[lbo-talk] It's May Day....

Dwayne Monroe dwayne.monroe at gmail.com
Mon May 3 13:18:09 PDT 2010


Doug wrote:

...videogames kind of give me the creeps. Content aside, don't they encourage people to sit in front of a screen all by themselves in a way that encourages atomization and social isolation?

....

No doubt, this happens to some people but I doubt it's produced by gaming -- though that's the dominant stereotype.

If anything, modern gaming, which 'solved' the weak AI (artificial intelligence) opponent problem by using distributed networking to bring human gamers together, is a sprawling and very social affair. Gamers coordinate their efforts in real time, talking to each other over bluetooth headsets and via text from around the world.

Contact isn't limited to online interactions. Gamers -- like, for different reasons, some non-gaming LBOTalk members -- travel to conferences where they meet up...or just get together to share some pasta and wine.

Consider Blizzcon --

<http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/video/archive.xml?rhtml=y>

Sure, it's a corporate sponsored shindig designed to market World of Warcraft. It's also a massive social event where people (the supposed shut-ins) come together to have a big party.

Let's spend a few minutes chatting about the anti-militarist content of combat/action first person shooter games such as Modern Warfare 2.

I won't go as far as DRR but I do think he has a something of a point.

For example, the core idea of MW2 is that the most devastating conflict since the Second World War (the 'war' you, as a player are involved in) was based on a pile of lies. Millions die and it all could've been avoided. You get the adrenaline rush of moving through a Russian airbase and planting C4, but your expectations are upended by the narrative.

Needless to say, this isn't a developed critique of militarism. It is, however, quite different from the nihilistic bloodbath non-gamers see when they peep at stills or watch random moments of game-play.

The Grand Theft Auto titles are similarly layered. Step by step, these games have presented us with a sort of commentary on underworld subcultures...not just the how but a bit of the why.

Again, none of this is perfect and to be honest, if I'm playing God of War I don't insist on embedded Gramsci, just a good button mash after a long day of being out and about.

My feelings re: video games and political and/or liberatory content mirror Roger Ebert's on video games as an aspiring art form:

<http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html>

Ebert acknowledges that games can have beautiful moments (Bioschock, a game set in the compelling ruins of an experimental, underwater city based on Randian principles comes to mind) but insists that they cannot rise to the level of true art.

Echoing Ebert, I think that games can possess politically interesting ideas in motion but will probably never be a source of a sustained critique.

I'd love to be proved wrong, however.

Everybody who's really interested in this topic should check out this lovely documentary on the history of gaming:

<http://www.documentary24.com/the-history-of-video-games-atari-arcade-nintendo--101/>

You'll get a feeling for how social, lively and interesting video game culture is.

.d.



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