Mainstream is Lamestream

I came across a post on Cohost by Surasshu (you know, that guy who makes music with Aivi for Ikenfell & Steven Universe) and it resonated with my values in media consumption, particularly with video games.

Surasshu, in a post entitled “we need to go back to shaming ppl for being mainstream lamers and having pride in appreciating obscure and unpopular things” makes this point in particular that stands out to me:

the combination of "poptimism" and "no ethical consumption under capitalism" has done so much damage to us as a people i swear. YES popular things can be good but you should seek out things that aren't popular out of principle alone (and ALSO that stuff is BETTER)! and "no ethical consumption" doesn't mean "give up, do whatever you want", it's supposed to get you fired up to do things like unionize, organize, become part of the resistance IN ADDDITION to consumption. because that's not enough. HOWEVER!!! you can DEFINITELY be a more or less shitty consumer based on your choices, so make good choices!

_{— Surasshu, via Cohost}

I've known about “no ethical consumption under capitalism” for a long time now, to the point where I'm aware of which things I should invest in or not. Buy this box of mac & cheese but not by Kraft, their food is unhealthy and it gave me indigestion once. Buy this funny little indie game but not that game made by Electronic Arts, it's probably a “live service” with microtransactions. Watch this movie but not that one by Warner Bros. because they have seen a sharp decline in respecting their workers lately. Read this fantasy book but not that one by J.K. Rowling, because she is a raging transphobe.

My reasoning for avoiding mainstream products, outside of personal bias, ranges from personal experiences (like getting indigestion from Kraft Mac & Cheese) to saving myself from money sinks (like games or services with predatory subscription/microtransaction systems) to companies that mistreat their employee base (whether that's mass layoffs or studio closures due to corporate consolidation) to big picture ethics problems that I do not want to enable (like products/companies associated with bigots).

I'm usually running on an “innocent until proven guilty” basis while also being painfully skeptical about everything, especially if it's mainstream or popular. But I cannot always win with this strategy, especially with big awful companies that have a stranglehold on our livelihoods like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc.

However, when it comes to video games, I learned pretty early on with the advent of Cave Story and Nuclear Throne that there's value in things that are small in scale but are just as enjoyable (if not BETTER) than a Triple-A game. Indie games rule, dude. These are the kinds of games that explore avenues that Triple-A companies very rarely venture into. Indie devs are often making whatever they want to see in the world, even with something as simple as “What if we make [insert game title here], but combine it with [insert different game title here]?”

And I stuck with them ever since! Every year, I play dozens of different games on my computer, and I eagerly anticipate four dozen more games to debut in the future. I would rather play four or five different indie games instead of playing one Triple-A game in most cases (which, understandably, means that my Steam wishlist is a long & messy list of niche games). I say most cases because nowadays, most Triple-A games are just boring slop, usually built by an exhausted development team that may have been on an extended crunch period, and they pushed out a game that plays it safe with mainstream trends. But occasionally I will find at least one Triple-A game that I REALLY want to play, especially if it's made with a ton of genuine passion & heart, like Hi-Fi Rush (also Nintendo games; even though they can & WILL make disappointing games sometimes, they don't fail as often as other companies do in my opinion).

There’s also a good reason why I play more indie games than Triple-A games: games made by a big corporate apparatus are more likely to screw over the employer and/or the player regardless of how successful the game is (all becasue of—everyone say it with me now—CAPITALISM).

In the player’s case, this can manifest in predatory monetary systems like microtransactions, loot boxes, and gacha systems. In the employer’s case, they can get screwed over through layoffs and studio closures, whether it’s because of corporate restructuring or executive decision-making. Not even the devs behind Hi-Fi Rush were safe! And that was a radical game about challenging an incompetent corporation! Worse yet, Tango Gameworks had motherfucking SHINJI MIKAMI, who had previously jumped to smaller scale companies after getting screwed over by Capcom! Not even this dude—who worked on Devil May Cry, Vanquish, and Hi-Fi Rush—was safe from a studio closure!!

Why put my trust in the mainstream game titles when it’s as good as it gets at best (but at risk of being taken away), or cliche slop at worst? Why should ANYONE put their trust in a company that would sooner close a studio/project just to invest in more expensive "blockbuster" projects or to get a tax write-off?

These kinds of risks are greatly minimized with indie devs because, depending on their experiences, they would likely know better than to mess with a big corporation or a predatory publisher. Not all the time, though, because sometimes even indie devs get deprived of funding and are forced to close down. Sometimes for reasons beyond their control. But despite everything going against them, indie devs still make extremely unique games. Games that no Triple-A dev would even dare to make. Yes, they’re obscure, and that probably means that a lot of people won’t know what you’re talking about when you bring it up, but they’re amazing nonetheless. Sometimes I would PREFER if a game were obscure instead of mainstream. I just wanna play unique & fun video games, not games that retread over tired trends over and over again. I would rather play games with unique visuals that emulate older hardware instead of games that take every fiber of their being to achieve a "realistic" look. I would rather play a smaller game instead of a game that eventually gets so popular in the mainstream that they get sold out to a bigger company.

And to come back to Surasshu’s anguished post: Yes, we should shame people who only stick with the mainstream media. It baffles me that people only invest their time in mainstream entertainment sometimes. Like, that’s all you do? You are out here indulging in media that's only made with big-budget productions? What about those who make the most of their entertainment for less? What about independent creators who simply wanna share a cool thing they made?

Oh, the only games you play are Assassin’s Creed? Lame. Oh, you spend all your time playing nothing but Call of Duty? Disgusting. Oh, you’re constantly grinding for content in Fortnite? Boring. Oh, you’d rather play a Minecraft game instead of something else? Come on. Oh, the only game series that you care about is The Legend of Zelda? What?

People who play nothing but big-budget games are like people who only eat junk food: they need to balance their entertainment with something small & weird, yet uniquely fun. Reguarly. Constantly. It’s good for you! Come back to me when you’ve picked up an obscure little indie game that you had fun with, and then we’ll talk.

Because chances are that I can recommend more indie games to ya ;)

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