eric922]

I'd Like To See Video Games Exist In A Leftist Society, However, I Would Enjoy Seeing Activision, And Those Other Greedy Publishers Abolished Completely.
Those greedy companies often ruin great games in their rush to get them to market and stifle creativity. I mean, do we really need a Call of Duty every year, that changes nothing? Oh, and don't get me started on Dragon Age 2, Bioware won't admit it, but I'll bet anything it was rushed to the market by EA, because it was not ready.

[Aleenik]

lol stalin would be proud.:thumbup:
but seriously without video games, etc, so many people would wither and die... or go on rampages.If Communism didn't allow video games, I wouldn't want Communism.

[Smyg]

'If I can't sit around for hours and stare at a screen, it's not my revolution!' :tt2:

[Aleenik]

'If I can't sit around for hours and stare at a screen, it's not my revolution!' :tt2:Pretty much. Except, I'd say more like all day, not a few hours.:)

[EvilRedGuy]

Capitalism has ruined many movie/book/game/whatever franchises.

No regrets on removing Capitalism before entertainment is completely destroyed (if it hasn't already...lol)

:thumbdown::thumbdown:

[Dzerzhinsky's Ghost]

To be honest I hope a socialist society will see a massive upsurge in people playing backgammon and Turkish draughts, so that I might have somebody to play with...I don't really care about the computer games, though, they're far too anti-social :tt2:

You sir have found a playing partner and here I thought I was the only person at Revleft to enjoy such things.


lol stalin would be proud.:thumbup:


Stalin be praised, all good things flow from Uncle Joe, Stalin be with you.

[W1N5T0N]

Why are we even disucssing this?

:thumbup:

[Princess Luna]

In a socialist/communist society, would video games (and other forms of entertainment, such as trading-card games) exist? Personally, I can't accept the notion that people would not want entertainment because labor would be so fulfilling, as I've heard some leftists assert.
I question the sanity of anyone who says that

[tir1944]

Anyway it's pretty stupid to debate about what "everyday life" would be like in communism...

[aristos]

Would eating Pizza exist in communism?

[DarkPast]

Would eating Pizza exist in communism?

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/10/19/129004758382824146.jpg

[Smyg]

Would eating Pizza exist in communism?

No. Pizza, along with everything else enjoyable, will be abolished.

[Seresan]

I forsee a divide.
One side wish to abolish the larger videogame producers for being capitalist pigs, and the others will go all reformist so that they can get their canon videogame sequels.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

*typing from my PS3* Video games are a sign of bourgoeis decadence, they must be abolished along with sports, acting, board games, and trading cards. As it has famously been said "Work sets you free" and it will also provide for entertainment. Now let me get back to collecting bottlecaps, this petty-bourgoeis discussion is getting too crazy with all it's decadence.

[Commissar Rykov]

No. Pizza, along with everything else enjoyable, will be abolished.
We must abolish everything that could be fun because fun is counterrevolutionary. Especially since FUN stands for Foxy Uniformed Nuns! Counterrevolutionary! Abolish fun we must all sweat in labor camps while singing songs of Dear Leader or we could all just go back to work and stop all this silly revolutionary nonsense and accept our shackles. That sounds good. Death to FUN!

Seriously though what the fuck is wrong with some of you people? Next thing you know you will be banning sex because it is too much fun and not very productive then bam we are back to Puritan America.:crying:

[ZeroNowhere]

Yes, video games shall probably be abolished. They are unreal means of gaining gratification which ought to be gained in real life, or if not they are symptoms of a sick society. In the first case, they are products of our alienation from real activity, forcing us to take recourse to imaginary activity to reconcile our longing for activity and, in the case of MMORPGs, a semblance of social placement and interaction where we are valued for our particular abilities and actions rather than for the trivial matters which prevail 'OOC'. This, incidentally, also explains why video games are generally not accurate portrayals of a developed market economy, namely that their basis is in fact their abstraction from the real capitalist system to construct the idealized, quest-based meritocracy of capitalist ideology where people are appreciated for their ability, this being a reflection of the alienated form which people's search for appreciation and desire for activity takes under a capitalist system, which is at the same time birthed of it and incompatible with it. However, with the development of socialism, such forms of gratification will no longer be necessary due to the gratification of everyday life, and with alienation's supercession people will no longer be forced to alienate themselves into various avatars and characters in order to feel themselves as themselves. While poetry shall be condoned, due to the fact that a person's relation to poetry is not self-alienation but rather a relation of common humanity with the poet and hence the experience of community, this is not the case in video games, where the gamer seeks gratification precisely through using a fictional avatar as a site for the expression of desires that, in a human society, would be capable of real fulfillment. People would no longer need to waste their lives gathering MMORPG trinkets and the like in order to find some form of appreciation, and hence would no longer have to wake up and realize that they had wasted their hours grinding for nothing of real effect in their lives.

