I
find that talking about video games with people can be a problematic
proposition. Despite video games being incredibly popular around the
world, actually trying to find something that multiple parties can
relate to I sometimes find is an exhaustive process. Perhaps this is
because most the games I play just aren’t played by everybody else. I
find myself in the same situation with music as well; I don’t try and go
for the most obscure, but somehow following what I like has lead me to
some things that people have never heard of.
As
far as music goes, that is probably just me being weird, but at least
with music, I can be content at least knowing that the music that I love
is only a listen away from being known, video games are not that easily
accessible. Even if it is some free game that I can link over facebook,
it is the effort of playing games that I feel put them in another
category of inaccessibility.
I
wonder if that is why video games seem to be portrayed as either simple
throw-away toys or as violence simulators. Actually playing a game and
understanding the mechanics isn't something that a person can grasp
without actually taking time to understand them can be a problem for
some people. I wonder if this is why there seems to be such a wide gap
of understanding between people who are fans of the medium and others
that don’t want anything to do with it.
Video
games, no matter what video games like to dress themselves up as, when
you boil them down they are mechanics, and these mechanics can be used
to teach the player. Most of the time these mechanics are just used to
tell the player whether not they are doing well, but they can also teach
the player other things. For example Pac-man is mostly about getting
points, but could it also be about the mass consumerism of the Japanese
1980’s? Well, the game probably wasn’t made with that idea in mind, but
it wouldn’t be that large of a leap to say that could be a factor of why
it was so popular in Japan. The mechanics are the most important of a
video game, but at the same time, they are probably the hardest thing to
discuss. It is all so subjective.
That
is why presentation is so important, because it allows the player to
put the mechanics in context. Then that context allows the game to make
jumps in logic that could only be made with the assumptions from the
player based on the context. The context is a way of conveying the
mechanics, but they shouldn’t be confused for the message of the game,
despite what the game developers want to try and make the player
believe. Which is not to say that people shouldn’t enjoy games on their
contexts, but that focus of the presentation alone says more about the
player often times more than the game.
Perhaps
video games are just something that as more and more people play then
they can be understood for what they are: another way to entertain and
teach people things. As time goes on, I think it will become more clear
about how people should view these things that millions of people have
come to enjoy, but until that time, I think that people like me to talk
about them. Not because I have to, but because I think I want to see
video games enter a space where they aren’t judged on their covers, but
for the entertainment and for the things they allow people to
experience.
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