The game is manipulative, no doubt. It is purposefully trying to hook you in and make you abuse it as much as I actually did. When you first start playing the game, players are separated into two groups: greys and golds. The grey players (i.e. the standard, non-paying member) had limited pieces, could only stay in the lobby for a couple of minutes before being disconnected, and had their username and in-game chat text read in a grey color. The gold players (i.e. the $5-a-month paying member) had the all the grey units plus special gold-only units, the ability to stay in the lobby, the ability to make clans (which are like exclusive "fraternities" within the game), have access to an all-gold server, and have their name and in-game chat text read in a gold color. Obviously, once you get hooked onto the game (which is very easy), you need a gold account in order to stay competitive and relevant.
I was hooked and manipulated. Fortunately, I was good enough that the clan I was in would pay for me to have a gold account. Nonetheless, thousands of people every month would be pay to have this better "gold" status, which dictated much of the game politics.
It's not just this game that has this manipulative nature. It's all games. It's Halo 3, where you pay $50 for the game, $12 a month to play online, and $10 every 2 months when Halo comes out with new maps that you have to buy in order to continue to play online.
It's not even just video games. Think about all the casinos in the world! The casinos are obviously making the majority of the money, but many people get hooked and manipulated by the thought of winning-- and even better, winning real money. Many people have an gambling problem, and it's due to this manipulative nature of games-- the drive to win, in no matter what you do!
"It's just a game." Yeah right.
I found your media[ted] art(i)FACT very interesting. Even though my sisters and I weren’t allowed video games growing up, I did experience a little bit of the addiction you talked about when I would go to friend’s houses and get to play their video games. This may not be true of all video games, or online games, but tying back to Kristy’s artifact, the chance to be whomever we want online becomes very appealing. We get to have experiences we could only dream of, such as engaging in battles in castles. Video or online games may also serve as a test, to see how smart, quick, or successful you can be. Like you said, marketers for these games understand our competitive nature and tendency to be attracted to the idea of escaping into a false reality, and therefore capitalize on that to make money.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is the semi-recent infatuation with fitness games, like Wii-Fit and Kinect. These games seem like they could have positive effects on users: the idea that our video game addictions can become productive, by increasing our fitness level. On the business side of this, game designers most likely took advantage of the increasing recognition that nationally we need more exercise, but that many are also unwilling to actually exercise. By providing a fun version of exercising, these businesses are profiting from people’s recognition of the necessity of exercise and addiction to video games. We are pressured by national statistics, fashion and film industries, and countless other things to lose weight and become healthy. However, as Michael’s post demonstrates, we are also influenced by video, online, or other games. Businesses exploit these pressures, and although how beneficial Wii-Fit or Kinect are to our health remains questionable, as a business model, they have been quite successful.
I think the business side to Wii-Fit is really interesting since now, many physical therapy departments in hospitals and other places are using Wii-Fit and heavily advertising it. Just like the producers of this game, these physical therapy clinics are advertising getting fit (or recovering from an injury) can be fun when clients use this game. As a result, many clients are choosing these clinics over other clinics which use more traditional games. Its also interesting that this video game craze affects all age groups, not just kids. An increasing number of nursing homes are incorporating Wii and other video games into their recreational rooms to maintain a high moral among the patients.
ReplyDelete"It's just a game" yeah right.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great point, games are not meant to be all fun and games anymore. The world of technology has evolved games from board games to gaming consoles. These gaming consoles such as xbox360, ps3, and Wii have become huge worldwide businesses looking to suck the money out of consumers. And they are doing just that very successfully, the media of video games has drawn such an audience that gamers are willing to do almost anything to obtain the best. 50 dollars for a game, much more for online memberships, controllers, consoles. All of this money adds up, and is making gaming selective which is wrong.
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ReplyDeleteI too once spent a lot of my time dedicated to an online game. Throughout most of middle school I spent a lot of my free time playing a MMORPG. I also based some decisions around playing the game and probably spent far too much time playing it instead of doing other more productive things. It was certainly fun, but looking back I do realize that my life to a certain extent was mediated by the game.
ReplyDeleteNow I still play video games, but not (normally) to the extent of my middle school days. Although over the past few days I have been sucked into the world of Skyrim. Luckily I don't have my XBOX at Hamilton so I will have my final exam scores mediated by the game.
(I really need to read over my comments more before posting them, the last sentence is supposed to say that I will *not* have my final exam scores mediated by the game)
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