quote:Original post by Ketchaval Let us form a manifesto for a new breed of game that will avoid all of the fakery, and reflect reality as it is !
What should our manifesto be? Feel free to contribute new rules and expose the deception at the root of our "entertainment".
Rule One ---------
1. No more saved games! The player cannot reload if they have made a mistake.
1.) If the game reflects perfectly the reality of life whats the pointof playing it? Why should I stay in and repeat the exact same things I do in my own life? And don''t say so that I can experience it differently, because then it is escapism from the truth.
2.) It can''t be done perfectly because reality includes irreversible consecuences. If it''s a simulation then the cobsecuences will never hit us. And we''ll know that subconciously.
3.) Also to reflect reality perfectly then it has to each of our individual lives OR be random without us choosing how we start, what we look like, the path thats going to lie ahead of us, or the circumstances in that life. Therefore the start of game must randomly generated and can only be done once. That means no rerolling our character hoping it gets better. If your character is crappy to bad, you have to live with it.
(Note: This would probably only be possible in design, unless you plan to make a super-VR simulator like we''ve seen someone else posting about recently. I''m not going to name A name but I think most here know who I''m talking about.)
What, you think the money you earn actually matters? Paying bills is taking care of real problems? Please. We are so convinced that the game we are born into is so ''serious'' and ''real''. It''s just another diversion. Capitalism is Everquest for the masses.
Of course, any kind of game is a form of escapism. Games that model reality exactly, where there is no real way of "winning" as there isn''t in real life, are not games, they are real life. In some senses you might say that games are a form of utopian experience. While the world you play in may be far from perfect, you only have to deal with the aspects of living in the game that you wish. A first person shooter player never has to worry about scrubbing virtual dishes to buy ammo.
Books, Movies, Games, Recreation, Vacation and perhaps most intriguingly, Theme Parks, are most definately escapism. If we did not experience these, where are place in the world shifts momentarily to reflect a new importance, we would go crazy. Why do people go on vacation? For a change of scenery, to be pampered by others. Why do I play certain games, such as Planetside? Because my place in the planetside worls is very important. I determine the outcome of the day. I can make the difference between whether my team lives or dies.
Gamedev for learning. libGDN for putting it all together. An opensource, cross platform, cross API game development library.
VSEDebug Visual Studio.NET Add-In. Enhances debugging in ways never thought possible.
Hmm..brian, you have a point about capitalism, but I think you went a little far. When you must pay your bills in order to keep a roof over your head, I think that''s not really escapism. In order for there to be escapism, we have to be espacing from something.
Gamedev for learning. libGDN for putting it all together. An opensource, cross platform, cross API game development library.
VSEDebug Visual Studio.NET Add-In. Enhances debugging in ways never thought possible.
Yes, games are escapism. Yes, fully withdrawing yourself from reality is unhealthy.
Ever heard of freaking moderation? The concept is quickly vanishing in our debauched and spoiled-brat culture, and that''s why so many things are getting a bad rap (escapist games not least among them).
To me, there''s a difference between escapism and reality. I saw an interview with Randall Wallace, the screenwriter of BRaveheart and Pearl Harbor, and he said something interesting: "Never let the facts get in the way of the truth". It''s an interesting quote because it cuts to the heart of understanding.
To me, escapism is about denying who we are, how we live, and the state of our world. One can be extremely calculating, precise, and accurate about the world, and yet still be escapist. There is also a difference between doing something like playing a sports game and playing a sports game on the computer. Playing the sport for real not only does your body good, but it teaches you things a computer can not. Sports can teach us certain values and life lessons, and I therefore don''t place them under escapist entertainment...so long as that''s how you play the game. If you play a sports game with only one thing in mind...winning, then you''ve lost the age old concept of, "its not whether you win or lose that''s important, it''s how you play the game". If we play a game forgetting what we play it for, then I think games doa disservice.
So in some ways, some activites are a state of mind. Being lost in thought isn''t necessarily escapist if its accidental. But purposely trying to avoid reality by entering a virtual world is....unless you somehow apply what you experienced in that virtual world to the real one.
I''ll relate a little story here. When I bought the game Vietcong recently, I was at a Walmart, and the salesperson seemed to be an older man in his late 40''s, to early 50''s. Well, I brought up to him, and got out my debit card. While I did that, I noticed he looked at the box cover and opened the flap. Having read some game designer note plans, and thinking that he seemed interested, I told him how the devlopment team had traveled to Vietnam to get the jungle vegetation and textures down right, and even visit some old war sites. Having played the demo, I told him the game seemed very realistic and authentic. He slowly looked at me, and said, "I''ll take your word for it...but I was there". He said it with a slight twinge of sadness and judgemental tone at the same time.
I immediately felt extremely embarrassed. Here I was buying a game about a horrific war to a man that experienced those horros first hand. I didn''t know what to say, and I''m sure he saw my cheeks flush bright red. And in a way, I didn''t even know if I wanted to play the game anymore at that point. And yet, having played the demo and seeing how authentic certain parts of it were...I''m glad I did. It showed some parts of realistic missions, and what the men there dealt with. I didn''t think it went nearly far enough in touching the angst and horrors of that war, but it was definitely in the right direction. But in a way, I still feel ashamed for having bought that game on a certain level. I mean, what could I possibly get from playing a game about a senseless war which cost the lives of 58,000 Americans, 2000 Australians, and anywhere from 1-2 million north and south Vietnamese? I can never feel the same horror or elation a real vet could feel after a battle, and if you think about it....what makes it fun to pretend to blow people away?
In the end, all I could think of was that I got a little glimpse of what it must have been like. One day, perhaps games will give us a more immersive feeling, to help us understand even better. Robert E Lee said it best, "It is a good thing war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it".
They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount." - General Omar Bradley
quote:Original post by Brien Shrimp Sure, games are escapism.
But so are our everyday lives.
What, you think the money you earn actually matters? Paying bills is taking care of real problems? Please. We are so convinced that the game we are born into is so ''serious'' and ''real''. It''s just another diversion. Capitalism is Everquest for the masses.
I suppose it all depends on your value system.
I agree 100% here. Then again we don''t want to become cynical do we? Or off topic. Dauntless comes through with a good post as well.
