George Will: Wrong Again

I must admit that this week's reading and gaming assignments have changed my perspective a bit. I should have realized, given high school friendships with D&D gamers, the complexity of games. Most of the people I knew who played these games were brilliant at math and in the computer classes where they learned Basic and Fortran, so I certainly did not believe these games were for lightweights. However, it was hard to see the connection between D&D and early computer/video games like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, or Atari Pong. I did recognize the 'addictive' properties of games, which was one huge reason I didn't play them: the idea of investing hours of my time in this type of activity seemed extremely wasteful. What possible benefit could I get from perfecting my score at Pac-Man?

But then along came Steven Johnson - and Tetris. Johnson's argument about the increasing sophistication of games and the kinds of skill and perseverance needed to achieve mastery rings true. I doubt he can convince George Will, but it seems to me that the mental skill needed to balance several levels of tasking - the immediate goal vs. the overarching goal - and the sheer number of hours devoted to multiple approaches at problem-solving actually makes today's gamers more able to understand and decode similar real-world problems. I also like what Johnson said about framing discussions of current culture as comparisons to previous cultural shibboleths: the infamous reading vs. gaming. These are false comparisons, since both exercise different skill sets. I enjoyed Johnson's 'description' of reading as seen through the eyes of a game-based culture: sometimes you need to see the argument from the other side!!!

But why Tetris? Well, at first it was the challenge: what is this game, exactly, and why is it so popular? How do you play? Why did this happen while playing? Then, competitively: what does the other person know about this game that I don't? Is it game knowledge, intuition, facility, speed at the controls? All of the above? Finally, it's the 'aha!' moment in miniature: it's a pattern recognition game! It's a visual/spatial exercise! You have to line up the cubes in unbroken chains! Mostly, it's what Johnson means when he talks about probing - the kind of thrill of discovery, and satisfaction after a period of frustration, that the game provides.

Some games may deliver the stupid. But my sense is that gamers become bored with the stupid. Game creators don't want players to become bored - they want them to engage with the game and get the next version. The demand for increasingly complex games is a good sign - just as the demand for increasingly complex forms of entertainment is a good sign. Let's face it: humans need diversion. They always have. The fact that demand for complex diversion is increasing is a sign of an increasingly complex society.

George Will and his ilk in the chattering classes would have much more credibility if they actually explored the areas they profess to deplore. My sense is that Will is stuck somewhere in his idea of a cultural golden age, and he thinks we should be, too. Fortunately, humans continue to evolve despite these 'tsk-tsk'ing naysayers nattering on about our impending doom.