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Much like the games we play, most humans' days are filled with routine -- a repetition of memorized patterns designed to produce a desired outcome. We are creatures of habit. We thrive under predictable circumstances with reliable results. If we were to list out the activities that we complete over the course of a week, a month, or even a year, most of us would find that our daily lives are about as complicated as the Konami code.
Wake up. Brush Teeth. Shower. Get dressed. Go to work. Punch in. Meeting. Report. Email. Report. Email. Lunch. Meeting. Report. Email. Report. Email. Punch out. Go home.
OR
Wake up. Brush teeth. Shower. Get dressed. Go to school. Class. Class. Class. Lunch. Class. Class. Class. Go home. Homework.
OR
Wake up. Scratch crotch. Put on least dirty shirt from pile next to futon. Leave parent's basement. Steal cereal from pantry. Return to basement. Surf for porn. Troll internet. Play game. Watch hentai. Troll internet. Troll internet. Surf for porn. Cover self-loathing with cynicism in forum posts.
What will probably flash before our eyes on our deathbeds. Our lives, if we are honest with ourselves, are as prescribed as a rail shooter. But videogames are no different. Every game, when you break it down into its sub-atomic components, is merely the repetition of patterns and problem-solving exercises with visual cues or narrative progression as a reward. With games, the scope of possibility is even smaller. Not in terms of setting or character or plot, but due to the fact that the experience is crafted for us, rather than by us.
My thoughts have recently been drifting back to a question I thought was already explored in its fullness. Why do we as gamers, who pride ourselves on creative thought and joyful expression, come home from a self-imposed playlist of tasks on repeat only to engage in an activity which demands even more pattern memorization, routine, and repetition?
I used to be satisfied with my answer to that question. Most of the research, surveys, and discussion on the topic boil our motives down to one or more of three main reasons for indulging in our favorite digital daydreams:
1. Entertainment
2. Escapism
3. Social Interaction
Intellectually, those three categories seem to cover all the bases. Up until recently, if you were to ask me why I played games, I would have robotically rattled off those three reasons. If I was feeling saucy, I would have embellished with perhaps a dash of "improving hand-eye coordination" and/or a teaspoon of "problem-solving exercises keeps the mind limber." While those reasons satisfy the logical mind when I share them, there's always this little bothersome feeling that I haven't quite captured all of my true motivations for playing.
Why do we play videogames? SCIENCE! Entertainment (read as: fun), while an excellent reason to play games, can be achieved through a multitude of options. We have movies, music, books, television, art, theatre, dance, and many other well established means for amusing ourselves (read as: sex). There's nothing unique that videogames provide in that category.
Social interaction is another reason with great merit, but again, there are even more options for us to engage in social interaction then there are in entertainment. The rebuttal that immediately pops up in my mind is that videogames provide a safe haven for those who wish to engage in social interaction without the pressure and anxiety of face-to-face interaction. But that doesn't really hold water. The Internet has been providing that in chat rooms and forums for years now. Again, there's nothing specific to games that make them the logical conclusion for fulfilling this need.
So, that leaves us with escapism.
"But walkyourpath, doesn't your argument for entertainment apply in the escapism category as well? Aren't all those other forms of entertainment you listed just as capable of providing a release from our everyday lives as videogames?" Yes, and no.
In life, you can do all the right things and still not succeed. The routines that we adhere to so slavishly don't always equate to the outcomes we assume will follow.
You can do your job better than anyone else, and the cousin of the boss can swoop in and get the promotion you worked your ass off for. You can be charming, witty, cool, good-looking, well-to-do, and say all the right things -- you still might not get the guy or gal your heart yearns for.
It is true that if you persevere and constantly strive to improve yourself that the odds are in your favor, but life provides no guarantees.
"I want him in the games until he dies playing." This is where videogames alone are qualified to provide us with an escape. Yes, most books and movies, etc, are geared to provide us with the happy ending we want to see. But we don't get to participate in that process. In videogames, we are assured that performing the right actions will provide us with the desired result.
