It's been awhile since I've been able to enjoy any real gaming and by that I mean board games, miniatures games, what have you. The most interaction I've had lately with anyone in the competitive sphere has been coinciding with the twentieth anniversary going on right now of the online role-playing Guild Wars... and I rarely get into that "player vs. player".
No, I'm talking about actual games one-on-one in the physical world, where you and your opponent are looking at each other across the table and able to pick out each other's nuances.
But gaming is still something I keep an eye on, if only to stay up to date on what the industry is up to. And lately that has inordinately crossed over into the realm of true-life politics. Enough so that it bears bringing up by your friend and humble blogger.
Coleman's treatise however is missing one element that otherwise has been ubiquitous throughout writings from interests in the community: it doesn't emphasize that these are "Trump tariffs". Most are making it clear in no uncertain terms that the tariffs - and the resulting higher cost of games - are the result of the policies of President Donald Trump. Coleman's omission of that terminology is something I am glad to take note of.
It is the general consensus of game publishers that the tariffs are making it much more difficult to market their products. The smaller companies especially are feeling the impact. And that is regrettable. It absolutely is. Not I nor anyone that I personally know want companies in America to be squeezed out of making a profit that in better circumstances would be enjoyed more.
But these are not those "better circumstances".
So let me cut to the chase: I for one as a gamer don't mind the higher costs. I'm not unsympathetic to the American publishers but I'm also not blind to the reality of the situation.
And that is this: I would rather there be a temporary increase in the price of games, because of the tariffs, if that means we start transiting manufacturing of games back to the United States. In the long run we are going to likely be thankful that we did that.
For far too long, American companies have looked to China for the production of goods that are ostensibly the results of domestic conception and design. It's been cheaper, the argument has been. No doubt that it has. But it has also incurred a cost in jobs and financially overall. That is money that could have been better kept infused within our own economy.
For sake of good as least expensive as it could probably be, we have been inflicting enormous harm to our country. And it's been this way for many long decades.
The tariffs that President Trump has imposed - and which we should hope that Congress enshrines in legislative action should it come to that, though it can also be argued that Congress long ago already passed along the power of tariffs to the executive - are admittedly going to make a lot of items on this country's store shelves more expensive for the foreseeable future. That is no doubt going to be an effect that trickles down to smaller businesses. But I don't know if that's going to be avoidable. This is the cost of having production being in China and other foreign countries all this time. That should not have happened. American companies, including game publishers, should have kept the manufacture of their products here to begin with.
In the grander scheme of things, the higher prices we will pay because of tariffs are our own fault. We wanted cheap goods, we got them... but there was always going to be a price to pay in the end.
I love playing games, be it Go or Settlers of Catan or X-Wing Miniatures. But I love our country even more. And I would rather there be a temporary higher costs of games and other products, that would precede bringing their manufacture back to the U.S. Because among other things doing so will bring about more permanent cheaper prices for us in the long run.
American game publishers should have kept manufacturing here to begin with. But they didn't. And now we are going to have to make up for letting China make the actual physical product all this time.
But I can't emphasize it enough: this won't last forever. This is going to incentivize bringing the products of our own ingenuity back to where they rightfully belong. This is temporary. Nobody apart from our foreign competitors wants there to be higher prices forever. That won't do anyone on our side any good. Americans like stuff and they're willing to be reasonable in how much they pay for it. It's going to hurt for awhile to have some good things, but in the long run we are going to be thankful that we did. It will be more jobs in this country, a stronger economy, and yes even lower prices at the friendly local game store among other retail outlets.
The pain is momentary. But the benefits are forever. If we want to keep them, anyway.
Be of good cheer. And hang on for awhile. It may take a year, or three. But we've done this before. Some are comparing what Trump and his allies are doing to the Smoot-Hawley Act and are declaring that the tariffs will lead to another Great Depression. I on the other hand see this more as being in the line of President Reagan's efforts in the early Eighties to bring back American industry. Those measures worked magnificently, and we were all the better for it. I'd dare say the entire free world profited from our taking more control of our own destiny. It worked then and it can and will work now.
It's going to be tough. But it's going to be worth it.
And when this over, I will be more than happy to engage in a game of BattleTech with this blog's readers. It's been too long since I've gotten to play House Kurita. I promise to be honorable.
