I think it’s not just something being top of the news cycle, it’s the cultural and community ride.
Watching Breaking Bad now is not the same as watching Breaking Bad as it released, with all the community speculation, all the analysis, all the discussion and so on. Everything that occurs in realtime can not be re-experienced and is an art unto itself in a way. With a game this is even more pronounced because games are canvasses that players paint on to create outcomes that they then show to others. People showing each other their artwork in the game.
Wanting to be part of that is not something I would call simple consumption. It’s some of the only community and collective experiences that people get under the design of consumer culture.
Yeah fair. But you get what I mean right? There’s a whole extended media-sphere that only really makes sense in realtime and then it’s gone. The game itself is still there obviously but the shared first-time experience with others is not the same.
It’s like book clubbing but for videogames. People want to experience the book for the first time with others reading it for the first time. People are focused on that release time because they know there are no book clubs post-release for games, at least not yet, maybe that will spontaneously start happening one day. It still won’t match the cultural ride of millions of people simultaneously though.
Sure, but what really is the point of having a game club with an inordinate number of strangers, that doesn’t even have anything tying it together?
Is the value of a game in its game-ness, or is the value of a game just its novelty while the world and the gameplay and story and the challenges just things that dress it up?
Maybe it’s because of how my childhood went- I never had consoles or even brand new games, and the games I ended up playing the most of were either freeware or MMOGs. And maybe I’m the odd one out. But I don’t really feel any diminishment of a game that I haven’t played, just because of its age.
Sure, but what really is the point of having a game club with an inordinate number of strangers, that doesn’t even have anything tying it together?
I mean, what is the point in having a community the size of a nation that shares a collective experience? You don’t have to know the people around you to share something with them, and sharing that thing with them feels good for most people? Sharing the history of my countries with others forms a bond and an emotional connection of some sort even if they’re strangers. It’s tapping into the same thing.
Is the value of a game in its game-ness, or is the value of a game just its novelty while the world and the gameplay and story and the challenges just things that dress it up?
That’s many different things and it can be all at once or just one. There’s no wrong answer is there?
Let’s step away from videogames and talk about a different game, like football (soccer). Is the value of the game just the game itself? The competition and winning against the other team? Is it the feeling of connecting with the players on your team to win? Is it the win? Or the experience? Scale it up, to audiences in the millions for huge events, why do people want to watch the football with 40,000 other people? Do they all even play? What’s the value for the players in the sport? Just the money or is it love of the game? Does the game get better for them at larger scale? Or is it better at smaller local scale pub teams?
I don’t think there are wrong answers to any of those questions. Millions of strangers can connect with one another in an enchanting way, some play, some just watch, some compete, some just tap a ball around casually, what they’re looking for is the shared experience and community though. It’s bringing them together. And all the other questions? It’s fine to prefer other things too. All of them are good different reasons for different people.
Is music the same when played to one person? Twenty? One hundred? Ten thousand? Is it better or worse? Does the crowd add something to the music or take away from it? Some will say it adds, some will say they prefer it smaller and that’s ok too I think. There’s an argument for both. But I don’t think it’s wrong of people to love the music with huge crowds, the crowd is as much part of the show and event for them even if the crowd are all strangers.
I think it’s not just something being top of the news cycle, it’s the cultural and community ride.
Watching Breaking Bad now is not the same as watching Breaking Bad as it released, with all the community speculation, all the analysis, all the discussion and so on. Everything that occurs in realtime can not be re-experienced and is an art unto itself in a way. With a game this is even more pronounced because games are canvasses that players paint on to create outcomes that they then show to others. People showing each other their artwork in the game.
Wanting to be part of that is not something I would call simple consumption. It’s some of the only community and collective experiences that people get under the design of consumer culture.
Breaking Bad as it released had more commercials.
Yeah fair. But you get what I mean right? There’s a whole extended media-sphere that only really makes sense in realtime and then it’s gone. The game itself is still there obviously but the shared first-time experience with others is not the same.
It’s like book clubbing but for videogames. People want to experience the book for the first time with others reading it for the first time. People are focused on that release time because they know there are no book clubs post-release for games, at least not yet, maybe that will spontaneously start happening one day. It still won’t match the cultural ride of millions of people simultaneously though.
Sure, but what really is the point of having a game club with an inordinate number of strangers, that doesn’t even have anything tying it together?
Is the value of a game in its game-ness, or is the value of a game just its novelty while the world and the gameplay and story and the challenges just things that dress it up?
Maybe it’s because of how my childhood went- I never had consoles or even brand new games, and the games I ended up playing the most of were either freeware or MMOGs. And maybe I’m the odd one out. But I don’t really feel any diminishment of a game that I haven’t played, just because of its age.
I mean, what is the point in having a community the size of a nation that shares a collective experience? You don’t have to know the people around you to share something with them, and sharing that thing with them feels good for most people? Sharing the history of my countries with others forms a bond and an emotional connection of some sort even if they’re strangers. It’s tapping into the same thing.
That’s many different things and it can be all at once or just one. There’s no wrong answer is there?
Let’s step away from videogames and talk about a different game, like football (soccer). Is the value of the game just the game itself? The competition and winning against the other team? Is it the feeling of connecting with the players on your team to win? Is it the win? Or the experience? Scale it up, to audiences in the millions for huge events, why do people want to watch the football with 40,000 other people? Do they all even play? What’s the value for the players in the sport? Just the money or is it love of the game? Does the game get better for them at larger scale? Or is it better at smaller local scale pub teams?
I don’t think there are wrong answers to any of those questions. Millions of strangers can connect with one another in an enchanting way, some play, some just watch, some compete, some just tap a ball around casually, what they’re looking for is the shared experience and community though. It’s bringing them together. And all the other questions? It’s fine to prefer other things too. All of them are good different reasons for different people.
Is music the same when played to one person? Twenty? One hundred? Ten thousand? Is it better or worse? Does the crowd add something to the music or take away from it? Some will say it adds, some will say they prefer it smaller and that’s ok too I think. There’s an argument for both. But I don’t think it’s wrong of people to love the music with huge crowds, the crowd is as much part of the show and event for them even if the crowd are all strangers.