Are video games Anti-Revlutionary/Anti-communist?

[DoCt SPARTAN]

My dad says that playing video games is one of the most counter-revolutionary things you could do in your free time. Giving your time and money to big corpations like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, ETC. Also Gov. tracking purposes.
He says to me because I used to play alot of Xbox about 2 years ago.


...Are Video games really that Counter-Revolutionary? I mean if the games are bought already, and Im not buying any more, Whats so bad?

Also in a transition to a Communist nation, would these fancy material things like Playstations will be destroyed. Or would there even be videogames or other technologies.

[Sinister Intents]

I would argue no, are board games counterrevolutionary? Are games counterrevolutionary? I say no. Games are for fun. They would exist under communism and be better perhaps :)

[DoCt SPARTAN]

I would argue no, are board games counterrevolutionary? Are games counterrevolutionary? I say no. Games are for fun.

..But for the case of video games, all that money goes to big corporations like Microsoft, or Sony.

I mean its different then playing a game of Kickball in your backyard.

[Rosa Partizan]

My dad says that playing video games is one of the most counter-revolutionary things you could do in your free time. Giving your time and money to big corpations like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, ETC. Also Gov. tracking purposes.
He says to me because I used to play alot of Xbox about 2 years ago.



Well, I don't know in how far video gaming stands out from going to the cinema, buying DVDs and music or just any other stuff for personal entertainment

[Sabot Cat]

..But for the case of video games, all that money goes to big corporations like Microsoft, or Sony.

I mean its different then playing a game of Kickball in your backyard.

Almost any product will help finance corporations (big or small, they're all exploitative), so it's not really that much different.

[DoCt SPARTAN]

Almost any product will help finance corporations (big or small, they're all exploitative), so it's not really that much different.

So really even if your the most devoted socialist, if you live in Capitalist country you will have conform a little bit just to survive.

...Food, water, technology, etc. All those things are owned by corporations.
And you will be paying them for those needs.
Unless you go out hunting for food, have a well for water, grow all your vegetables, and so on.

[Tenka]

I think some games are explicitly or implicitly anti-communist by design, but gaming as such is not so, nor is putting some change in the pockets of these big corporations. Console fanboyism is, however, about as counter-revolutionary as one can get. I play games on the PC myself, though don't meet the specs for lots of new ones. :glare:

[Bostana]

Eh, more or less. Really not propaganda 'we are setting out for communism'y you see on t.v.

[Atsumari]

To add to Tenka, I also find gamer culture to be pretty damn reactionary. People who identify as gamers first before anything else are obviously conspicuous consumers, and they will oppose anything that will question their habits. Just look at Anita Sarkeesian incident.

[RedWaves]

That is one of the dumbest things I have heard.

Video games are just a way to pass time and forget stress. Sounds to me like he's taking things too far and thinking about them too much.

Not saying that there are bad gaming companies and the video game industry itself is extremely corrupt and treats us like cattle.

Everything you need though is owned by corporations, and you have to remember that.

[Sea]

..But for the case of video games, all that money goes to big corporations like Microsoft, or Sony.

I mean its different then playing a game of Kickball in your backyard.You're making an unwarranted assumption about how we obtain our games.

[o well this is ok I guess]

I think some games are explicitly or implicitly anti-communist by design, but gaming as such is not so, nor is putting some change in the pockets of these big corporations. Console fanboyism is, however, about as counter-revolutionary as one can get. I play games on the PC myself, though don't meet the specs for lots of new ones. :glare: having rl friends who play on pc is great you can swap/sell/give away old parts to each other
makes sure everyone can at least meet the minimum requirements for anything
do that

[Petrol Bomb]

Fun is counterrevolutionary.

[Ember Catching]

"The less you eat, drink and buy books; the less you go to the theater, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save — the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor rust will devour — your capital. The less you are, the less you express your own life, the more you have, i.e., the greater is your alienated life, the greater is the store of your estranged being."

— Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, 1844

[Invader Zim]

Well, certainly, the computer game industry is one of, if not now, the major entertainment industry having long since overtaken the 'traditional' entertainment media in virtually every respect. That said, like all of the entertainment media, there is a large and vibrant body of developers and publishers that exist beyond the confines of the major industry giants.

