Totoy asks: is gaming's weaker prominence in RP a good thing?

Sometimes, I think it's actually good that our country is nowhere near the forefront of the gaming industry. When I read about controversies surrounding offensive content of M-rated titles such as Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, I wonder if we're somehow lucky there's no MTRCB or anything policing our favorite entertainment media. Upon hearing cringe-worthy analysts trying to rain on someone's parade as if they're eager to dictate what gamers should enjoy, I learn to appreciate the fact that local broadsheets don't dabble into what game is hot or not.

Sure, it would be nice if mainstream gaming wasn't known as Counter-Strike or Ragnarok. But if the hobby made more commotion than what's already enough for mayors to be concerned about computer rental cafes and mothers worried about how their kids spend money, we'd be hampered by extra baggage.

Take Forbes' recent article about Grand Theft Auto IV potentially stealing the Wii's thunder, for example. Or the rampant speculations of Niko Bellic trumping Iron Man's silver screen appearance. The latter proved absurd, while I doubt the former has enough legs for analysts to keep such story running until the next GTA or blockbuster Wii title.

Forbes quoted the popular Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter who said GTAIV is "one of a series of good games that will each convince consumers that there is a lot of good content on the other two boxes." I say money people may know about stocks, but not what the audience wants. After all, the mockery over Nintendo's unconventional moniker for its console was quickly stifled by unprecedented sales.

To sum it up, even if we don't have high-profile midnight launch parties and ads of games on TV, maybe we're lucky enough we can enjoy our past-time in peace. Who needs publicity and finance experts stirring up troubles to spoil the fun, right?