This is the second post in a two part series about the importance and value of video games. The first post dealt with video games as an artistic medium as well as the enormous size of the gaming industry. Here I will attempt to show how games can be great opportunities for creating community and for experiencing powerful narratives.
Video Games Are a Social Platform
Games are often treated as if they are a solitary experience. One of the many stereotypes of the gamer is that he/she is somehow unable to interact well with other people and therefore turns toward the worlds of video games rather than more social activities such as team sports. While I have met my fair share of socially awkward gamers, games offer many unique competitive and cooperative social experiences.
Games are often treated as if they are a solitary experience. One of the many stereotypes of the gamer is that he/she is somehow unable to interact well with other people and therefore turns toward the worlds of video games rather than more social activities such as team sports. While I have met my fair share of socially awkward gamers, games offer many unique competitive and cooperative social experiences.
Journeying Together
In 2012 the independent game developer Thatgamecompany released Journey for the Playstation 3 (pictured above). Journey received critical acclaim as a unique emotional experience, and it is often held up as one of the prime examples of video games as art.
Journey's social features are different than most games. The player controls a genderless character that is on a journey to reach a great light on the top of a mountain. Along this quest players can run into one another, but their interactions are limited. Unlike many online multiplayer games, players cannot speak to each other through text or microphones, and they are not even able to tell who the other players are until the journey is completed. The only means of communication are through short blip noises that can help get the other players attention.
The first time I played through Journey's three hour experience, I spent most of the trip with another player that I did not know. Though I did not know them, or anything about them, Journey has a way of helping players connect with one another in their unique goal of reaching the mountain's peak. It was a unique illustration of community.
In 2012 the independent game developer Thatgamecompany released Journey for the Playstation 3 (pictured above). Journey received critical acclaim as a unique emotional experience, and it is often held up as one of the prime examples of video games as art.
Journey's social features are different than most games. The player controls a genderless character that is on a journey to reach a great light on the top of a mountain. Along this quest players can run into one another, but their interactions are limited. Unlike many online multiplayer games, players cannot speak to each other through text or microphones, and they are not even able to tell who the other players are until the journey is completed. The only means of communication are through short blip noises that can help get the other players attention.
The first time I played through Journey's three hour experience, I spent most of the trip with another player that I did not know. Though I did not know them, or anything about them, Journey has a way of helping players connect with one another in their unique goal of reaching the mountain's peak. It was a unique illustration of community.
Gathering Together
Nintendo is well-known for creating a more inclusive atmosphere in video games. The Wii was one of the first gaming consoles to find a home in both the entertainment center of young core gamers and assisted living homes for the elderly. It had broad appeal as means of social interaction because of its then-unique motion control technology that was easy for people to pick up and use for play (and even exercise).
Nintendo released their new handhold console, the Nintendo 3DS, in 2011. The 3DS has a feature known as StreetPassing that encourages players to take their game console everywhere they go. When two 3DS owners come within a short distance of one another, they exchange game data. The data they exchange is based on what games they have, but can be as varied as collectible digital puzzle pieces to unlocking in-game items.
The StreetPass features worked great in Nintendo's home country of Japan, but in North America most of us drive everywhere and our cities are not quite as dense. Nintendo fans began to have special gatherings just to get StreetPasses and play games together. Even though Nintendo instituted relay points at wifi locations across the country (such as McDonald's and Starbucks) that allow people to more easily exchange StreetPasses, these groups continue to meet together because they've formed new relationships around their love of games.
Nintendo is well-known for creating a more inclusive atmosphere in video games. The Wii was one of the first gaming consoles to find a home in both the entertainment center of young core gamers and assisted living homes for the elderly. It had broad appeal as means of social interaction because of its then-unique motion control technology that was easy for people to pick up and use for play (and even exercise).
Nintendo released their new handhold console, the Nintendo 3DS, in 2011. The 3DS has a feature known as StreetPassing that encourages players to take their game console everywhere they go. When two 3DS owners come within a short distance of one another, they exchange game data. The data they exchange is based on what games they have, but can be as varied as collectible digital puzzle pieces to unlocking in-game items.
The StreetPass features worked great in Nintendo's home country of Japan, but in North America most of us drive everywhere and our cities are not quite as dense. Nintendo fans began to have special gatherings just to get StreetPasses and play games together. Even though Nintendo instituted relay points at wifi locations across the country (such as McDonald's and Starbucks) that allow people to more easily exchange StreetPasses, these groups continue to meet together because they've formed new relationships around their love of games.
A Community of Gamers
Many of the people that know my gaming habits might be quick to point out that I prefer to play most games alone. This is definitely true. Yet even a gamer that prefers to play alone can find him/herself placed within the context of a social community.
Last year I was casually perusing the video game section at Walmart when I was approached by a guy interested in my Batman Arkham City T-shirt (I wear a lot of nerdy clothes). He asked me how I had enjoyed the game. This turned into a great conversation that lasted perhaps a bit too long for my ever-patient wife might have desired, but by the end I had persuaded him to purchase two different Batman games.
I am not a particularly extroverted person. I do not regularly have long, casual conversations with strangers. I am passionate about games though, and there is something about games that can bring people together. There's a community of people that play games that, as much as they like to fight and debate among themselves, is ultimately connected by a love for video games.
Many of the people that know my gaming habits might be quick to point out that I prefer to play most games alone. This is definitely true. Yet even a gamer that prefers to play alone can find him/herself placed within the context of a social community.
Last year I was casually perusing the video game section at Walmart when I was approached by a guy interested in my Batman Arkham City T-shirt (I wear a lot of nerdy clothes). He asked me how I had enjoyed the game. This turned into a great conversation that lasted perhaps a bit too long for my ever-patient wife might have desired, but by the end I had persuaded him to purchase two different Batman games.
I am not a particularly extroverted person. I do not regularly have long, casual conversations with strangers. I am passionate about games though, and there is something about games that can bring people together. There's a community of people that play games that, as much as they like to fight and debate among themselves, is ultimately connected by a love for video games.
Taking Games Seriously
I chose to do these posts on the importance of games because I think they help establish a framework for talking about games. There are more reasons than this to take games seriously (narrative, cultural commentary, among others), but perhaps these select few will allow us to talk about other issues without falling into old stereotypes of games as merely children's toys. Even if you do not enjoy playing games, they at least deserve to be taken seriously. Games are art, a massively influential industry that people care about, and they can offer a lot of new and unique opportunities for fostering community and social interaction.
I chose to do these posts on the importance of games because I think they help establish a framework for talking about games. There are more reasons than this to take games seriously (narrative, cultural commentary, among others), but perhaps these select few will allow us to talk about other issues without falling into old stereotypes of games as merely children's toys. Even if you do not enjoy playing games, they at least deserve to be taken seriously. Games are art, a massively influential industry that people care about, and they can offer a lot of new and unique opportunities for fostering community and social interaction.