Games: A double-edged sword (From Your Local Guardian)

Games: A double-edged sword

12:08pm Friday 30th January 2009

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What is it about games that keeps millions of people coming back to them time and time again? Is it the action? The story? The mind-numbing aspect of a good game of Pro-Evo or the strategic thinking behind Command and Conquer? No. Personally I believe it is the suspension of disbelief that comes from being someone else.

Think about it, you have a job, a life, a family, school, whatever. You live in the real world, where the economy is crashing and politicians are constantly at each-other’s throats, but when you get home you can be whatever you want to be, even for a few minutes- Want to go to war? slam in Call of Duty, want to demolish the top seeds? play Top Spin 3- the options are endless.

Now I'm not saying that playing games is always a delusional practice, a way for people to escape the humdrum day-to-day life we live by believing we are someone else all the time, but I think that the main reason gamers keep gaming is the feeling of making impossible choices, choices we would never have in the real world, such as “should I steal the massive plate of gold and outrun the guards?” or “should I blow the door open with a satchel charge?” And it’s these choices that keep us coming back.

The problem is when it goes too far, when a gaming session becomes more than the occasional hour or two on the console, when a ‘bit of a gaming session’ can destroy relationships and lives- when it becomes an addiction, perhaps not as physically serious as alcohol or drugs, but still serious.

Take World of Warcraft for example, often dubbed “World of WarCrack” by savvy gamers. Though at its base level WOW is a simple quest-based MMORPG, the large amount of community involvement and huge number of mods, skins and items offer limitless possibilities to live another life, and are a massive draw for gamers, keeping players obsessed, sometimes for years.

The important thing is to be aware how easy it is to lose yourself in the game, and to remember that bags of gold earned playing an RPG aren’t real, and getting married in Fable 2 will not find you someone to love in the real world.

Suspend your disbelief, but remember your real life should come first.