If a person were to combine all the fictitious worlds ever created for video games, the image would most likely be a strange battlefield filled with millions of people shooting at each other with small playgrounds filled with shiny toys to keep them entertained for the brief moments when they are bored shooting at each other.
While video games have advanced in many ways to achieve great levels of thought provoking art and new levels of interacting, it is also true that video games are still on the cutting edge of providing a large audience with loud bombastic games focused on combat, teamwork and communication. These games have little narrative value but deep intrinsic game-play that creates deep connections between the player and game, giving every action meaning and enhancing a strong sense of immersion. you are not just playing a game! YOU ARE TRYING TO WIN!!! This excitement and yearning for competing and victory leads these games to viewed as yearly spectacles on the same levels as sports game, but with a harsher and more violent edge witch leads to a deeper allure and more passionate fanbase.
These games are not high art, but they are virtual worlds in that millions of players communicate, organize, share opinions and compete over status in a never ending competition for fame and glory.
Call of Duty commerical
Gears of War 2 Trailer
Red vs Blue (strong languange)
Hi Ari:
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting posting about the virtual battlefield. As I was reading your post the overall theme that came across loud and clear was that the millions of players who play these various video games are totally engaged in the activity. When teachers turn to video games for their educational uses, I think this is a primary objective they want to see with their students. In other words, they want to use the video games as a tool to facilitate the learning process and have students meet their learning objectives via active engagement.