by Elena LODOLA. at present.
The world of video games is progressively making ground into our lives.
In Beijing and Singapore, soft drink companies are integrating video-games into their supermarket experiences as a tool to engage with the final customer. A strategy that not only allows companies to gather information about their clients and enhance the visibility of their brands, but increases the ‘creation’ of occasional gamers who will be then motivated/intrigued to download other games and applications.
The majority of players today purchase games for leisure, often upon friends and relatives recommendation. There are however niches of gamers who conduct detailed research – looking up reviews, videos, other players critics – with the aim to select with more precision the titles most suitable to their tastes.
Casual players – a growing group – add to the population of more ‘regular’ gamers and belong to very diverse demographics, including the bored commuter, customer less sales assistant as well as the mum who, after a heavy day at work, relaxes with games as ‘Cooking Craze’ or ‘Hay Day’.
Simulation games based on culinary interests – perceived as engaging and satisfying by the larger public – have been very successful in the smartphone gaming age. The sight of a cultivated field waiting to be harvested, the running of a restaurant offering an elaborated menu prepared by the player, or the systematic management of a supermarket induce high levels of satisfaction and emotional fulfillment.
These gamers approach the app to find engagement and most of all challenge themselves in ordering entire and complex ‘parallel’ realities with an agility and mastery hardly attainable in ordinary daily lives often escaping their control.
Most of us take refuge in ‘pseudo-existences’ – avatar personas – within pseudo realities that we feel more meritocratic especially when compared to our daily lives. Think, for example, to any of the ‘tycoon’ series where one works, earns and grows in a simple ‘loot’ – not really accessible in daily life – that characterize the majority of games. This is a type of game that help us believe in ourselves and in our capabilities; a hint to the realization we could indeed become a ‘leader’ able to solve complex issues, manage unexpected stressful events during a crisis.
To practice disciplines and games in front of a global audience that recognize our success.
I will never forget the emotion I felt while raising my first Formula 1 Grand Prix Cup.
I was 8 years old and the stands were filled with colored pixels cheering and applauding me.
Later on – given my ‘precocious inclination’ for sports – Accolade proposed me to participate in the Racing Cycle Edition Grand Prix – putting a strain on my eardrums with its particularly acute background – where I won a cup and first place were mine, from the 125cc to the 500cc category.
Since 1988 I have continued spending lots of my free time playing video-games choosing mostly action and strategy based games that challenged my thirst for victory as well as challenged my skills.
Those new tests undoubtedly sharpened my sensory reaction, and refined my abilities to focus and multitask.
Initially loyal to Nintendo, with time I re-discovered Sony’s PS4 games as ‘The last of us’ , Uncharted, and ‘Assassin Creed’.
In the meanwhile, games have evolved beyond the classic ‘player vs AI’ challenge to experiences that challenge oneself in virtual reality and dual sense.
Currently, online multiplayer Battle Arena games – MOBA – that allow diverse players living in different geo locations to play together are certainly the most successful. In fact, the top 10 list of the most played games in 2021 sees games as Among Us, Fortnite e League of Legends; often, the final goal in these games is one’s own survival and defeat of the enemy.
In any case, whatever the game, playing remains for many a pleasant pastime that – at least for a limited amount of time – breaks down barriers as well as differences among people while helping them to improve mental flexibility and elasticity.
So, let’s play and discover our real selves in a true game.