reality

This week’s discussion about magic circles was very interesting. For one, it was nice to see where each individual draws the line between what the magic circle encompasses, and what is left out of that circle. However, I don't think I was clear in my idea of what the magic circle includes [for me at least], therefore I will, with this blog entry attempt to clarify myself. A magic circle, in my opinion, is the line between the real world and the virtual world. In this case, the real world represents all the activities that are mundane; i.e.: chores, school, work, etc. The virtual world would be considered anything that takes your mind off these mundane activities; i.e.: video games, sports, music etc. Although these two worlds have different purposes and are separate, the magic circle envelops both the real world and the virtual world. The logic behind this idea is that, when we play a video game, Halo [a first person shooter] for example, you [the player] becomes that character - and is mentally removed from the real world.  read more »

One of my first thoughts after playing Passage was "Wait, why did the girl die first?! Everyone knows that the lifespan of the average human female is longer than that of the average human male! Blasphemy! Ridiculous! [Assorted sounds]!" Well... something like that, at any rate. Which brings me to the point that 'video games aren't real life'. Which is an obvious point. Which is thus easy to overlook. But necessary to make.

This game isn't a substitution for actual reality - that much is made clear by the graphics alone. I know that I'm not some thing comprised of a very small and limited number of pixels, and so I'm not confused as to whether I'm the wonderful and amazing creature poking at the directional arrows on my laptop keyboard or if I'm the little pixel people on the screen. But what about games that -are- striving for a much higher degree of realism? It'd be a bit easier to accidentally/unconsciously read those games more literally. I guess that's where you can find some validity in the arguments of those lovely individuals who are quite concerned about violence in video games. (Think of the children!)  read more »