Computer games

29th May 2016

Here I attempt to analyse the psychological uses and effects of computer games.

What do they offer over other types of game?

  1. Solitary, you don't need real friends to play computer games.
  2. Saves money, you can play racing even if you don't have enough money to go to the go-cart track.
  3. Easier. Maybe you want fun but don't want to have to put effort into it? Just play computer games.
  4. Allows us to behave badly, killing people and stuff.
racing game screenshot

So basically the point of computer games is "fuck real life, I'll just play computer games".

I think it is very empowering that we can just escape from real life like this.

Of course computer games are logically purposeless; but so is real life... purpose is in the eye of the beholder.

guy sitting on couch playing computer game
beauty is in the eye of the beholder too. like the beauty of this guy while he plays games

Can computer games teach us anything about ourselves?

Killing

The most common theme in computer games is killing. I think this is very odd. Is it because we love killing or just because it makes good game-play?

I think it is probably the latter actually. Speech can be cumbersome in games and sex is usually impossible so you interact with other people (be they AI or a player) by killing them. And it's a fun type of competitive play.

In MMORPGs sometimes people interact by helping each-other or giving each-other stuff. Or gathering resources together. Then maybe they will kill monsters instead of each-other. This enforces my theory that we do not actually just want to kill each-other.

first-person-shooter screenshot

Fantasy

Games are often set in some sort of fantasy world. What are these fantasy worlds like? Well usually just the same as real life except time goes faster and there's more exciting stuff to do.

This makes me think that people play games because their real life is going badly so they try something else.

Attire

Computer game characters often dress slightly differently than in real life. Male characters dress up more intimidating and female characters dress more slutty. I don't know what we can learn from this but I'm sure it has a very deep meaning.

a couple of game screenshots of a guy in black armour and a woman in slutty armour

Problem with computer games

They can be more fun than real life causing you to become addicted, wasting all your time and ensuring that you will never sort out your real life.