Video Games and Escapism

[Jack and TheBox]

Okay, first and foremost, before I get a whole bunch of "PPR PLOX THX", I feel this is more akin to a general community discussion as it deals with something very near and dear to all our hearts: video games.

Without them this site wouldn't exist, so we're all bound to have an opinion on this. Also, I don't think the philosophy is too heavy handed, and is much more relevant to a wide group of people.

So, without further ado about nothing...

I recently discovered Scott Sharkey's Whiteboard videos on 1up.com. You can view them here: http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3176887

The basic idea is that Scott Sharkey (who is, in my opinion, one of the better gaming journalists out there) draws stick figures doing things while talking about various video game subjects. There aren't many episodes right now so the range is a bit small, but they're all very well thought out and concern themselves primarily with topics that not many video gamers approach.

The one that really got my attention was Episode #4: Escapism.

It's generally accepted that video games are escapism. How can they not be? They involve the player in a world with strict rules and regulations. As Sharkey puts it, a video game is, above all else, "fair". I had never, ever thought about this before, but he's absolutely right. Reality isn't fair, so video games take a sort of fabrication of reality and make certain events that COULD occur in life more accessible. For example, random chance and circumstance is virtually removed. There is an air of randomness in programming, but in general one can expect to achieve a certain goal given enough time. Life is the exact opposite of this. One could work their entire life, sacrificing everything, and still not achieve the lofty goals that the individual set out with.

We play video games, I believe, to experience what true "fairness" is compared to the "unfairness" of reality. To come back to this site, the music is a major part of this escapism. As Family Guy has taught us, people don't have soundtracks to their lives. To be able to witness an event in a video game with a moving score behind it is tantamount to mental bliss for a load of people (myself included). We wish for the ability to have something so epic or moving happen in our own lives. Such is why so many remixes come from RPGs (Chrono Trigger is more than enough to prove my point). This all goes back to being "fair". This "fairness" is our own mental construction of how things are supposed to work, and it's something that we've been inundated with for most of our lives.

At the end of the video, Sharkey suggests we make reality more like a video game in order to breach this gap of "fairness". While clearly idealistic and not actually achievable, the idea of making things more egalitarian is a good one. Why shouldn't we treat people with more respect and generosity? Capitalists would argue that that's pretty socialist in theory, but most capitalists are self-claimed Christians. Jesus wants you to make reality more like a video game.

This is all conjecture and postulation on my part, but please share your opinions on this subject. If the mods decide this belongs in PPR, so be it. I still believe this needs a broader audience.

P.S. To lighten things up, here's a video of a man hand farting his way through Sweet Child of Mine:

[The Coop]

Actually, in my opinion of course, video games aren't as fair as you're making them sound... or at least, not all of them are. Ask around about how many times people have lost a life because of hit detection that's not 100 percent perfect, or because of regenerating enemies that suddenly pop up and gun you down because you made the screen scroll back a little (piss off Ninja Gaiden). There are variables in games, especially "sand box" ones, that can result in any number of things happening... many of which mirror what would happen in life if you were to do them (like say... firing a rocket at a police car after gunning down five hookers and stealing a firetruck).

Life, similar to a game, is about meeting the challenges thrown at you. Some you'll make for yourself, while others will be forced upon you. Meet them, and you'll move forward. Fail at them, and you're going to have some problems. The main difference is, you can always reload a savestate if it's needed in a game. But in life, you have to go through the slow and sometimes painful process of getting back what was lost because of your mistakes and failures (respect, trust, love, friendship, money, etc.).

...

And now that I think about it, life is really more fair than games in a way. In a game, you can always simply do over what you fucked up. You can't do that in life nearly as readily, making the idea of "reaping what you sew" (what many would consider fair) more in play. If you screw up, you pay the consequences. There's no reset button to hit, and no "do over". You deal with what happened, and move forward as best you can. But games let you break that rather well known saying with a simple button press, making things less fair, as it instantly gets you out of the trouble you caused, and the mistakes you made.

Keep in mind, this is just one small area. There are a metric fuckton of areas that can be discussed regarding what's more fair in a game and life, and the scores of variables that surround them. The "reap what you sew" concept was just one thing that came to me as I was typing after reading your post.

[Jack and TheBox]

Yes, I see what you're getting at. Though I didn't mention it, notice my quotations around the word 'fair'. While this may seem like backpedaling, I did not mean to imply that the definition of 'fair' has equal meaning in both the virtual and real world.

To expound, 'fair' in real life basically equates (for a good number of people) to 'karma'. You do something stupid, you get punished for it; sometimes severely. In this case, in relation to games, it is somewhat analogous to screwing up that jump and getting hit by a hawk in Ninja Gaiden.

In the game world, however, you have another go at it. Sometimes infinitely. This is where the break comes between real and virtual "fair". If, as real life would have it, you hit that hawk and fell down the pit, you SHOULD (realistically) not get a do-over. However, this is "unfair" to the player who spent a good amount of time getting to that point in the first place. All of it is relative. The game designers thought it would be "fair" to give the player another go. Life dictates that it is "fair" that we die from getting hit by a hawk while we're jumping between high placed rocks, because that is stupid.

Now, you look at a bum on the street. Depending on where you live, that man or woman may just be a drug-addled hobo with an alcohol problem and no sense of responsibility. On the other hand, that individual may be the product of a depressing turn of events that put them there; foreclosure, firings, fortune. This, to us and them, may be considered "unfair" in the grand scheme of things. While that person may be able to come back from the brink, it is highly unlikely and the more likely scenario would be that that person winds up pursuing a different life entirely.

The above case is, of course, ridiculously simplified and relative. A person's life has any number of circumstantial problems and solutions. A game, though, is all about the second chances. A game will allow the player to pursue an escape, if an escape is possible (and it more than likely is). Realistically, you'll probably never be in a situation where you have to run from the cops because you killed a bunch of hookers with a rocket launcher (or was it cars? I should've quoted..). But because this scenario plays out in a game, the programmers allow the player the ability to escape from this otherwise dead-end. This is considered "fair" in games, and extremely egalitarian in mindset.

I'll hold off on any more proselytizing for now, and let others have their say. In any case, thanks Coop for bringing up a valid counter-argument so soon.

[JCvgluvr]

Play Mariokart Wii, then tell me how "fair" you think games are.

[Salluz]

Ever played BTDD? That shit is NOT FAIR! Play SSBB... man, Snake can hit you WITHOUT EVEN TOUCHING YOU! That is so FUCKING unfair! Maybe someone who wished that they could do this programmed the game a certain way for a sense of escapism.

You could say the same for about anything. Funny, I don't have as much time to play them but I still love video games. I have high standards as to what I frequent, but nonetheless.

Addiction to video games could very well be escapism, but to play them is simple to enjoy whatever it is that you're doing. To some it looks unproductive and lame so they are adverse to it, but we gamers know that we appreciate the control and the artistic vibe that we see.

In a sense that may be so, wishing you could do differently, like, I always wanted to fly, jump high, run fast and use psychic powers, but that could be said about watching TV or reading books.

Play Mariokart Wii, then tell me how "fair" you think games are.

zOMG spiked koopa shell oh no lightning dammit I fell off now I'm in eighth place fuck

I'll type a better response when there are more replies.