…in today’s society, computer and video games are fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy. Games are providing rewards that reality is not. They are teaching and inspiring and engaging us in ways that reality is not. They are bringing us together in ways that reality is not.
Jane McGonigal is a research director at the Institute for the Future. McGonigal is an academic of the video game industry, dedicating her research to the study of computer and video games, taking into account psychological, social, political, and performance theories to understand the makings of a “good game.” In this excerpt from her book, Reality is Broken, McGonigal analyzes the affects of gaming on society, arguing that constant game-play is more than mere escapism. Furthermore, the phenomenon of gaming can be used advantageously for society.
McGonigal references the ancient civilizations, claiming that the game Mancala was used to temporarily suspend hunger during times of famine and war. It was a survival technique, allowing men to satiate themselves with activities when food was scarce. Society is still hungry, not for life’s basic necessities, but for excitement, for something to quench their boredom — something gamers are unable to find in the real world. This can partly be attributed to the lack of rewarding careers available to most of the population. This need to be rewarded, unfulfilled by reality, is found instead through the unlocking of achievements and level-ups found within the realms of Oblivion and CoD. People are tuning out of their unsatisfying realities to become fictional heroes and mythical champions. Games are becoming more appealing in a way that reality’s present state cannot. McGonigal recognizes this disparity between the real and fantasy worlds, and proposes this: find out what makes these games appealing, and apply it to the real world.
It does make sense, in a way. But at the same time, how are we to transform our environment to reflect such fantastical places? Her proposition is to develop games that attempt to reorganize social interaction online. Utilize this market that others consider useless for the sake of bettering humanity. Games will be developed to encourage communication and engagement, subsequently bringing the world together, one gamer at a time.
In a world where social injustices and instability seems to dominate even the strongest of nations, we don’t necessarily look to the gamers to solve all the problems. I’ve always thought the time my brother spend playing Battlefield or Skyrim was a waste. Then again, I’m the one with the Zelda ringtone on my phone. But games are that, just games. They’re supposed to be fun and meaningless — but growing up in a family of 5 kids, it’s becomes easy to see how something as simple as Mario Kart can bring us all together for a good time.
The best character in Mario Kart 64 (:
My eldest sister is 29, my brother 22, I’m 20, and the two younger sisters are 19 and 15. One of the few ways for us to get together in the same room, without arguments, is to stick us in front of the TV and going at it in Mario Kart. Even now, with most of us past our teens, we’ll never get over the fun we have together trying to race to first place. I still lean to the left and right whenever Yoshi turns on screen. Expanding this past my household, McGonigal’s concept of social change through gaming is easier to understand. Why wouldn’t people come together for something fun? And when these games become tailored specifically to promote social change, it becomes all the more easier for everyone to get along. And now, with online gaming possible through consoles, millions are easily connected. Games exist that delve into the deepest of human emotions: fear, anger, loyalty, even love at times. It almost seems obvious that this technology could be harnessed to reroute these feelings outwardly towards our fellow human beings. I, for one, wouldn’t mind a little extra gameplay if it meant bettering the world.
One response to “Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World”