Any game is a means of testing an alternative, somewhat simplified, model of something. Yes, sports, from football to chess, are usually a simplification of war. That is why aggressive political regimes love the Olympics so much and pay, perhaps, too much public attention to professional sports. Because sports victory for them is considered a kind of military victory.
Computer games are different, and you can find many of them on Game Karma and other resources. This supergenre was created for personal testing so that we can visit any range of simulated situations without getting up from the chair. For example, one can be the president or the deputy.
A Game as a New Art Form
Over the years, from simple entertainment, computer games have evolved not only quantitatively — as an industry, but also qualitatively — as an art form. Modern popular games are always a masterpiece at the intersection of genres. The narrative of a quality role-playing game, from the Polish series “The Witcher” to the Canadian Dragon Age, should not be inferior to the novel. Graphic artists and animators work, and music is recorded by symphony orchestras and cult groups. The gaming industry has its own pop and “indie”, masterpieces, and rogue. And there are also benefits.
What Computer Games Offer Us
First of all, computer games offer us fun. Take time for something interesting — from chopping monsters to puree to driving a car. Some do not try to stress the player, while others put gamers in front of difficult challenges and make them suffer both physically, when they have to defeat a difficult enemy, and morally. The latter is sometimes very popular with story-based role-playing games, which are used to impose difficult moral dilemmas on the player and the need to choose between two or three evils. Unlike the novel, here, the difficulty of choice falls on the shoulders of not the character but the player. For example, the studio Telltale made a great story game based on “Song of Ice and Flame” (aka Game of Thrones) in the film.
We should mention simulators. Yes, some flight simulators are not inferior to the flight model; even better —they are simulators that train real pilots. You’ll crash hundreds of virtual planes, and you’ll know the flight performance of their real counterparts many times better than if you just studied manuals.
Advantages of computer games
The game gives much better assimilation of information than a book or movie because the game has a volitional component. You are not just told about a situation — you are forced to act in its conditions. You do not just observe it but live it, being an active participant in the action. If any modern art form teaches us to make choices and take responsibility for them, it is about games. It is no longer a child’s play and not just entertainment but a separate culture that affects a significant part of the world’s population. And this culture has both great entertainment and great artistic and educational potential.
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