I think each of us can remember how someone explains to the ignorant that games are like a movie or a book, just in a slightly different format. Probably, in the same way, you can recall the words that games are something completely different from cinema or literature. This is normal for such a young cultural phenomenon, whose place in society and culture is still far from certain. But casino not using GameStop is definitely liked by most players and there is nothing to explain here.
Part of society’s life
One of the views on art states that it is inextricably linked with the phenomenon of interpretation: any cultural phenomenon that leaves space for its different interpretation by different people is art. From this point of view, video games with their interactivity are a full-fledged representative of art forms; and there is no doubt that in this role they actively interact with both social processes and other cultural forms.
Whether or not to recognize video games as art is everyone’s business, but one cannot but agree that they have already become an important part of society’s life. What is the uniqueness of the experience they give players? And how will the role of video games change in the future? Let’s try to figure it out.
Is it really a “childish” kind of art?
It may seem funny, but, oddly enough, video games are perhaps the most “childish” kind of art. It shows that they are still games, but it’s not about simplicity or frivolity.
Games are an important tool for learning about the world and society. Your own fantasy-based game, social institutions like schools, even life itself – all these are games with their own rules and objectives. At the beginning of his life, the child learns the boundaries of the game-life, experiments, tries to understand the limits of his abilities, finds out that there are limitations…
Caught in the cruel world of Dark Souls, a gamer resembles a small child who burns himself on fire and gets acquainted with the sharp claws of a cat, but gradually learns the concepts of pain and danger, developing avoidance mechanisms and composing his own strategy of behavior in this game, and here it is worth raising the issue of interactivity again. Unlike cinema, literature, or a play, in which the author also creates his own model of the world, games require direct participation in the model. This fundamentally changes the experience and defines the uniqueness of video games as art.
Someone has real second life in World of Warcraft, someone creates their own world in Minecraft, and someone just lives the story of Mass Effect together with the main character – and this is noticeably different from what cinema gives, for example.
Motivation for the game
There are several main reasons why both children and adults like to play.
Sense of progress
One of the main forces for keeping a player interested is undoubtedly a sense of progress. Expressed in the promotion of the plot, pumping a character or exploring a piece of the game world, this feeling, in fact, repeatedly simulates the effect of novelty and “reboots” the sensations of the game. The mechanism of retention of story lovers and perfectionists is about the same, although, of course, someone likes to follow the adventures of Kratos and his son in God of War. The sense of progress is also actively used by games that put the player to the test: I think any player in Dark Souls has faced a situation where before the next attempt to kill the boss, the desire to just quit this game is growing.
Creative realization
The second force of attraction for a gamer is creative realization. It gained a critical mass of distribution in the public consciousness with the release of Minecraft, although it existed in video games almost from their very appearance. There is a whole class of games that do not just give opportunities, but are initially aimed at it: the already mentioned Minecraft, Garry’s Mod, Terraria, and other games have become iconic in certain circles. But, in fact, the need for creativity can be realized in a large number of games, even if at first glance it is imperceptible: role-playing games indirectly allow not only to follow the history of your character.
Solving and optimizing
Finally, the least obvious activity that we enjoy while playing is solving optimization problems. It sounds strange enough, but only at first glance. In economics and sociology, there is a widespread approach to the perception of a person as a rational individual: in such a paradigm, it is assumed that when making any decision, we consciously and unconsciously conduct a procedure for evaluating various options and choosing the most appropriate one.
Solving and optimizing is a completely natural activity for us, and our brain “rewards” itself for success in it. It turns out that between choosing how to buy a new gadget most profitably and making a deck in a digital KKI, the difference is only in the scenery. In some games, at some point, optimization surpasses the sense of progress: on ARPG forums like Grim Dawn or Path of Exile.
