Kick 001 Punch 011 Jump 101 Punch 011 Block 110 Block 110 Punch 011 Kick 001 Punch 011 Jump 101
Little Billy sits in front of his television screen holding a Super Nintendo controller. He’s playing Street Fighter 2 Turbo. The sound of poorly emulated kicks and punches fills the living room as little Billy furiously mashes the keypads with his thumbs and index fingers. Billy’s mom shouts “Turn that dreadful game off! It’ll rot your brain!!”
But there’s a lot going on that Billy’s mom cannot see…
It’s quite easy to look at this game and see the surface; a bunch of buttons make your guy kick and punch, until eventually one kicks and punches more than the other, and one guy wins. Easy enough, right? I mean, if a child can play it, then it must not be THAT difficult. Children, after all, are just adults who aren’t smart yet… that’s why they like silly games.
Billy’s mom only sees what she’s taught to see: a violent video game. She doesn’t stop for a moment to consider what her son is actually doing. Well, I’ll explain: the game is essentially a system of patterns. The behaviour of the computer is programmed into the system. If the character Ryu does a high punch, then the computer may or may not counter it with a preprogrammed action. Computers, as we all know, aren’t really alive, and they aren’t really thinking. They just react to what you’re doing.
Billy’s mom sees Billy’s character fighting the computer’s character. What she doesn’t realize is that Billy is actually controlling both characters, because Billy’s opponent is acting indirectly on Billy’s input. Billy himself doesn’t really think of it that way, but his brain still picks up on patterns in the system (So if Ryu’s punch is blocked high, I should kick low). The game is not about kicks and punches – it’s about deciphering the patterns in the computer system, and with great skill, inferring the correct order of inputs that will “defeat” the opponent pattern.
But what does Billy’s mom see? Punch punch kick kick, mindless violence and silly games.
I’m not writing this to defend video games. I’m making a point about technology more broadly. Think about little Billy, at 8 years of age, sitting in his living room subconsciously deciphering the logic system of a sophisticated computer… for fun. Meanwhile, the generation before thinks he’s rotting his brain… while they passively sit in front of their un-interactive television screen. How will the next generation engage with computer technology? And what will my generation think of it? It boggles the mind, even to imagine.
Loading...
Well, you can expect better graphics, better sound, more content, etc, but I also expect that video games will actually interact with the player by affecting the player as well. Even now, controllers have the Rumble feature which causes the controller to shake in response to actions on the screen. Now although that’s pretty primitive technology, it sets a trend.
For instance, the Japanese have designed a helmet that actually sends signals into your brain to alter your sense of balance – it can make it feel as if you are leaning to the right or the left. The Japanese think that it can make racing sims seem more realistic – when you turn the wheel, you really will feel as if you’re in the car. The japanese haven’t actually implemented this system (it’s still a prototype).
Video games are going to become so big as now there are people who have grown up with them all their lives, and don’t see them as scary or evil. The game industry already as big as the film industry in the US.
The Thieving Magpie - January 16, 2008 at 5:08 am