We normally don’t talk about politics here on Niche Gamer, unless it involves some moron in a suit barking about game censorship, we’re usually just content on writing about the games we enjoy within our hobby.
However, we’ve learned of something pretty interesting regarding a very influential (and controversial) public figure: Edward Snowden was apparently heavily influenced in his early life by the morality shown within video games.
If you’ve never heard of Edward Snowden, you probably live under a rock, or possibly a country with extreme censorship like North Korea (and in that case we have no idea how you’re reading our site). A famed whistleblower and leaker, Snowden is the snowball that began an avalanche of critical documents being leaked from various United States’ government bodies.
From an interview with Glenn Greenwald via GQ, the reporter who helped Snowden in the massive intelligence leak, we’ve learned more about Snowden’s past, and how the aforementioned video games affected him so much:
“In Hong Kong, Snowden told me that at the heart of most video games is an ordinary individual who sees some serious injustice, right? Like some person who’s been kidnapped and you’ve got to rescue them, or some evil force that has obtained this weapon and you’ve got to deactivate it or kill them or whatever. And it’s all about figuring out ways to empower yourself as an ordinary person, to take on powerful forces in a way that allows you to undermine them in pursuit of some public good. Even if it’s really risky or dangerous.
That moral narrative at the heart of video games was part of his preadolescence and formed part of his moral understanding of the world and one’s obligation as an individual.”
Aside from the morality behind the things that Snowden has done – do you think the concepts within video games can be used to any extent in real life moral dilemma?