The second type, which I called a product of a sick society, is one where the pleasure is derived not in the form of an honest manifestation of a desire for productive activity, but rather out of the very depravity of the action itself. The desire is a destructive one, motivated by the need to act in ways which one considers morally wrong simply to experience some form of freedom. This form of pleasure in depravity can only be the product of a society built upon suffering and egoism, such as capitalism. In fact, however, one could go further, and note that in actual fact this type of game is simply the logical continuation of the first, in a way which realizes that productive, social activity has been subjected to the capitalist production process and gained the form of drudgery and toil, and hence that the desire for empowerment and activity expressed in the previous form of gaming, in its naive honesty, is in fact incapable of the same, which may only be found in socially and personally disapproved activities, destructive of others and the self. This, then, sees that productivity is, in the modern world, slavery, and hence rejects it to wallow freely in filth, for that is the only form which free will may take. It is, hence, coterminous with the dominance of capitalist production itself, and after the abolition of the same shall be seen for the decadence that it is and abolished, in a move opposed only by the dregs and remains of the old society. This may not happen immediately, but shall in all likelihood take place only under a generation raised under a socialist system, which hence does not share the degraded stature which capitalism confers upon its subjects. Likewise, the first form of video games, though perhaps less malicious, will not only fall into disuse but also be abolished, or at least forcibly marginalized, later on when production has been transformed not only in content but also in form by the socialist revolution, once it is seen to be an expression of desires proper to bourgeois society, and hence to be harmful to socialist society in its own development. We must shed the remnants of bourgeois society as we progress, although this progress shall of course be gradual.

[ColonelCossack]

I was thinking about how trading cards function in capitalist society: you pay for a pack which increases your collection.This seems like more like a commodity plot for the capitalist to gain profits.I don't see anything wrong with trading cards it's just I find it hard to imagine what their fate would be under communism as it would either be reduced to requesting (ordering) a set or simply a collectible.

Maybe they would be rationed and its a matter of luck if you get a good one or not?


i dunno...

[aristos]

...

So many words, so little meaning.

Did it maybe occur to you that games can enable one experience things that would be physically dangerous.

That it would allow for massive parallel simulations to find best pathways along which society could advance.

Or at the very least, that video games represent a drastic paradigmatic shift in how the audience relates to art, that no other genre (save maybe in a lesser form architecture) had previously achieved,
that will pave the way - in a not so far future - to the establishment of an art form, where the boundaries between the consumer and the artist will become blurred or even erased to the point that we can even talk about a true collective collaborative inclusive art.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

that will pave the way - in a not so far future - to the establishment of an art form, where the boundaries between the consumer and the artist will become blurred or even erased to the point that we can even talk about a true collective collaborative inclusive art Kind of like Spore. Endless possibilities there is.

[xub3rn00dlex]

How can video games be anti-social? I've met some pretty amazing people over XBL without having any possibility of doing so if it wasn't for games since I can't hop into a jet a go fly over there and meet people. Also, do people never go to LAN parties or gaming centers or cafes? You go, have some fun playing games, and then hangout after and socialize.

[Spets]

Also, playing video games online is the perfect place to discuss and enlighten the youth about socialism and communism.

[Commissar Rykov]

How can video games be anti-social? I've met some pretty amazing people over XBL without having any possibility of doing so if it wasn't for games since I can't hop into a jet a go fly over there and meet people. Also, do people never go to LAN parties or gaming centers or cafes? You go, have some fun playing games, and then hangout after and socialize.
Indeed, in fact I was first introduced to Leftist thought because of video games because of this guy I met from Greece. Good times.

LOL that was an awesome ninja by Spets. xD

[xub3rn00dlex]

Indeed, in fact I was first introduced to Leftist thought because of video games because of this guy I met from Greece. Good times.

LOL that was an awesome ninja by Spets. xD

I've had amazing discussions with a US veteran while playing black ops. It really is a great place to meet people and discuss IF it's done respectably. Although, I really, really hate the little kids on XBL chat constantly screaming, cursing, acting all tough... ahhh the joys of silence buttons. :D

[ZeroNowhere]

So many words, so little meaning.

Did it maybe occur to you that games can enable one experience things that would be physically dangerous.

That it would allow for massive parallel simulations to find best pathways along which society could advance.

Or at the very least, that video games represent a drastic paradigmatic shift in how the audience relates to art, that no other genre (save maybe in a lesser form architecture) had previously achieved,
that will pave the way - in a not so far future - to the establishment of an art form, where the boundaries between the consumer and the artist will become blurred or even erased to the point that we can even talk about a true collective collaborative inclusive art.
And here we have a fictional debate. A sterling sign of man's self-alienation.

To be honest, though, I don't think that video games have really represented a paradigm shift in how the audience relates to art, although they certainly do have peculiarities which mean that they can be used in unique ways. If you look at games generally claimed as artistic, on the one side you have games like Shadow of the Colossus and that sort, which on the one hand do certainly utilize the fact that the player is directly playing the character to good effect, but on the other hand don't necessarily depart in a massive way from what could be conveyed in other forms of visual, musical or written art; although it does utilize a distinct approach to make one relate to the character, as well as using the nature of a video game to create a dense world to explore (while in a movie, for example, one couldn't simply wander around the world for large amounts of time), the character is still distinct from the player, acting in accordance with the plot, and relating to a character is nothing exclusive to video games.

On the other side, you have CRPGs and such, Planescape: Torment being popular in this context, where you do in fact control the character and may identify with them in a more direct manner; this, however, is not so much a peculiarity of video games as something earlier present in role-playing and the like, and indeed many CRPGs borrowed from D&D and the like. If video games allow this to be done in a new way, with both merits and limitations (while it does allow a different form of world construction, it is also probably more limiting than some non-video-game RPGs in terms of character choice), then nonetheless the basic point was not something newly created by them.

In any case, I don't think that the creator-audience hierarchy is necessarily something which can be overthrown simply by different forms of art, and indeed attempts to do so may end up seeming artificial and ignoring the fact that the hierarchy is itself an artificial construct and not one inherent to music or poetry by themselves any more than to newer forms of art. Its overthrow would not require us to leave behind the older forms, but rather would allow them to be looked at in a different manner.