Why I Play Games: My Escapism
These are the motions that you go through with a new videogame, whether you’re 13, 30 or beyond. We’ve all been there when a game comes out and you text your buddy and ask if they’re going to be online later that day because you want to play. It’s the “next generation” way of knocking for them to see if they’re coming out to play and it’s these moments that strengthen the escapism delivered by gaming. For that moment you don’t remember why you shouted at the waiter in the restaurant or why you didn’t get that raise, you just want to see who can climb the agency tower the quickest or if you can flat spin together from the ski jump on big surf island. This feeling of escape has perhaps been captured best in this generation of consoles, with the advent of social networking and online gaming.
I was interested in Leigh’s thoughts on how gaming can help engage imagination, aid conversation and confidence. Does she feel that games can help people overcome obstacles in life?
“It’s true that social gaming – you know, anything online where you need to interact with others or be part of a team – is likely to be a supportive play environment for those who may have challenges socially in the real world,” she says. “Which, of course, nearly every teenager does. It’s a horrible time in anyone’s life! I think it’s cool that online game environments are offering safe places for people to express themselves and share interests they probably don’t feel like they can talk about in the hallways at school.
“Caveat, though: I think it does come down to moderation, again. I think probably if young individuals come to prefer game worlds to the real world, or defer learning how to engage face-to-face, or choose only games for their outlet and only gamers as their friends, that’s going to eventually make adulthood hard.
“And being online and somewhat anonymous among people with common interests feels safe for people who perhaps have a bit of trouble expressing themselves in life, and that’s a good thing – as long as what they’re expressing is healthy. We’ve all seen how the combination of anonymity and being very passionate about something leads to people being pretty sick and destructive on internet forums and voice chat and stuff.”
//Fairy tales
I personally owe a debt to Keita Takahashi for creating games such as Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy. These titles are created with play in mind, and these fun, quick burst games are well designed to alleviate the weight of the world by making you laugh and asking you to do silly things. But it’s not just these quick-fix games that allow you to play and escape. There’s another genre that gives you miles in which to run away from life, and that’s the RPG.
Most role-playing games, even the bad ones, give you acres of environments in which to live a different life, one that’s filled with imagination. Often starting as a put-upon orphan/only child/loner protagonist and living a Cinderella story of taking the world by the neck and fighting for what you believe in, they offer a real sense of place. Fighting an oppression and “sticking it to the man” has a calming feeling that is perfectly achieved by this genre.
After all the discussion and deliberation, we seem to have come full circle. Games have always meant the same thing to me – I just didn’t realise until now. Even as a child there were things to escape from: school, girls – heck, even puberty. Now, as an adult, I realise this need more than ever. No matter what I’ve been through, I can always find contentment with my hobby, and the friends and worlds that come along with it.
So next time you fire up your console or PC and shoot some Nazis, grind in Azeroth or even raise your gardening level by breeding a new Piñata, know that you’ve escaped.
Thanks for this Daniel – it’s quite refreshing to read an article that’s not so much an angry defence of games (as understandable a response as they are) but instead a sober, thoughtful explanation of some of the appeals.
We’ve had quite a few articles on Reso recently which have really made me think a lot about how we’re going through a really transformative period in games, in a sense that the way society as a whole thinks of games as a medium is really changing; this is definitely one of those articles.
Really good article, shame I was offline when you were asking for reasons. The ultimate reason for me is social interaction. I remember playing winner stays on on Pro Evo and tekken back in my youth and that has moved right through to Xbox Live. The funny thing is 3 or 4 consoles and a lot of years later and Im still playing with some of the same frinds that I used to.
2 words:
WIN
MOAR
A lovely article I have to say. I am one of these people that maybe spends a bit to much online then outside in the world because i can’t express myself very easily and yes your right in that its very good freedom. I actually think we should be allowed to escape more in this modern life, we don’t get many chances to now a days I feel…
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