If we memorize the right patterns and execute the controls with the appropriate timing, then Mega Man will always defeat Dr. Wily. If we execute our attacks and defense with the proper strategy and our reflexes don't fail us, then Bang Shishigami will always drop Iron Tager. If we spend hours grinding goblins and kobolds and orcs, our abilities will always grow until we are able to defeat any enemy. XP is measurable, reliable, and comforting. It makes us feel good knowing that our efforts will provide a predictable result.
I spent an embarrassing number of hours in my adolescence attempting to move objects with the sheer force of my mind and spirit. As far as you all know, I never succeeded. But if I pop in
Psi-Ops or
The Force Unleashed, just executing the right patterns and button combinations allow me to accomplish that feat. Every time.
This is why we play games. It reaffirms our belief in the laws of cause and effect. It is security. It is control. More than any other medium, it is the one true escape -- actively participating in life's progression as we feel it should be, and not how it often is.
Contest:
2:00 PM on 08.22.2009
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But isn't that just another kind of "power fantasy"?
Now if you don't mind I'm going to go surf for porn and mask my self loathing by trolling some forums.
@Matt -- Interesting, I hadn't given much thought to emergent gameplay. I absolutely want my games to surprise and delight me. However, I still want to know that there is an "answer" to everything that the game throws at me (preferably multiple "solutions").
@Jonathan -- Thx for the read! You know, it is a type of power fantasy. I never thought about it that way, because you never hear people say "I just want my efforts to count every time" as often as you hear "I want to fly and fire beams out of my eyes." But they both qualify, don't they?
@Timmeh -- Yeah, there's an aspect of justice and order in gaming that draws us in, I think. Also, I like your self-loathing just fine. . . own it. :D
Just my two cents.
@Palidi -- I absolutely agree that games broaden our horizons like books and movies. I didn't include it in my list just because most non-gamers I've discussed this with have considered that point a form of escapism as well. A way to do something you couldn't otherwise. Thx for adding to the discussion!
I think your idea holds much more weight in that it is nice to be able to figure out what is expected of you and work at it until you get the desired outcome, all the while being entertained. In life your goals are usually determined by others; your boss, your coworkers, family, that dude you owe money to, but if you are playing a game you can set your own expectations of yourself and modify them as you see fit. Want to collect all the stars? Sure why not. Want to skip all the side-quests and go right after the final boss, hey it's your funeral buddy.
Also, "As far as you all know, I never succeeded." made me smile because I used to try the same thing when I was younger.
Sure, I'd use the word escapism, but so many people seem to believe that escapism necessarily means "escaping from your life, which sucks." That's really not it at all for me. I love to escape into a new world with different rules, but only because I love the experience of new places and actions. It's like calling traveling escapism. If a desire to see and experience new places is escapism, then consider me chief escapist.
Either way, I'm sure that I could come up with a bunch of extremely complicated reasons that I play video games, tracing my personal history back to childhood, family troubles, friends, etc. But, hey, I'm here, and I'm enjoying myself.
Also, we'll figure out the whole telekinesis thing someday. Keep the faith! :)
@Kauza -- I'm enjoying myself too! I like the comparison to travel. The next time I buy a game I'll refer to it as "my ticket".
To me, that's always seemed like a short hand, lazy answer. It's easy to see why, there's some truth in it, and the truer answer is probably more difficult to get a handle on.
As for your cause/effect answer, I don't know. There is a comfort in the rule-based predictability in gaming, but it's equally exciting when something entirely unpredictable happens, something that emerges out of a series of complex rules. I find myself most drawn into a game when the established rules are subverted in a clever manner. After our conversation on IRC and reading this, I think I can recommend 'The Path' as a good example of this.
Also, I think my statement about cause & effect might have been misleading. My point was not that we are attracted to games because they are predictable, but rather because in games you always have the ability to succeed.
