Beyond the joystick

Computer games are, by nature, entertainment. However, they have evolved from a long history of games that were, and still are, designed to teach the process of different aspects of social interaction. Many computer games however, tend to utilize aspects of physiological and sociological as part of their game play and not actually aim to develop a new structure to their purpose. Another thing is that the actual aspects that do get drawn into computer games are those that have seemingly been past down from game to game, and the technology itself has only polished and styled this aspect rather than reinvent it.

Men have great awareness of space. Many games involve the use of this skill in the game play. It is however, although needed to play the game, is a none necessary aspect to the goal of the game. Puzzle games on computer are moving away from the cerebral aspect to make the visual aspect more potent. As mentioned in a previous post, like movies, the trick these days is on the technology rather than the strategy or better still, the walk away feeling taken from the game.

Some years back there was a news report of an eight year old dying of a heart attack whilst playing Counterstrike. To begin with, its illegal for under sixteen to play this game, but the fact was, that this kid spent all his spare time sitting in front of the computer eating junk food and playing games. The result (lesson) was that his body wasn't participating in the activities this age group should be dealing with and therefore his body suffered. I mention this, as there is surely a responsibility for a designer to aid the user in some education value. Could computer games be designed to have hidden, or a little more obvious notation to teach after game values? I included the image above as it popped into my mind that PacMan for instance could be a good example, based on the story, of how a game could educate. At present the PacMan eats pills. Not very conducive to social correctness, as one instantly thinks narcotics rather than vitamins on the sound of the word pill. But why do they need to be pills? What if, like the image, the packman ate fruit (or health food)? This may sink into minds about the value of the process after the game play. Connections can be formed.

Many games may have this capability. My experience of Sims seems to indicate that hygiene was one of the aspects to be considered, but seeing many gamesters playing this game, most seem more motivated in relationships and jobs. This is mainly due to the fact that mundane activities are not appealing. And more so in game play. Could you image Snake having to cut away from his Metal Gear Solid adventure to have a pee behind a crate? Or sew a hole in his uniform after a fight? People want action. Action builds excitement. But surely with a clever and create mind, something can be impregnated into the game play that could have a subconscious  influence over some aspect of real life. After all, if we look at the processes of living and believe in what Darwin and Freud concluded about our natural state, via our ID, then many aspects of game play can feature the values of our ID, as these are subconscious and not cognitive aspects. Our ability to move through a game environment is based on our spacial awareness.

Games need to be more than just entertainment. They need to stimulate other aspects of the human experience. To teach, but not in that CD-Rom 'edutainment' fashion. In a way that when the player walks away from the game these aspects can be transferred into real world experience. Noting a TED talk the other day, we are no cleverer than apes. We simply apply the ability to design complex tools into our world. The way we live our lives is still fundamentally based on stupid choices. But then again, this is one way to learn, by making mistakes. Games like man, have to evolve, but looking at the resulting attempt in ECO, the obvious approach to educate has been lost. We must be clever to make others clever.