Sherry Turkel uses video games to begin a discussion of the computer culture as a culture of rules and simulation.
The Myth of “Mindless” Addiction
Constantly we hear the claim that video games are addictive, and most of those who make this claim compare the games to TV. That is more difficult to do than they may think. TV is do-nothingness at its core. To watch and to listen is all that is required. Under most circumstances even the act interpretation is removed from the equation. ”Video games are something that you do.” They are “interactive computer microwords” and if appropriate analogies are to be drawn that that has to be considered. Video games are now typically played on the TV however the two are vastly different. Sherry Turkle stated that most gamers describe their experiences of playing video games to “sports, sex, or meditation.” Comparisons are also made with drugs which dose a great deal of harm to the image of video games and their players. This comparison can be seen as simply inappropriate.
There is nothing mindless about mastering a video game. The games demand skills that are complex and differentiated. Some of them begin to constitute a socialization into the computer culture: you interact with a program, you learn how to learn what it can do, you get used to assimilating large amounts of information about structure and strategy by interacting with a dynamic screen display. And when one game is mastered, there is thinking about how to generalize strategies to other games. There is learning how to learn.
Turkle dose an excellent job of revealing the skills that a gamer must acquire if they are to become successful. These skill can be learned and develop with practice overtime. Just as skills are viewed in every other competitive atmosphere. As simple as a game may seem, these skills are in use. The problem is these skill are nearly invisible to the outside observer. It is easy to say that the gamer is not doing anything if they can’t see what he is doing. Many critics are fine with more traditional games like pinball being played hours on end, But an observer who has never seen a pinball game before can see and quickly understand what the player is doing.
Computational Specificity
In this section Turkle separates the differences between the video game and a more other games such as pinball. We interact with both but it is done two very different ways. The pinball games is on more of a “give take” relationship with its player. Video games are more immersive the games like pinball. The pinball is used in the games as a middle man between us and the game. We play with it. With the video game we find it easier to inject ourself in the game. We take on the roll and become it.
Design plays another important role. With pinball all elements or the game are dependent on real world rules such as gravity, the floor being level, and time being some of them. But the design of a video game has no limitations, it exists only as the designers write it. If the designers do not want gravity in their game, than there will be no gravity. It dose not matter what the the existing real world laws work, the subject madder of the video game dose no exist as anything other than code, so it is bound by no physical law. This also keeps the games constant. Not every pinball machine will respond the same, not every ping-pong table or basket ball court will respond the same way. Bounded by computational logic, every individual video game will respond the same. Avid gamers find comfort in this consistency.
Jarish and the Computer within the Game
Jarish, who considered himself short for his age at as early as five years old, began playing games when he was young. Around the age of twelve pinball gave way to video. He feels that in spite of is height, his acquired skill in video games and the success in the games that followed has made him a popular kid, a cool kid, at the local arcade. This is due to the ability of the computer within the game to retain the high scores and initials of the players who achieved them. He is proud that all the kids at the arcade know his initials. This is a great achievement for video games and one more major leap beyond the more traditional games such as pinball which could not keep a personalized high score record. In video games the players are nameless, faceless, and undiscriminated. Age, sex, race, and physical attributes play a major role in most competitive activities, but they hold no bearing in video games. This becomes a superior outlet for Jarish and other individuals like him who feel that their physical qualities can be a set back.
Jarish recognizes that behind the game there are rules that govern it; just as there are rules in the real world out side the arcade. However, he said that he feels more in control in the game than in the real world. Why?
Jarish, like many other people, feel like he has no control in the outside world. Because he understands that behind the game is a computer spiting out written code he understands that he can change it. with a few keystrokes and some basic programing knowledge he can rewrite games to the way he sees fit. Unlike the real world Jarish feels a since of control when he plays or writes a game.
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