Wednesday 6 September 2017

"Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins."

...video games are not like real-life. From Final Fantasy to Grand Theft Auto, the central idea behind our favourite blockbusters is escapism.
You come to these amazing, spectacular places to do crazy stuff – to battle monsters, steal treasure, crash fast cars and blow up planes – stuff you can’t get away with in reality.
Plenty of people seem to get away with stealing, crashing cars and blowing up planes in real life!
But weirdly, as game visuals have become more realistic and more detailed, a lot of players have found themselves replicating real-life habits and routines in the virtual world, even when it serves no mechanical function.
From careful parking to routine politeness, it seems we can’t completely abandon ourselves to pixellated anarchy – there are standards we mustn’t let go.
Good to hear. Now, excuse me while I rob this couple I've just contracted to help with a monster problem...

3 comments:

andy said...

This is true,I play a lot of Call of Duty shoot-em ups and if I accidently shoot one of my own guys I feel guilty as hell,even though I know I haven't actually killed anyone.
weird,huh?

Andy said...

An article which mentions umpteen online games ends with a plea for funds. This was click bait. When the offshore fund, tax evading Grauniad rattles its tin cup you've just got to kick it in the balls.

JuliaM said...

"...and if I accidently shoot one of my own guys I feel guilty as hell,..."

Me too! I think it's because we're human!

"...ends with a plea for funds. This was click bait. "

In the dear old 'Grauniad'..? Must be a day with a 'y' in it... ;)