10.6 Blurring the Boundaries Between Video Games, Information, Entertainment, and Communication

Video Games and the Social World of Sports

Video games have developed in complexity and flexibility to the point that they provide new kinds of social interactions. For instance, compare video games to physical sports. Most of the abstract reasons for involvement in sports—things like teamwork, problem solving, and leadership—also motivate people to play online video games  with team interaction. Parents, coaches, and fans often laud sports as a social platform where people can learn new skills. Amateur sports teams provide an important means of socialization and communication for many people, allowing individuals from different gender, ethnic, and class backgrounds to find a common forum for communication. Video games have similar capacities; players who engage in online team battles must communicate with one another effectively and learn to collectively solve problems. Video games could arguably provide a more inclusive platform for socializing because they do not exclude most socially or physically challenged individuals. Though competitive endeavors of any sort inevitably create opportunities for negative communication, the social platform allows people of different genders, races, and nationalities to play on equal footing, a different, if not improbable, feat to achieve in the physical realm.

Virtual Worlds and Societal Interaction

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and EVE Online allow for players to pursue an unprecedented variety of goals. According to one study on online communities,

that means games are no longer meant to be a solitary activity played by a single individual. Instead, the player is expected to join a virtual community that is parallel with the physical world, in which societal, cultural, and economical systems arise (Zaphiris, et. al., 2008).

MMORPGs can function as a kind of hybrid of social media and video games in this respect. In some instances, these games could function entirely as social media, and not as games. Consider a player who has no desire to achieve any of the prescribed goals of a game, such as going on quests or accomplishing tasks. This individual could simply walk around in social areas and talk to new people. Is the person still playing a game at this point, or has the game turned into a type of social media?

Virtual worlds such as the pioneering Second Life and Decentraland, The Sandbox, or Roblox demonstrate the thin line between games and social media. In these virtual world, users create avatars to represent themselves. They can then explore the world and take part in the culture that characterizes it. The Second Life website FAQ (frequently asked questions) tries to illustrate the differences between a virtual world and a video game:

While the Second Life interface and display are similar to most popular massively multiplayer online role playing games (or MMORPGs), there are two key, unique differences:
Creativity: The Second Life virtual world provides almost unlimited freedom to its Residents. This world really is whatever you make it. If you want to hang out with your friends in a garden or nightclub, you can. If you want to go shopping or fight dragons, you can. If you want to start a business, create a game or build a skyscraper you can. It’s up to you.
Ownership: Instead of paying a monthly subscription fee, Residents can start a Basic account for FREE. Additional Basic accounts cost a one-time flat fee of just $9.95. If you choose to get land to live, work and build on, you pay a monthly lease fee based on the amount of land you have. You also own anything you create—Residents retain intellectual property rights over their in-world creations (Second Life).

Virtual worlds may differ from traditional video games in key ways, but these differences will likely blur further as games develop. Regardless of the classification of these worlds, they rely heavily on the aesthetics and design of video games.

Virtual world societies can expand communication opportunities to relay information in ways that other forms of media cannot equal. Universities  experimented with virtual classrooms in Second Life, exploring teaching techniques that offered unique possibilities for immersive simulations, collaboration, and global interaction. (Kluge & Riley, 2008). For example, a class on architecture could lead students through a three-dimensional recreation of a Gothic cathedral, a history class could rely on an interactive battlefield simulation to explain the mechanics of a famous battle, or a physics class could use simulations to demonstrate important principles.

Virtual worlds can provide other benefits to society as well. In 2007, specialists developed virtual-reality simulations to help patients with Asperger’s syndrome navigate through social situations. Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome have difficulty recognizing nonverbal cues and adapting to change. The simulations allowed these patients to create avatars that then played out social situations such as job interviews. The specialists could adjust the simulations to allow for more complicated interactions, and the users could replay their performances to better understand the simulation (University of Texas at Dallas News Center, 2008). The creation of avatars and the ability to replay scenes until the user improves performance demonstrates a direct influence of video games.

Social Media and Games

Social media outlets such as Facebook have also used video games to expand their communication platforms. In 2016 they launched Facebook Instant Games.  By coupling games with social media sites, game designers have pushed the influence of video games to unprecedented levels (Walker, 2010).

Due to the increasing popularity of video games, many social networking websites have emerged in recent years that target hard-core gamers and casual gamers alike. The website GamingPassions.com  describes itself as a “free online dating and social networking site for the Video Gaming community” that “allows you to meet other video game lovers who ‘get it (Gaming Passions).’” Others, such as DateCraf t, target players who share a love of specific games, such as World of Warcraft. These websites allow players to socialize outside of the confines of a video game and provide a way for fans of any game to connect (Fawkes, 2010).

Mobile Phones and Gaming

The maker of FarmVille, a company called Zynga, has released a number of social networking games that can be played via Internet-enabled mobile phones. Mafia Wars, a simulated version of organized crime that originated as an online game, lets users manage their money and complete jobs from their mobile phones. This innovation is only a change of platform from the computer to the phone, but it promises to make gaming a common means of social interaction.

Phones are used to communicate directly with another person, whether through text messages, Facebook posts, or phone calls. Adding games to phones creates a new language that people can use to communicate with each other. One can imagine the ways in which a spat between friends or a couple hooking up could be communicated through this medium. During the week of Valentine’s Day in 2010, the creators of FarmVille reported that users sent more than 500 million copies of virtual gifts to each other (Ingram, 2010). Competition, aggression, hostility, as well as generosity and general friendliness are given new means of expression with the addition of video games to the mobile platform.

Video Games and Their Messages

Sometimes people or small companies create generally low-budget games to get a specific point across to the player. The group Molleindustria puts out a host of these games, including Oligarchy, a game in which the player controls an oil-drilling business executive who pursues corruption to gain profits, or Faith Fighter, in which religious icons fight each other (Industria). Downing Street Fighter is a similar game, designed as a satirical representation of the United Kingdom’s 2010 elections (Verjee, 2010).

Other games in this genre include a great deal of content that can inform players about current events. In Cutthroat Capitalism, users play the part of Somali pirates who carry out kidnapping and piracy missions. The player must weigh the risks and rewards of their exploits given a variety of economic factors (Carney, 2009). This game allows players to understand the forces at work behind international phenomena such as piracy. Other games include the Redistricting Game, a game aimed at encouraging congressional redistricting reform, and Planet Green Game, in which players find ways to conserve energy (McGervan, 2007).  These games’ publishers have used their medium to transmit information in new ways. Political satire in the medium of the video game allows the player to, in effect, play a satirical joke to its logical conclusion, exploring the entire scope of the joke. Advocacy games engage players with an interactive political message, rather than sending out traditional media ads. Mainstream groups such as PETA have also turned to video games to convey messages. During the 2008 Thanksgiving season, the animal-rights group released a parody of the popular Cooking Mama games to demonstrate the cruelty of eating meat (Sliwinski, 2008).

Although games of this type do not compete with game series like The Legend of Zelda—either in design or in popularity—they push the boundaries of the video game as a form of media. Political pamphlets helped provide a major source of information and political discourse during the American Revolution. Video games may well come to serve a similar informational function.