Call of Duty’s new blockbuster – but is it art?
With 16 million copies expected to be sold, the next Call of Duty instalment is set to be a phenomenal success. But will it make gaming any more acceptable?
One of the most hotly anticipated premieres of the year takes place in London tonight. But this isn’t the latest Hollywood blockbuster: it is the launch of Modern Warfare 3, the latest instalment of the phenomenally successful Call of Duty computer game – a “first-person” multi-player video game that allows players to collaborate with friends online, assuming fighting roles with an expanding toolkit of weapons and maps.
The game’s live action trailer features actors Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill, and the premiere tonight will be a glitzy affair with a live stream of the event available on YouTube.
An estimated 16 million copies are expected to be sold this year, and this quarter both Call of Duty and its competitor, Battlefield 3, will have made an incredible £1.4bn in sales.
Leftfield
Yet gaming remains on the fringes of mainstream entertainment.
The video games industry has attracted some of the most talented and creative people. Neil McConnon, Game On 2.0 exhibition curator
“Gaming generally is bigger than people think – games are outselling cinema box office and CD sales and downloads,” Nathaniel Lippiett, producer of ITV’s gaming channel, Game On, told Channel 4 News. “It’s not really accepted as the huge art form and entertainment industry that it is.”
The community element is part of what makes gaming so popular: it might be played in bedrooms, but players schedule time to play with friends, and the collaboration is crucial to the experience.
“What sets Modern Warfare apart from many others is that it’s a first-person shooter game, and also because it has incredible attention to detail,” Mr Lippiett added.
An art form?
It is the realistic graphics, effects and design that is helping to change attitudes to gaming. The Barbican launched its Game On exhibition in 2002 without knowing what reaction it might have. But its huge popularity – among both sexes – means it has been on a global tour ever since.
“In terms of the people who work in video games, the creative people, so many of them have fine art backgrounds,” Neil McConnon, curator of Game On 2.0 – the Barbican’s follow-up to the original exhibition – told Channel 4 News.
“The industry has attracted some of the most talented and creative people. There’s been some thing of a drain towards video games. By virtue of that, people feel much more comfortable about seeing it in a gallery.”
“It does feel like video games are a form where art and technology, and to some extent science, comes together.”
Portrayals of violence
Discussion of gaming in mainstream media usually centres around the portrayal of violence. In the past, Call of Duty has involved terrorists in an airport in a scenario reminiscent of 9/11, and the new release of Modern Warfare 3 is said to include terrorism on the London underground.
Developers claim that they want to portray the harsh reality of modern warfare, no matter how violent it may seem. “They are trying to give the user a visceral, real experience, and that is reflected in the game,” Mr Lippiett told Channel 4 News. “But in some ways, they court the controversy.”