The Blue Shell to the average person is nothing more than a power-up in a video game that gives the user an ace in the hole. It is joyous to those who use it, torturous to the those it attacks and irrelevant to everyone else. However, just like with every other game, Ian Bogost finds a way to critique it in a manner that makes you feel like the game has committed some deep sin that must be atoned for. In this case he digs into the fault of a new generation, my generation, to believe that success can be achieved with minimal effort and difficulty. Why empower kids to feel like even in last place with seconds left in a race they can come back with this quick destruction of the first place racer? It’s akin to giving out medals of participation to those who have obviously lost or leading someone on when in reality they aren’t even a true candidate. This is what Bogost tries to delve into. He constantly references different versions of Mario Kart only to use them as a springboard for his claim showing that as the Blue Shell’s characteristics and uses changed over the years its function always corresponded to “what’s wrong with America”. He does this in such a way that even the avid gamer may feel like he’s never played before as he paints a portrait that doesn’t stray from truth, but is likely nowhere near what you see when you play Mario Kart. On top of this he includes statements referencing Bill Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google Car (names that are well known and connect to technical industry) all in an effort to show that the shell has “grown up” into the monstrosity that he sees it as today. However outrageous it may sound, there does seem to be a correlation between his words and the evolution of the Blue Shell. Whether this is intentional, subliminal, or consequential is the real wonder.
Malcolm
Video Games: An Escapist Tactic?
What do we enjoy about video games? They’re fun, they give a certain amount of control to the player, and they’re easy to understand and play. But at their core are they really just ways for us to cope with or avoid everyday stresses? Calleja argues that the negative connotation about video games for both their suspension of reality and their playful essence is overblown and detracts from the simple fact that people find videogames fun and need no other reason to play them (though other factors and motives can be involved). The issue isn’t that video games can be used for escapism, but rather that they are perceived as inherently bad because of the connotations of escapism when in truth just about any activity can be used for escapist purposes if it preferable to another activity, engagement, or train of thought. The reasoning behind this widely accepted concept, that video games are an escapist mechanism, can tell us something about play in general and underlying sources of disdain toward digital devices.
Calleja focuses on deconstructing the ideal that video games oppose reality and are therefore escapist. His notion of the “binary illusion” points out that the two arguments for this ideal are that virtuality and artificiality are both in direct contrast to reality. When you boil it down to those simple components it seems easy to counter. Something that is virtual is still part of a “real” sense experience and an artificially created product is no less real than a natural one. So why is it that people hold steadfast to video games being both escapist and negative? My point is that Calleja makes a valid and cogent argument in saying that video games shouldn’t be intrinsically characterized by escapism or given a bad reputation that comes along with it, and yet that doesn’t get to the heart of the matter. Even if you are like me and agree with his claim is almost irrelevant simply because there are those that do not. The reason for that is both the crux of this debate and another issue entirely.
Works Cited
Calleja, G. “Digital Games and Escapism.” Games and Culture 5.4 (2010): 335-53. Sage Journals. Web. 20 Oct. 2016. <http://gac.sagepub.com/content/5/4/335.full.pdf+html>.
Sonic Trance
Video games have been on a steady rise for many years now. At this point I think it’s fair to say that they are a favorite pastime for many people. But there are certain cases where they are enjoyable and engrossing enough that you no longer even notice the time passing. For me there are plenty of examples of this, but the most immersive one was the earliest video game I can remember playing, Sonic Heroes.
I can’t know for sure, but I don’t think the appeal of this game was just that I was new to video games as a whole. It had a lot of the characteristics that I would consider in the makeup of an engrossing video game: challenging but not impossible, the feeling of improvement as you progress, and incorporation of different skills and tactics towards each goal. On top of that there were subtle little qualities that I’m certain had an impact on making the game so enticing, especially to a young kid. The game was very colorful and pattern-oriented, two things that definitely attract and intrigue children. There was exciting, upbeat music and sound effects in the background adding to the fun without you even being conscious of it. And of course the game was predicated on fun characters with special powers that pandered to kids like super speed, strength, and flying.
