Early Gaming

There was a period of time during my primary school years in the 90s when children would line up outside the classroom at 7am during the winter. No adult authority figure but the caretaker would be around at such an ungodly hour to open the door for us eager students. Once inside, ruthless battle would ensue between at least ten kids at a time, for there was only one computer in the entire school that had that game. That game was 'Spin Doctor', and I realise now that I probably only ever got to play it about two times all up. And that it was the most hilarious excuse for a pass-time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEfBkL8NJj8

Yes we lined up at 7am to play that. In this game, you controlled a white rotating wand (the product of creative genius no doubt) which would move from dot to dot in order to reach the 'goal' dot, while simultaneously avoiding enemy wands and blobs of acid. It is hard to grasp the fact that this game, which now seems to me so technologically deprived and remarkably unentertaining, was so deeply enticing and addictive for me as an eight year old. Why did I enjoy it at all? I knew of nothing better, that's for sure, as computers were new at that point in the 90s. I had absolutely no idea that games would eventually become the epic action-packed more-real-than-life experiences that they are now. So I could easily conclude that it was exciting purely because it was new technology. I can say that it was a sign of its time, and of course how much it's memory reveals that technology has evolved and how it will continue to evolve. 'World of Warcraft' will possibly look the same to gamers in fifteen years time as 'Spin Doctor' looks to me now. Why is it then that the desire which compelled my peers and I to desperately shove each other away from the computer had the same sense of urgency as the desire that kept me playing 'Grand Theft Auto' on PS2 in later years? I am positive that I got the same level of enjoyment out of playing 'Grand Theft Auto' as I did making a wand go around a grid of dots in 'Spin Doctor.'

Which leads me to violence in games and the youth's so-called addiction to it these days. I find it fascinating that I enjoyed shooting recklessly and running things over in the PS2 game as much as I did moving that wand across some dots. How then could I believe that violence alone in video games is the devil addiction? The wand was as cool as the gun. It is arguably not the violence that is entirely to blame for kids these days and their apparently indulgent gaming habits. It is more so the sense of personal involvement, power and control that drives the desire to play. The violence and action in many contemporary games only allows for this kind of power to feel more extreme and exciting. As Kevin said in the lecture on Thursday, games feel personal precisely because they make you feel a part of the fantasy world. Whether it be set on a grid of dots or in Miami, the game will put you in control of determining the outcome; the agency is addictive and I wouldn't call it dangerous. Kids want to feel in control because in real life, their parents call the shots. The escapism is compelling in a sense comparable to that of going to the cinema or reading a book. Except in video games, you can escape into fantasy and choose what you want to do in there. Granted the world of 'Grand Theft Auto' simulates real life while the humble 'Spin Doctor' did not, so any confused and frightened digital immigrant could understandably be led to fear that their child would replicate his or her avatar's actions in reality. It is easy for such people to blame video games in the extreme case that their child recklessly attempts to transcend the boundary between reality and fantasy, but it is perhaps even easier to blame fantasy for reality's horrors when negative influences are in reality to begin with. So far I haven't fired a gun or hit anyone with a wand...