Ludo ergo sum: I play therefore I am
Throughout history, we have sought ways to entertain ourselves, mostly varying from storytelling and song, to that of games. Perhaps the oldest games are variations on chess and dice, but while one taxed the mind, the other was a combination of luck a perhaps a little dexterity. In time, these evolved and became more complex, or, in other cases, more simple. But games weren’t just for recreation, they as tested skill, intelligence and physical fitness. We didn’t just want to enjoy ourselves, we wanted a challenge. Games are an essential part of our existence and part of us, even going so far as to define our cultures. You think of England, you think of cricket and football (yes I’m calling it football, how often does the US variation actually kick the ball?), Scotland has its highland games, Canada has hockey, The Greeks have their Olympics and even the obscure Mongolia has wrestling at its heart.
Fig 1: Gaming, Pre-Pac-Man
Our love of games has changed radically over the past century, with the changes in technology allowing us to experience our favourite pastimes in a whole new way. This is especially true of ‘video games’ . While the changes over the last 40 or so years have been immense, there are still fundamental parts of games that have stayed with us, but much has been lost. To hark waaay back to my rant on graphics over storyline piece a few months back, where I complained about pretty graphics taking over from storyline and, in some places gameplay. Now, don’t misunderstand me, there are still a lot of great games out there with complex, intriguing storylines that inspire us and have us coming back for more. But the problem remains that there are even more that are satisfied to be simple action fests that leave little to the imagination or the enjoyment of the player. Its one thing to have a decent selection of games that you can blow off some steam with, but saturating the market with the same kind of product can stunt the growth of the industry.
Why is this important? Well, with the number of consoles sold to a wide variety of audiences, they are having a greater impact on our life, for better and worse. Yes, overindulging causes obesity, apathy and if you get too serious…fanboyism. But! We are gifted with a great opportunity. The interactivity that games offer as opposed to that of movies and books means we can take the experience to the next level. It’s not so dissimilar to playing Cowboys and Indians as a kid; you enter into a fantasy where you are the hero or the villain. It not only allows you to be someone else, but also to think like someone else, where you don’t have to worry about making a mistake to be met with ridicule (except maybe with a few online games…). Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not talking about using games as though control, that’s ridiculous…for now.
But think of it like this, identifying as a character in a role no matter the platform, can leave a lasting impression on the player. The love for Mario, Sonic, Link and my favourite Solid Snake, identify us as gamer and in a more extreme manner as fans. Cosplayers are another good example of this, dressing to be as like their favourite character as possible. But how do we meet a happy medium of character identity, escapism fantasy and a coherent message that offers something more than a 2 minute epilogue of your actions at the end of your play through?
When All Gaming Is Gone, Cos-Play is the way forward.
Hopefully that question will be answered in the coming years, but I don’t expect the answer will be a simple one, or that it will have perhaps as great an effect as I would hope. For example, Hiyao Miyazaki, the head of studio Ghibli, said in an interview that, he wanted his films to inspire people and encourage them to go out and experience the wider world. But while he and his team have created beautiful works of animation, it remains to be seen if they have moved their audiences to be more active in experiencing life beyond what they feel comfortable with. This is likely to be the same with game.
They can entertain and enthral at their best, but I’ve yet to experience a connection from a game that made me think “What am I doing? There’s a great world out there that I can experience, people I can meet who will change my life and I can enrich theirs!”. I may be asking a lot from this young media, which more than likely will just continue to be fed by the desires of the societies that created it. But as human being we have always had the desire for more, we’re rarely satisfied with what we have. No one wants to be stuck in a dead end job all their life, living in their parents’ house etc etc.
To conclude, I see games going two ways in the next ten years, they will either simply fulfil our basic need for escapism and fantasy, pushing no envelopes and still being dogged by the same problems and probably a few new ones. Or they will step up to the plate, we will see more and more outstanding games that not only entertain us but move us, encourage us, maybe not as compelling as Henry the 5ths speech at Agincourt to a ragtag army, but at least make us think, there’s something better out there, all I need to do is find the energy and take the risks to get it. I am master of my own destiny and with a strong will I can do anything. Game on…
- That Bloke In The Beanie
