Games and Culture

Sorry for not updating in a while, school has taken up most of my time. On that note, I'm deviating from the main themes for the next few posts to address my area of study: Video games.

On that note:

So, how does a game designer influence “larger society” (the world outside of the game community)? Apart from Mr. Schell’s (quite frankly frightening) vision of the “gamification” of every action we take living our lives, I would argue that any game designer that actually manages to contribute a game that enters into the lexicon of pop-culture (and thus our culture) has already affected larger society. The games a society plays speak volumes about that society- the Greeks valued physical perfection, and enjoyed both watching and playing games that pushed the human body (even Socrates, as recorded by Plato in The Symposium, is recorded to participate in the occasional bout of wrestling); the Romans valued war, conquest, and the rule of law, their sporting events involved actual bloodshed and many a condemned man met his fate in the local coliseum; Medieval Europeans enjoyed battle and strategy and were great lovers of tournaments and chess; the American frontiersmen gambled with their lives and gave the world poker.

Think for a second- in film, what is the visual metaphor most often used for any two intellectual opponents and their conflict? From Professor X and Magneto to Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty, no movie about two smart guys at odds would be complete without a scene at a chessboard. There’s even a movie (The Seventh Seal) that is entirely centered on a game of chess. Moving on to other games, we have movies like Maverick and Casino Royale (poker), 21 (blackjack), not to mention the endless list of sports movies. Stories centered around games predate film- an early tale of King Arthur has almost all of its action take place around a chess-like game called gwyddbwyll (The Dream of Rhonabwy). Games appear in the oddest places- one might expect a reference to games in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, but particularly jarring is the reference of soldiers playing a game of chance for the clothing of Jesus Christ at the foot of his cross. More, think of how many ways we express ourselves in game terms in conversations- “checkmate,” “bluff,” “score,” “make a move,” “get out of jail free,” and a recent entry: “game over”.

The “how” of our influence is quite simple- humanity is a culture-creating species. Some animals have instinct to help them through life; we require a slightly more complicated approach. We create things to help us pass on our accumulated knowledge and values: graphic arts, music, stories, buildings, and games- but these things appeal to us at a level far beyond the mundane utilitarianism of a conscious desire to create something “for the benefit of future generations.” Indeed, those works that have that as the goal from the outset tend to be those that fall flat- outright propaganda rarely survives- with a few exceptions. A man creates a work of culture because that is what he enjoys, if he enjoys the finished product enough he shares it with his loved ones (or if he has already established a career in the creation of culture he shares with his publisher, patron, agent, etc.), and from there the work spreads to the community.

The reaction of the community to games is much the same as the reaction of the community to any other form of culture. Old and respected games are part of the cultural framework, newer games can be viewed with suspicion, and as a society’s values change so can its outlook on the worth of certain games. For example, even so innocent a game as chess earned a scathing rebuke from the Roman Catholic saint Peter Damian in the 11^th Century-the game being a relatively recent import into Europe at the time)- which makes the targeting of games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Doom by social watchdogs of recent years less surprising.

Influencing larger society is as much chance as it is planning (as evidenced by Schell’s reaction to Facebook in the video presented to us). Before the Beatles could seek to shape their culture through their music rock’n’roll had to come from seemingly nowhere- I doubt Bill Haley and His Comets or Chuck Berry thought they were starting a cultural revolution, and even the Beatles themselves had no idea of the impact they would have when they were playing pubs in Germany or flying to America to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Likewise, Allan Alcorn had no idea  just what effect a virtual table-tennis game would have on the world. With this in mind, we as prospective game designers should be less concerned with how we can affect larger society and design as if we will influence larger society- that magnum opus which will introduce revolutionary and innovative gameplay might flop, never to be heard from again, while a short throwaway game might take the world by storm and be considered an enduring classic.