In terms of actual games, a great many are deeply reactionary, certainly when it comes to gender and sexual politics, to a degree that even other staples of the entertainment industry don't quite achieve. But, again, there is an entire spectrum of games to choose from. For every game that, for instance, celebrates war, imperialism and nationalism, there are those games which cast these aspects of humanity in a very shady light. As I've noted in an earlier discussion of gaming, one of my favorite old games, Cannon Fodder famously satirized war enthusiasm by showing lines waiting of recruits against a backdrop of the graves of the soldiers the player has already lost.

[The Jay]

They're a waste of time, like drinking, but they are not counter-revolutionary in and of themselves. If you are supposed to be doing something and are playing video games then it is your fault and not the machine's.

[Queen Mab]

Video games often transmit reactionary ideas (glorification of war especially), but this is just a product of capitalist society in general. It's the same with all forms of entertainment.

[Sinister Intents]

Video games often transmit reactionary ideas (glorification of war especially), but this is just a product of capitalist society in general. It's the same with all forms of entertainment.

Call of Duty immediately came to mind here, same with the likes of Metal Gear Solid and Medal of Honor. Used to play these a lot when I was younger and now I barely play games because I occupy my time with RevLeft and practicing things like guitar. I bet there is someone who argues that playing guitar and listening to rock/goth/punk/metal is counterrevolutionary

[Os Cangaceiros]

"The less you eat, drink and buy books; the less you go to the theater, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save — the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor rust will devour — your capital. The less you are, the less you express your own life, the more you have, i.e., the greater is your alienated life, the greater is the store of your estranged being."

— Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, 1844


Thanks, Marx, for retroactively justifying my reckless spending habits!

[The Jay]

Call of Duty immediately came to mind here, same with the likes of Metal Gear Solid and Medal of Honor. Used to play these a lot when I was younger and now I barely play games because I occupy my time with RevLeft and practicing things like guitar. I bet there is someone who argues that playing guitar and listening to rock/goth/punk/metal is counterrevolutionary

Metal Gear is more anti-war, showing it hurting people and leading good people into doing horrible things. There is a reason why you get better trophies and what not for refraining from killing.

[Jimmie Higgins]

My dad says that playing video games is one of the most counter-revolutionary things you could do in your free time. Giving your time and money to big corpations like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, ETC. Also Gov. tracking purposes.
He says to me because I used to play alot of Xbox about 2 years ago.

...Are Video games really that Counter-Revolutionary? I mean if the games are bought already, and Im not buying any more, Whats so bad?

Also in a transition to a Communist nation, would these fancy material things like Playstations will be destroyed. Or would there even be videogames or other technologies.

No, don't worry about it. I'm not really much into video games as a passtime, but it's just a personal preference (I went to arcades as a kid and had an original Nintendo in high school - well my brother used it more - so gaming just wasn't as much of a thing and I never got into it like people just a few years younger did). I do like comics and horror movies and music though and it's more or less the same - a fun diversion that I take very seriously as an unserious pastime.

In the span of my lifetime workers in the US have had their free-time noticeably reduced. More demands from work, more people doing multiple part-time jobs, more shit to deal with at home, less vacation time, erosion of the ability to just retire comfortably, etc. I really think one of the central things about class struggle and the struggle for communism specifically is to free us from a time-managed life, to make "work" something that is useful to us all, not an exploitative process where the more productive we are, the more we seem to have to be at work.

Even short of revolutionary struggle, control over our own time is an essential part of the class struggle. In the 8 hour day movement the slogan was 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours to do with as we please. I think we need to have that attitude again. People should have more free time, people should "waste" that time if they want - we only have one life, so let it be our own.

In a communist society I think there will be all sorts of entertainments and I think our conception of entertainment will probably change. There will certainly be games but I have no clue what form they might take. Video games might be a more social activity - I think "home entertainment" has developed as it has in part because of a lack of free time and extra energy and the atomization of our communities. I'd be surprised if people all go back to their homes and watch separate forms of entertainment alone. Today it makes sense because people are so fucking beat all the time.

[Full Metal Bolshevik]

Call of Duty immediately came to mind here, same with the likes of Metal Gear Solid and Medal of Honor. Used to play these a lot when I was younger and now I barely play games because I occupy my time with RevLeft and practicing things like guitar. I bet there is someone who argues that playing guitar and listening to rock/goth/punk/metal is counterrevolutionary
Newer Cod's I agree, but I think the first two were fairly neutral, not glorifying but not anti war either. At least that's my recollection of it.