As with most video games when you’re absorbed enough it’s almost like you’re in a trance. It’s a similar feeling to when you’ve been walking for a long time. At some point you’re not even thinking about moving your legs anymore and it’s as if they’re moving on their own and carrying you. You kind of space out and you’re “in the zone”. This Sonic game was all the more trance-like because whenever I stopped playing there was a sense of emptiness and going back to reality was more of a slow fade than an immediate shock. It goes without saying that there was always that sneaking desire to go back and play some more.
Union: The Pulse of Davidson
Why is it that we prefer to eat in a dining room rather than a bedroom? What about a classroom makes it a more serious and regulated environment than any other room? We tend to think that everything we do is because we want to do it, and that our choice of words and actions are detached from outside influence. Even if we come to see the falsehood of this ideal, we readily attribute any of these external influences to people. Examples of engaging in mimicry or mob mentality are fairly common ones. It’s not surprising to see someone act a certain way because everyone else is doing it or because of the fear of what people might think if they don’t. Rarely do we trace our actions back to the setting and see that what we do is also affected by our environment.
I would assert that most people think of the Union as a just a food court. But with closer observation it’s better portrayed as a social hub. This atmosphere is due not so much to the people in it as to the makeup of the place itself. The thing that’s most immediately noticeable is how the Union facilitates diversity. Not in terms of race, religion, gender, etc., but diversity of interests, personality, and intentions. You have the different eateries, the games (like foosball and ping pong), the big tv, the computers for academic purposes, and several rooms dedicated to special events or meetings. What’s intriguing is how so many divergent areas actually bring people together, fostering camaraderie and interaction instead of segregation.
Looking at the layout, this effect is created by the open and intertwined setup of the Union. Right away you can see that the tv, the foosball table, and one of the work computers are all in close proximity with no barriers between them. It’s almost a method of subliminal messaging. Everything about the area suggests an air of cooperation and communication. I witnessed multiple instances of people striking up a conversation with someone they’d never met before, or others leaving the couch in front of the tv to help someone with their homework on a computer. Suddenly the couch is appropriated and becomes a study area for those two with several more joining them. And above all there’s no discord. The tv can be turned off by people studying and anyone who may have wanted to watch tv there made no attempt to argue. Throughout my observation, I saw nothing that would imply a negative interaction. Simply a place for work, play, food, conversation, excitement and commotion or peace and calm. All under the umbrella of mutual understanding and camaraderie.
Government Implications of Resistance
If you’ve ever played cards you’re probably aware that most card games involve the use of some sort of deception. Whether it be Poker requiring the tact to not give any indication, good or bad, about your hand or BS in which the premise of the game is to lie about the cards you play and get away with it. But even in the realm of card games one stands out in my mind above the rest as the height of deception: Resistance.
The idea of the game is that resistance attempts to pass missions while spies attempt to fail them without revealing their identity. However there is a catch, the spies know who all the other spies are while the resistance don’t know who is who. This creates distrust among everyone in the game, but the spies can use this air of suspicion as a cover to keep themselves from being implicated and pit resistance members against each other. In my eyes this is very similar to a situation of conspiracy or coup d’ etat.
Resistance is most relatable to corruption creating small factions in government that eventually try to overtake the reigning system. Often the best way for the spies(who by rule have fewer members than the resistance) to win is by acting as resistance and leading resistance members to believe that they are safe, all the while goading them towards other spies who can defeat them. This is a classic strategy and a difficult one to overcome. Think of the death of Julius Caesar. The reason the coup was so effective in that case, was that the leader of it(Brutus) was seemingly so close to Caesar that there was no suspicion of him at all.
There are parallels to our own federal government as well, namely conspiracy theories. Some people believe that the moon landing never happened or that some common diseases were actually created and administered by the government. The trick is that just like in Resistance, not all of the public(or resistance members) subscribe to these beliefs. Because of this the spies can pick out those who don’t and gain their trust while covertly continuing their assault. Knowing the advantages spies have it seems that as long as they play their cards right they could conceivably win every time. It begs the question: if the government equivalent of this situation were to be happening right now, would the public even recognize it? And more importantly: could we act quickly enough to stop it?
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