I freakin' love this game. Whoever invented this magical realm of dragons and medieval war really knew which type of alternate reality I'd like to live.
McLuhan argues that "[t]he instantaneous world of electric informational media involves all of us, all at once. No detachment or frame is possible" (52).
The way I play Skyrim, on my PC, I can both agree and disagree with him.
I am connected with the Steam/Skyrim community when I play the downloadable content available on Steam. Players can make content, and it gets rated and uploaded by other players. Overall, I believe that such a connection with other users greatly improves the quality of my gaming experience. In this way, McLuhan is correct in that I cannot completely disconnect from the Skyrim community.
However, without such content, I feel like I am completely detached from the real world as well as the electric world when I play Skyrim. I'm in my own world. I don't know how McLuhan could argue that when I am playing I am somehow connected with people, that "everyone" is involved.
In my opinion, playing Skyrim is almost exactly like a book. Because it's a first-person game, the perspective is fixed. McLuhan says with the book came "[t]he private, fixed point of view became possible and literacy conferred the power of detachment, non-involvement." Skyrim only offers a private point of view, and not even a fictional one, so perhaps McLuhan was only referring to non-first-person technologies.
I must agree that skyrim is very fun. It's interesting to see how a game can involve us so fully to the point that we forget how quickly time will pass us by. I know when I play some games, I'll go in saying, "Just for an hour..." and when I look back at the clock again, it's been at least 4 hours.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that there is no sense of detachment in the real world and the electronic world though. Think about the Halo Games or Call of Duty games or any first person shooter games. There is online content which connects us to an electronic world/community. People can talk to each other in team fights and battle online through different maps.
On the flip side, in the real world, these games allow players to do co-op or battle mode with friends and family or strangers.
Even the fact that both of us have played the game and like the game connects us to the real world because it becomes a common topic that we can both connect with. Select games that feature online content allow us to feel connected to an exclusive community.
But I digress. Good post!
Josie,
ReplyDeleteI didn't consider the aspect that not "everyone" is involved. But I do agree with Susan, online games have their own communities, markets, chat rooms and other distinct elements. I feel that this makes "everyone" those who are also online, in the same game. It's amazing how lifelike virtual games are today, and how the graphics and first person point of view make the game not only realistic, but actually make players feel as if they were in the game.
I know when I play video games, I tend to react as if the occurrences that are within the game or to my avatar are actually happening to me. I flinch, my heart races, I get frustrated with my "teammates" who I also view as real. If my avatar get shot, I will exclaim something like "I am shot!" instead of "My virtual avatar was virtually shot!" And this type of talk becomes the normal.
Good, thoughtful post!
Kyleen