Chapter 2 has definitely been the most relate able chapter thus far in the course for me. I cannot say that I am the most avid gamer, but I do have some experience and could connect with much of what was said. The first prompt asks us to consider the level of violence that comes with most games these days. An easy example of violent games is ‘GTA’. The game is based on the fact that you are put into this populated environment and left to your own devices to make moral or immoral decisions. I think that this attraction to violence carries the same undertones that an attraction to speed or danger has. Many people would like to try things or fantasize about doing things that they could not or would not do in real-life. Having said this, I think that the reason that these games are so commonly intertwined with violence and danger is because these games afford us the opportunity to experience these emotions and actions without the serious repercussions and consequences that would normally follow.
The second prompt questions the idea of arrest in games. I take its meaning as a separation of the user and the game, forcing the user to question choices and weigh decisions. For example, games with real-time developing plot lines that change and grow as the user plays and decides which choice to make and an attempt at a desired goal. This can be anything between challenging the idea of taking one path or the other or choosing to kill a character or choosing to help him or her. In some games you even earn points as to being a good guy or bad guy based against the decisions the user chooses to make. This requires the user to make some decisions that rest on some very basic moral or emotional levels.
The third prompt questions what happens when games break through the digital world into the real world. I think that this can go either way, good or bad. Much like problems with children practicing wrestling moves and getting hurt or killed in their own living rooms, games can inspire unsafe events. In the same respects, it could inspire one to try something new or different because it allowed the user to ‘test the water’ by experiencing something through games without the fear of consequence or failure. People are always going to make good and bad decisions and I believe that we cannot limit or creativity to the fear of what decisions they may inspire. The best we can do is caution and warn against making poor choices and promote the idea that these games are the window for which we can experience and emulate behavior we should not engage in the real world.
The fourth prompt questions gender roles within the gaming community. I think that this ties into a lot of what we have been discussing. These games offer an opportunity to experience something that we may not be able to try in any other setting. Many violent games are geared towards the male population while there are games for raising families and making food that are more commonly geared towards the female demographic. There are also examples that twist these gender roles. For example, Tomb Raider is a very popular game. The game offers violence, danger, adventure and puzzle solving. While this sounds like a game geared towards a male demo., the user’s character is a female. The question here is whether or not it matters that a guy picks up the sticks to play as a woman. Do they enjoy the fact? Do they even notice it? Does it ‘erk’ them or deter them from playing the game?
“In its raw form, gender can be arresting, as the hit counts of porn sites readily attest. In the context of gaming, however, gender more often serves as a character embellishment meant to drive rather than halt the story. Yet without moments of arrest, games that invoke or rely on gender as a plot device usually fail to transcend stereotypical roles for male or female characters.”(Edge of Art, 81) – As this reads, ‘an embellishment meant to drive…’ comes to meaning as I have been trying to describe. This idea that elements such as female characters are meant to drive the game rather then halt play. Again, just offering a unique opportunity that leaves the user to his or her own choice as a worth while experience or rather the opposite.
The final prompt asks about how the US Military uses gaming as a recruitment device in today’s society. This to me seems to be a slippery slope. On the one hand, games have been developed so far and have become so realistic that they can and maybe should be used to train soldiers on how to operate in war-time situations. On the other hand, many kids play these games for all the reasons discussed above and do not fully understand a true life level of violence and danger. It seems almost not fair to tempt young people with all the excitement and ‘cool effects’ that come with the game. It seems slightly misrepresented.