(sorry I haven't updated in a while, it's hard to consistently think of worthwhile topics, and I am NOT turning into kotaku)
Go look at the number of good science fiction shows that have been airing lately. You'll have a hard time finding something other than doctor who, and even then the shows mentioned are dubious, at best. Fantasy doesn't fare much better, with Game of Thrones being the only notable one. Granted, it's Game of Thrones, but still, the market for these is lacking. In the realm of movies, the only recent sci-fi film has been the Star Trek sequel, and the medieval fantasy landscape is nearly barren. Now, take a good look at the most popular RPGs and shooters of every generation, and take note of the two most popular settings.
I've been racking my head trying to figure out why this huge discrepancy exists, and until today I hadn't been having much luck. Until, that is, I noticed a certain game I had left laying on my desk. After I saw it, everything clicked. The game in question, you may ask, is Mortal Kombat (9, to be exact, but the series as a whole is important).
It wouldn't be unfair to say the 1990's were video game's formative years, while the arcade games and home consoles of the 80's set the tech in place, the 90's were when the whole thing began to flourish, with consoles like the Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis coming into play. During the heyday of the arcade, a certain genre began to flourish that encouraged skill and competition directly, rather than through high scores. This genre is still known today as fighting games, and one of the most influential ones to exist is Mortal Kombat.
How it got to be so influential is through a combination of groundbreaking (one of the first games to use motion capture and have it not suck*), and controversy (with the over the top violence of fatalities). The controversy is what's important here, as it's what really helped form the landscape and target demographic of video games as a whole, even to this day. MK had gained a reputation for gratuitous violence, something very attractive to teenage males (I should know, I am one).
Now, what was (and still is) lacking in television and movies? violence, and I don't mean action, I mean straight up violence. people looking for over the top, super gory violence didn't have the luxury of the SAW franchise at the time, so MK was really all they had. Mortal Kombat also had the benefit of it's controversy making it a nearly household name. Nowadays it's one of those franchises where you can walk up to someone who's never touched a video game and say it's name and they'd know exactly what you meant.
To tie it back into the point I was making, what is the most common demographic attracted to science fiction and high fantasy? thankfully it's changed from the 1990's to be more diverse, but at the time it was teen boys. Lord of the rings and Star trek were long enough ago that the main fans would be 20-30 years old now, so take a wild guess what the core demographic for video games is now.
While games have certainly gotten more inclusive (and thank god for that, stagnation is the enemy of progress), I can't help but think that had MK not catered to the most generic of teenage fantasies (ninjas, cyborgs, blood and gore), sci-fi and high fantasy would never have found such a welcoming home, and since that's my two favorite genres, I appreciate it.
*the first game to ever use motion capture was rise of the robots. I've never played it, and looking at a video of it, I don't think I ever will
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