Forms and Functions

Forms & Functions

The introduction to our next term helped to illustrate to us the realities of the video games industry. The tone was more of a warning than a welcome. This was perhaps due to the content matter, which was based around cultural conflict, the form and function of video games, and their role in contemporary society.

Video games are playing an increasing role in the society we live in. It is often reported that the video games industry is more lucrative than any other media (film, television, etc.) and is an 'evolutionary step towards a brighter future', yet many people believe it to be a 'nonsense' form that does not contribute positively to society or engage sufficiently with contemporary life. Are we as game developers helping the world? We find a result in this through forms and function as well as distractibility. At that point though you really have to ask what you are doing, are you really progressing the world or are you trying to persuade people that you're helping but realistically not changing the world at all, if anything you're just hurting it more. The reason I say this is more problems are happening at this period of time in which we rely on things and materialistic possession to distract us. The question being asked is how does this relate to most games and the form and function of them? A simple question to be answered but can have serious consequences dependant on how you answer it.

It is important to think about the role video games play in society and to question their form and function. Can video games have a progressive influence or are they an escapist distraction? Are video games intellectually engaging or are they purely materialistic?

The forms of a game are simply just the mechanics of the game (i.e. aesthetics, dynamics etc.). Whereas the form is the way it moves us as a person, how they use our emotion to increase the game play. This allows for us to be able to relieve stress, endorphins & a rollercoaster of emotions that we can't find within the normal world because of the dramatic changes not allowing us to. People use these to enhance gameplay and experience but negatively, me saying this comes from personal experience and a very biased opinion on gamers because they're all my friends. The reason I put this is because they become upset, angry and even sometimes fascistic and racist. On the other hand dependant they become happy, joyful and smiling, forming a more happier understanding of life and games within themselves. Seeing this is something that I love to investigate and get a understanding of because most game developers and gamers themselves always negate about gaming especially when they are affected themselves. This is a crucial understanding people need to engage in because of certain terms such as 'gamerfication' and how games can be defined just as a distraction. People who choose to make these decisions are people who are scared of the automation period coming in as people are losing jobs and the global market is going down the drain, they need something to blame. People saying 'why are you always on your phone' to the younger generation, the reason most don't choose to look into the world is because it's being destroyed around them by the older generations and the different levels of crisis they've put the world into.

Games aren't a distraction and the forms and functions of games aren't the cause of this. The causation of people wanting to play games is the fact we're in a dark period, something people refuse to believe. In a few years time we'll be laughing and thinking 'what was we thinking' but until then these 'games, films and television' distractions are a way of releasing emotion that we struggle to showcase. Less of a distraction more of a reaction.