But let's focus on a more realistic present day with a more modern media; let's face it, AI of that intelligence is still a long ways off from now. Right now, the closest example I can think of where machines rule over humans is when people play video games. Now let me explain before I get my head torn off.11.5 million people, according to wikipedia, play the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft. WoW, is without a doubt one of the most popular games in the gaming market. It doesn't matter if you hate it or not. People play this game for hours at end. HOURS. They commit themselves for sometimes more than half the day, raiding with their buddies or simply killing a poor level 12 tauren hunter in the Barrens with forty other Alliance.
If you know someone who plays WoW, and chances are you do, you know how difficult it is to break these guys away from their beloved drug. I've heard stories of people actually skipping work for a month just to play the newest addition to the genre. The game is grabbing and addicting, to the point where people playing it can literally forget about their real life.
Now that I've made an enemy of probably every WoW fan-boy, let me finish by saying that WoW isn't the only game where people actually lose themselves in the experience. There's a thing in the gaming world called immersion. There's no clear way to describe it, but basically its when the player gets so "into" the game that they block out all distractions of reality and focus on the game play, the world of the game, and the rules within that world. Sometimes the effects are so great they can last even after you've stop playing. You can find yourself forced to walk home and think "Oh, that's okay I'll just use my hearthstone- Oh wait." Heck, you can get Deja vu of playing Grand Theft Auto while driving a car (though hopefully you don't act on it).
The reason for this is actually quite simple. You're so focused on the game that your brain makes reactions a general reflex. Between your brain and the game world is nothing more than a controller, which you can manipulate with a twitch of your fingers. (For more on controllers see Yahtzee)
Virtual Reality in video games is simply removing the controller and any physical reaction from the game, making immersion instantaneous. You think it, it happens. There's no button you have to press in order to make the guy jump. There's no joystick you have to move in just the right direction in order to move your character. Your brain gives the order, the game takes it. It's replacing your body with the game.
At first glance, this seems like a game designer's dream. Immersion can be a make or break thing when designing a triple A game. And if you have it all the time, well, we'd have some pretty amazing games.
But what's the bad? I can think of one big bad thing. How is the player supposed to know what's reality and what's the game? Think about it, our body's feedback in a game with controllers (even if it's just moving your thumbs) is sometimes really the only thing that lets us know its just a game we're playing. For some people even THAT'S not enough and they completely lose their touch in reality.
Science fiction stories like The Matrix seem frighteningly realistic when Virtual Reality is in play. Maybe it's not machines that take over but more realistically corporate businesses that sell people these games for an escape from reality. Maybe video games will really be a new drug if Virtual Reality gets invented, WoW is already showing us people want to escape from reality.
Controllers are, right now, the best means of playing a video games for immersion. Personally, no real good can come out of having Virtual Reality, not to sound like a conservatist or anything.
Agreed that Wow consumes live, I have seen it with my own eyes. You do have to give credit to systems like the Wii that are trying to benifit those who are less social by creating games like Wii fit, that are healthy for viewers.
ReplyDeleteHey, I must admit that I became a bit furious when I saw "World of Warcraft" in this post. I have done a lot of studies on addiction to World of Warcraft, and most people blame the game. I thought that was going to be the thesis of your post.
ReplyDeleteI understand it wasn't. Your ideas are valid. Thank you for the post. While I think virtual reality WoW would be just about the greatest thing ever, at a harder look, it wouldn't work.
The game mechanics would be completely screwed up. I mean, say you're a female Blood Elf (the best race in the game btw just saying :D). In WoW, how it is today, they are able to take down groups of mobs so much bigger than them. Okay, let's say a 10-man raid against Onyxia. In virtual reality, it just wouldn't make any sense for Onyxia to lose to 10 tiny players. She could just step on you. Dead! Also, how would pain and damage be implemented into a video game? I don't want to experience searing pain from all of the different things that are going to hit me while I'm playing a video game.
Also, I've read about a device that can read your mind and it controls the video game just from your thoughts. It, of course, was tested on a subject playing WoW. Someone sent me the link and I said, "Eh. That sounds like it's just about the most boring thing ever." Imagine sitting at your computer and just thinking; your hands doing nothing. I like that part about the game. My hands have to get used to pressing the right button at the right time. Also, I often panic in situations and I feel like in those situations, when my mind is all aflutter, the device would try to press like five buttons on my action bars at once and screw me over. Sometimes, my hands take over in those kinds of events, and save my ass.
Also there is the problem of being able to tell when you are in the game or not. Have you seen Inception? If you did, don't worry about the spoiler alert. If you didn't, SPOILER ALERT!
People CAN suffer from not knowing when they are stuck in an alternate reality or not. We're talking about the main character's wife here. She thinks she's stuck in a dream when she is awake. As a result, she kills herself to try and wake up. Think what would happen if people thought they were in a video game when they were actually awake. There would be chaos.
So maybe we shouldn't tinker with virtual reality. There are just some things that should stay the old fashioned way.