Escapism has been described as an avoidance of reality, and when you put it that way it can seem a little depressing. Avoiding something that’s bringing you down or, worse, destroying who you are as a person, could be seen as running away from problems and hiding your head in the proverbial sand.

But as someone who’s dealt with more than their fair share of therapy, I know it’s often encouraged to escape the banal and mundane moments in life and offer yourself a distraction. As long as this is approached with a healthy attitude, it can benefit someone suffering with problems by allowing their mind to concentrate on something else, freeing up some of that precious grey matter to then, later, concentrate on those intricate issues.

Many forms of entertainment are seen as relaxing and distracting, but gaming seems to be a true escape. This topic is one I’ve personally explored before on this very site, but after listening to lots of feedback from people who took part and colleagues who have given their own opinions, it seems that videogames perhaps offer more of an escape than any other form of media. Of course, movies and books can go some way to distracting you from life’s quandaries, but they seem just that: they’re a distraction, not an escape.

With gaming at its roots being a medium that requires interactivity, it’s probably safe to say you can give more of yourself over to ‘the game’ than a novel or work of cinema. But not everything can allow that freedom, that ability to “log out” of life for a while and just enjoy the moment. During times of grief, solitude or sadness, we all need time to clear our minds; to walk away from a problem and arrive later with fresh eyes or a new perspective. This is exactly what we do when we escape into a world of pixels and achievements.

A few of mine and Resolution’s close friends were eager to tell their stories of a time that they needed those brief moments of escape, something that allowed them to turn away from the issues surrounding them and become themselves again. I asked each of them to tell us specifically about a time in their life when they needed that moment – not only about the time itself, but which game provided that solace.

MY NAME IS CHRISTOS
When I asked ex-IGN, now-sensible-finance-journalist Christos Reid to tell me about moments  when he felt free of the shackles of life, he expressed how much sandbox games allowed him to enjoy a different kind of freedom – and perhaps learn how to be more confident too.

“You know, it’s an odd sensation, sinking into a game to the point where nothing else exists. I spoke recently on my blog about how I used World of Warcraft to deal with the death of my much-beloved grandfather and my isolation on campus whilst in my freshman year of university, and it worked to a certain extent – I made friends, I experienced live-action role-playing (great stress relief and a load of bruises), and I became a far more efficient in-game multi-tasker. But ultimately, I ended up more depressed, and, in January ‘07, left Azeroth and Outland for good.

Before the eternal grind-addiction of the MMORPG, however, there existed another type of gaming escapism that became exclusive to those seeking more than the simple blow-by-blow gameplay of an FPS or platformer. That game was the sandbox game, and if you owned a GameCube, it was largely inaccessible, save for two titles that single-handedly reinvented my love for videogames and their use in dealing with my fluctuating mood patterns.

[Continues...]

By Daniel Lipscombe

Editor’s Note: This article began as a short, heartfelt editorial on the positive effects of gaming when dealing with tough real-life issues.  Thanks to your help in answering Daniel’s questions via Twitter, it’s grown into something more.  It’s an exploration of the wonderful things videogames can do to us, all extrapolated from a simple question: why do you play games?

Do keep on Tweeting us with your answers, too.  We’re likely to use them in a future examination of the topic.  You can find us at www.twitter.com/ResolutionMag.

During an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine, we stumbled upon the subject of why we play videogames and hold the hobby so dearly.

His thoughts suggested that he played games as they are an interactive art form with which he held more of a connection than movies or books. An interesting point on its own, but the conversation continued, and my own response was the one that held the topic for the longest time.

Videogames have been with me since I was a child, and they were always played to entertain – something to pass time until the next episode of Knightmare or the next time a friend came to visit and we attempted to finish Rolling Thunder 2 again. The content of this entertainment always flew  over my head, even through the PlayStation era and my teenage years. Only certain moments in gaming ever strummed the heart strings as I aged mentally and physically – Aeris dying at the hands of Sephiroth and, later, the general feeling and atmosphere of ICO.

In recent years I have grown to respect story, ambience and design, and it’s these pillars that hold up many of the games that we hold dear. After learning to respect these aspects of games, my answer to why I play them has changed. Now, it’s all about escapism; the ability to press start and venture into a different world, become someone else. Talking about this escapism led me to think more about why everyday gamers press ‘start’ each day.

Everybody goes through some form of hardship in their life, and each person chooses a different way to escape these troubles. For myself and many others, it’s with a controller, or keyboard and mouse. Whether you’ve had a bad day at work or your partner has left you, you know that you have a home in Albion, the Capital Wasteland, Midgar or even on the battlefields in World War 2.

This escapism has never been more prominent to me than in the last two years. In February 2007, my three-year-old daughter passed away as the result of a car accident. My life fell apart, and I was on a knife edge, ready to jump into a chasm. But I escaped. Picking up a controller allowed me to step away from these problems. I absorbed every game that was released at the time, and each one took me away from my problems and challenged me, albeit in a material and competitive way, giving me something to strive for.

It’s my belief that videogames have the ability to transport you away from life in a more in-depth way than other forms of entertainment. Typically, you’ll be taking on the role of characters who have their own problems, but their problems nearly always have a solution – be it by finding an exit, shooting their way out, finding the princess or winning the tournament. There’s often a resolution at the end that leaves you with the contentment of achieving something, and in a world full of so many problems this can only be a positive thing. The game pad or mouse gives you a sense of control that’s so difficult to attain in life.

[Continues...]