[Sea]

Newer Cod's I agree, but I think the first two were fairly neutral, not glorifying but not anti war either. At least that's my recollection of it.With a name like "call of duty" I have a hard time believing that it didn't glorify war.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Personally, I've always wanted to play an FPS that focused on hard combat scenarios. A game that can accurately simulate the sensory overload of actual combat. The bombs going off, the blaring noise of machine gun fire...that type of thing.

Real warfare isn't nearly as pretty as in the movies. It's chaotic as all hell, and death can take you at any moment.

I've heard the Red Orchestra games come pretty close....

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

Following this logic toilet paper is the epitome of bourgeois decadence, and reactionary, counter-revolutionary behavior as you give your Monopoly money over to big corporations like Brawny, Charmin, and Angel Soft. You have two perfectly good hands, one for shaking and the other, well...

[JudasMaiden]

Video games are not anti-revolutionary or anti-communist, but they usually serve as the "Opium of the people" or a distraction, even if they are not, most of them are boring(unless you add mods in it) and/or are made intentionally bad (for profits). I'd say if we were to make a video game, it should be like The Sims, but an Anarchist(I also think Marxism and some variants of Communism are inherently Anarchist) version of it.

[Ocean Seal]

My dad says that playing video games is one of the most counter-revolutionary things you could do in your free time. Giving your time and money to big corpations like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, ETC. Also Gov. tracking purposes.
He says to me because I used to play alot of Xbox about 2 years ago.


...Are Video games really that Counter-Revolutionary? I mean if the games are bought already, and Im not buying any more, Whats so bad?

Also in a transition to a Communist nation, would these fancy material things like Playstations will be destroyed. Or would there even be videogames or other technologies.
The goal of communism isn't to make us poorer. Play all of the videogames you want to, and also if you don't want to give money to big corporations then pirate your shit. And lastly you can't live without giving your money to big corporations.

[hatzel]

Video games are not anti-revolutionary or anti-communist, but they usually serve as the "Opium of the people" or a distraction, even if they are not, most of them are boring(unless you add mods in it) and/or are made intentionally bad (for profits). I'd say if we were to make a video game, it should be like The Sims, but an Anarchist(I also think Marxism and some variants of Communism are inherently Anarchist) version of it.

I have no idea what an anarchist version of the Sims would even be like and how it would differ from the Sims as it stands. Despite that, the Sims is boring and if living a pretend life instead of your own doesn't fall under the category of 'the "Opium of the people" or a distraction' then really I don't know what to think any more...

[Dialectical Wizard]

My dad says that playing video games is one of the most counter-revolutionary things you could do in your free time. Giving your time and money to big corpations like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, ETC. Also Gov. tracking purposes.
He says to me because I used to play alot of Xbox about 2 years ago.


...Are Video games really that Counter-Revolutionary? I mean if the games are bought already, and Im not buying any more, Whats so bad?

Also in a transition to a Communist nation, would these fancy material things like Playstations will be destroyed. Or would there even be videogames or other technologies.



They’re reactionary as fuck brah...




...Are Video games really that Counter-Revolutionary? I mean if the games are bought already, and Im not buying any more, Whats so bad?


I will send you my answer to your gulag cell in Siberia.

[Althusser]

..But for the case of video games, all that money goes to big corporations like Microsoft, or Sony.

I mean its different then playing a game of Kickball in your backyard.

Everything you purchase to wear, eat, or enjoy in any way is made through exploitation. Even that kickball is made through exploitation. Whether the money goes to Sony or some small bourgeois factory owner in Indonesia really doesn't matter. I go to movies, I play video games from time to time, I don't sew my own clothes from cloth I shave off of sheep I own.

Also, when people complain about people shopping at wallmart, or buying stuff from big corporations, they are implying that a change in the mode of production can come about from some kind of refusal of people to buy from "big corporations", as if that could possibly happen on a large scale (outside petty-bourgeois hippie circles). Even if proletarian people did have enough spare cash to buy a 5 dollar organic strawberry, they wouldn't under any circumstances. And even if they did, how would purchasing from small businesses rather than big ones challenge the power of capital? Your father is probably just worried that you're playing too much x-box and is trying to convince his communist son by calling video games counter-revolutionary. Tell him that his cargo shorts are counter-revolutionary.

