Realism in Video Games 2

How could video games turn from being a harmless toy of lonely bachelors into a training simulator for snipers? Realism. Moving toward more realistic video games means programmers take care of all the details, leaving less to the gamers' imagination. There's certainly a merit to a fully-immersive gaming experience of that sort, but let's not leave the old favorites behind. Maybe there's something a little more real about Super Mario Bros. than we thought...

Realism vs. That Other Thing

The idea of realism in art plays an important role in the media. Scott McCloud's excellent and deeply profound book Understanding Comics outlines this philosophy. In short, our brains automatically interpret what we experience in its own terms. Seeing faces in clouds is a perfect example of this. We put ourselves into the world we experience, we want to see familiar things everywhere. And we can see a man on the moon because there's just enough information there for our brains to fill in the gaps. Three dots is all it needs, and suddenly we have a full-blown human face. But if there were an actual carved face on the moon there would be little magic or mystery. If clouds had definite shapes, would we turn our eyes to the sky as often? The philosophical implications of this run very deep, but in terms of video games, the idea is simple: a less life-like game allows for more interpretation. More realism means less creativity on our part, less of our own personality filling in the details missing between a cartoon-ish game and reality. It's no mistake Shigeru Miyamoto wants to keep Mario a cartoon; he wants us to be able to identify with him. Who can identify with a real Italian plumber? In Video Games Go Boom we discussed how the world of gaming is destined to divide and diversify. This means more games, more genres, more players. Realistic video games will become a definite genre of games, one that will become increasingly separate from the rest of the pack. Movies and cartoons are unique, why not the same division with video games?

Technology and Games

Whether technology can accurately simulate real life or not, one thing is clear: video games are not reality. Games are tools, tools are meant to be used. There's a rising number of mainstream media reports where children play video games and are unable to distinguish the game from real life. As any intelligent person knows, this is not the fault of a video game. Those children often have many other issues that need to be dealt with and likely have parents who are, shall we say, less-involved in their child's life. Will technology be able to perfectly emulate real life? Anyone who publicly answers that question is begging to be heckled in the years to come. Technology is advancing, and video games are becoming more realistic. Edit: video games can become more realistic. The true effects of this on the minds of gamers will be hotly debated for many years. With this push towards realism there will be an even stronger sub-culture of classic games. Side-scrollers, puzzle games and other fantastic ideas will continue to feed the video game world. And although they won't be anything like real life, they will fit the definition of a video game much more snugly. Lara Croft may look more like a real person, but the original polygon model may be a little more, er... effective, if you know what I mean. [[[Realism in Video Games]]]

Realism vs. That Other Thing

The idea of realism in art plays an important role in the media. Scott McCloud's excellent and deeply profound book Understanding Comics outlines this philosophy. In short, our brains automatically interpret what we experience in its own terms. Seeing faces in clouds is a perfect example of this. We put ourselves into the world we experience, we want to see familiar things everywhere. And we can see a man on the moon because there's just enough information there for our brains to fill in the gaps. Three dots is all it needs, and suddenly we have a full-blown human face.

But if there were an actual carved face on the moon there would be little magic or mystery. If clouds had definite shapes, would we turn our eyes to the sky as often? The philosophical implications of this run very deep, but in terms of video games, the idea is simple: a less life-like game allows for more interpretation. More realism means less creativity on our part, less of our own personality filling in the details missing between a cartoon-ish game and reality. It's no mistake Shigeru Miyamoto wants to keep Mario a cartoon; he wants us to be able to identify with him. Who can identify with a real Italian plumber?

In Video Games Go Boom we discussed how the world of gaming is destined to divide and diversify. This means more games, more genres, more players. Realistic video games will become a definite genre of games, one that will become increasingly separate from the rest of the pack. Movies and cartoons are unique, why not the same division with video games?

Technology and Games

Whether technology can accurately simulate real life or not, one thing is clear: video games are not reality. Games are tools, tools are meant to be used. There's a rising number of mainstream media reports where children play video games and are unable to distinguish the game from real life. As any intelligent person knows, this is not the fault of a video game. Those children often have many other issues that need to be dealt with and likely have parents who are, shall we say, less-involved in their child's life.

Will technology be able to perfectly emulate real life? Anyone who publicly answers that question is begging to be heckled in the years to come. Technology is advancing, and video games are becoming more realistic. Edit: video games can become more realistic. The true effects of this on the minds of gamers will be hotly debated for many years.

With this push towards realism there will be an even stronger sub-culture of classic games. Side-scrollers, puzzle games and other fantastic ideas will continue to feed the video game world. And although they won't be anything like real life, they will fit the definition of a video game much more snugly. Lara Croft may look more like a real person, but the original polygon model may be a little more, er... effective, if you know what I mean.