Yes, even stranger than that cyberspace Oregon Country Fair. As spotted by PCGamesN, Activision’s Gallery Of The Gamer starts with a choice of two doors. Any good critic will find this a throwback to The Stanley Parable’s famous decision, presenting a meta-commentary on player agency in first-person videogames. This gallery raises the stakes, asking you to consider an existentially thought-provoking question: are you a gamer? It’s all a ruse, of course. Step through either and you’ll end up in the same room. We’re all gamers, the installation exalts. Incredible.
Inside, the viewer is greeted by a single 3D room, explored by clicking between various artworks. Each is a take on various historical forms - the 18th-century oil canvas, 50s pop-art, ancient marble statue, etc - with cheeky little gamer vignettes spliced in. Overwatch heroes duke it out over a Kabuki theatre, while Durotan Warcraft chastises a young fellow for ignoring the love they clearly share. It’s all a facade, of course. The entire gallery is really just a novel way for Activision’s marketing department to share demographic breakdowns, taken from a survey of over 20,000 players. Each piece represents a different type of “gamer”, you see, from the dabbler (may play something now and again) to the denialist (has four active WoW accounts, refuses to be called a gamer). And that’s really the sting, isn’t it? I quite like me a good videogame museum. From crowdsourced bird galleries to a collection of lockpicking mechanics I inadvertently willed into existence, there’s a fascinating scene of small creators using the format. By presenting market research as an art installation, Activision may perhaps hint at the medium’s greatest tension - the business need to sell profitable software, and a cultural demand to be seen as a legitimate art form. As it stands, though, I just think it’s a bit naff.