[JudasMaiden]

I have no idea what an anarchist version of the Sims would even be like and how it would differ from the Sims as it stands. Despite that, the Sims is boring and if living a pretend life instead of your own doesn't fall under the category of 'the "Opium of the people" or a distraction' then really I don't know what to think any more...

What might be boring as a genre to you maybe fun for others. I find the Sims boring as well(due to lack of creativity EA puts in any of their games, well nearly all the mainstream game producers, even Nintendo), and I find most multiplayer First person shooters boring as well. The only games that really interest me are games like Civilization V. But lets not get into an argument on what game is better, let's respect others' opinions.

[Celtic_0ne]

What about competition between free to play game companies like Gaijin Ent. And Wargaming.net makers of War Thunder and World of Tanks? I mean doesn't competition make both games better?

[Marshal of the People]

I personally love video games.

To the OP: Playing video games is okay, it does support the capitalist system but so do many other things; buying clothes and food, having a job, paying taxes, etc.

Each and every one of us supports the capitalist system in multiple ways everyday. We may not like the system but if we just refuse to take part in the systems our life will be seriously hindered, think; no store bought food, no pre-made clothes and jail time for not paying taxes.

It is serioulsy not possible for us to not support the capitalist system without seriously damaging our living standard. We can however try to change the system, but refusing to take part in the system won't achieve anything (except a decrease in your living standard and possibly jail time) since we are a minority.

[TheSocialistMetalhead]

Well, the food industry is even bigger business. Does your father think we should only eat food if we've grown it ourselves? One can't escape capitalism under capitalism. Or rather, it's possible, but extremely difficult and you'll wind up spending more time on trying to get by than on learning, following the news and raising awareness about the messed up system that forces itself upon us all.

[Illegalitarian]

Ah yes, "big corporations", the petite bourgeois liberal notion of choosing small exploitation over large exploitation.

Guess what, people, it's still exploitation. Unless you want to start some sort of strictly agrarian Little House On The Prairie homestead, you're not escaping the all-seeing eye of capital.


Anyways, no, video games are not counter-revolutionary. Neither is buying and eating and doing pretty much whatever you want in that regard. We're socialists, we have our roots in the Epicurean school, so live it up, comrade.


This brings up an interesting question though, I wonder what video games, especially FPS', will look like, say, 50 or 100 years after socialism. No more Call of Duty or glorification of violent war.. so.. enjoy GRAIN HARVESTER II: THE HARVESTING :laugh:

[Slavic]

This brings up an interesting question though, I wonder what video games, especially FPS', will look like, say, 50 or 100 years after socialism. No more Call of Duty or glorification of violent war.. so.. enjoy GRAIN HARVESTER II: THE HARVESTING :laugh:

It already happened in the 90s. Harvest Moon ring a bell?

[The Intransigent Faction]

I'll say what I said over in another thread: RPGs specifically, when they pigeonhole players into choosing between two awful choices from a revolutionary political perspective, are an unfortunate reflection of bourgeois ideology at worst, and of a cynical "all systems are bad so why change anything?" at best.

There's nothing wrong with communists playing this sort of video game, but I'd love to see more games that push boundaries and step on a few toes.

Also, Illegalitarian's point is very true, but I still kinda lament the buying up of smaller developers by, say, EA, because predictably things start to feel more stale and standardized, and in short quality feels sacrificed.

Or maybe I'm just an old man at heart who looks back fondly at older games/consoles in comparison to what "kids today" play (not that huge corporations didn't control the industry in the 90s, but it seems there are fewer small/'medium' developers?). :)

[Queen Mab]

I would definitely like to see some Marxist video games made. I have a hunch that video games will be the avant-garde artform of the 21st century, like films were in the 20th.

[motion denied]

War video-games are shit anyway.

Looking forward to Proletarian Revolution Soccer 17 (PES, get it get it?)

True communists don't play FIFA.

[o well this is ok I guess]

It already happened in the 90s. Harvest Moon ring a bell? oh god i just nostalgia'd hard