Thx for the read & suggestion!
I'd probably kill myself after playing it for awhile, but it would be a mind trip beyond mind trips.
Although I only "Troll internet" TWICE a day. Three times would simply be excessive.
I love my video games because they will always allow me to retreat from reality. I'll never save the world in real life or probably ever be "The Hero", so any chance I get to be something other than a crummy warehouse worker surrounded by under achievers, half-wits, and The Inept I take it. Even if it's virtual, it's still my escape.
*goes off to play more Fallout...*
Whoa whoa whoa. Really? I know you just want to take about that escapism category, but I don't know if you can write off games as a non-unique medium.
----------On an unrelated note:------------
Before we started playing games to "reaffirm our belief in the laws of cause and effect," games had to be designed. How would you design a game in the first place, if not by the laws of cause and effect?
Imagine picking up Megaman and pushing A. Megaman self-destructs. Imagine bumping into an enemy and recovering all of your life. Imagine walking over spikes. And imagine if that stuff got mixed up every other life. That doesn't make sense. Cause and effect, as well as input and result, need a logical relationship.
This doesn't detract from your argument. I'm just proposing that the correct thing to say might be "Games, by their design, can reaffirm our belief in the laws of cause and effect," rather than "This is why everyone subconsciously plays games."
As Daxelman said, this makes me want a game where there are no set outcomes and where no matter what you try, you'll never get what you want. And I'm sure that might be possible if we have a huge game beyond the scope of current open-world games and no pre-release coverage whatsoever.
@vava/MountainGorilla -- Regarding the "nothing unique" statement, I can definitely see how that could leave a bad taste in your mouth. A more apt phrasing probably would have been "not the only effective means of entertainment". Vidya games are obviously my drug of choice.
I agree that VG have a unique ability to provide immersion. Unfortunately, it is a largely untapped potential, as we haven't quite figured out how to fully balance those elements with the overriding gameplay concerns just yet. I also like the rephrasing of "Games, by their design, can reaffim our belief in cause and effect". The language I used was a bit absolute. Excellent points!
@Elysse -- Thx! Not many players in FP last night. Too many bots = stalemate. Vault 106 is a trip. . . "Purple Haze, all in my brain!"
Its nice to know I'm not the only one who did that. Actually in my case i still randomly try to see if i can.
I don't agree with everything, but I agree with most of it and to argue would be to nit-pick. I'll also add that I've always wanted to see a game where, just once through the whole game, you press the button and the character fucks up. Just to break that perfect recall for a moment.
I always caught on the spot when people ask me why I play games. Once, I was at a party discussing Fallout 3 with a friend when a girl came up to me and asked me what I would do with my times if it wasn't spent playing video games. I can't remember what I answered because I was suppressing the insurmountable amount of rage welling inside me. It feels like she was telling me that I was wasting my time, but she is wrong, I know this when I play games like Passage and Today is the day I die.
I find your reasoning, reassuring. Worlds in which we get a positive feedback are fine worlds indeed.
Me too...
@the article
You're absolutely right... I never fully appreciated it, but there is something reassuring about playing a game and knowing that if you work hard enough, you can eventually have some sort of answer to your effort. There is this reassurance from all game types, whether Picross or Legend of Zelda, that somewhere in this mess of information is a correct answer, a righteous path, an answer to your problems.
Great read :)
Nice Article!as much as i hate to say that playing game is part of , if not complete , Escapism (since it sounds like we are trying to escape from reality and which is somewhat not cool) , there's no denying about that.
My life is not perfect but it's normal and fine and i can live with it and i don't have any wish to go live in some video game world.
But we feel rewarded for solving the puzzles or pulling out crazy combo and ultra moves or showing off our lv.99 characters and have full confidence in playing with others when we can nail 100% on guitar hero expert.
I guess the most loyal thing to us in the end are video games.Not the evil publishers lol.
Great read, as always. Walkyourpath for editor!