Virtual Worlds-where do we go from here?

At the moment games and the virtual worlds they create are immersive environments filled with interesting places and characters that players can interact with, millions of players can unite and create lasting impacts on this worlds and create entirely new persona where people can make strong social and bonds that the player can enjoy and react to in a way similar to that of social networking sites. But this worlds have yet to make make the next leap forward in their evolution. No matter how complex or realistic current virtual worlds are or how many ways players have to socialize, they are still to primitive to allow for deep emotional connection between the player and the fictitious world in which they are interacting. All value placed on actions within these environments are still arbitrary and created by the system designers with the players essentially running through an endless serieis of mazess looking for their next reward and acomplishment.

To become true virtual worlds actions must have value beyond the immediate, their must be overall goals and objectives to why someone would chose to exist in these worlds, in short, games must allow for existential thought.

This process is slowly beginning, in development is a virtual world created by a single individual titled LOVE where there is no object other than to aid in the creation of a better online society with others. Your character will age and eventually die and your character will have children that you can choose to play as or allow to exist in the world as AI characters. Higher philosophical thought will come slowly to games, however as it does we as a society we see a great advancement in the way interact with virtual worlds and how we perceive them, and this more than anything else will effect how they will be used in the future.

Love official site

Activism in games

In rare occasions video-games have become the platform social activism and extreme forms of artistic expression. These instances usually involve a group or an indvidivual with a specific message or belief that they wish to be expressed and will use interactive media in order to spread that message to a large population. These games are usually primitive or sub-standard compared to games not based on specific view points, however the quality of the game is usually secondary  to spreading the message.

An example of this is the game Fat World, where the player controls a person and must monitor their diet. the character will die if they are not fed or eat an unhealthy diet. however the only options for food are fast food restaurants, creating a scenario where the player can't win. This game was created by Ian Bogost to express that in life people have no choice but to be obese.

A more recent example of activism effecting games is the controversy around the popular game Super Meat Boy. A small independently made game for the PC and Xbox. In Super Meat Boy, you control Meat Boy as he tries to rescue his girlfriend Bandage girl and avoid various traps in a silly over the top game where you literally control a piece of meat for a main character. PETA declared the game offensive and created their own game Super Tofu Boy where you control Tofu boy and must save Bandage Girl from Meat Boy after a bad breakup. The game promotes vegitarinism and mocks people who choose to eat meat.

The fight between the developers of Super Meat Boy and Peta is ongoing and so far has lead to increased sales of the game. The question is does activism such as this belong in games as such extreme viewpoints negate the more important parts games, game-play and interactivity. Situations like this will most likely increase. It will be Interesting to see how they affect gaming culture as a whole.

Super Meat Boy

Super Tofu Boy

Fatworld