"The instantaneous world of electric informational media involves all of us, all at once. No detachment or frame is possible."
Now a question arises: While can be viewed as true in the time period the book was written in, the late 1960's to be precise, does the phrase still hold true in modern times? And, more so, does this message hold true for the current entertainment medium of video games?
As a fan of video games myself, there is quite an assortment to choose from for discussion within the blog post. For this post, instead of discussing a "traditional" game, I will look at and comment on a somewhat recent game that started on the PC, and proceeded to take the gaming world by storm. The game I speak of is, of course, Minecraft.
Minecraft is a rather unique game played from a first person perspective. So unique, in fact, I don't even know what to properly classify it as, save for the two obvious elements of "multiplayer" and "adventure." In it, you can manipulate the world however you please. You can say, build a quaint little house for yourself.
...Or a massive castle.
Or maybe you're just completely bloody insane and install a series of mods that let you strip half naked while wielding a tiny sword and riding atop a noble unicorn.
Needless to say, Minecraft is a game of endless possibilities, both online and in single player. As mentioned in the above, still completely bloody insane picture, skilled players are capable of making "mods" for the base game, which add or change existing content in some way, and post them online for other players to download and make use of themselves. This behavior alone I feel helps prove McLuhan's message at the top of this blog entry. In Minecraft, players are always working together in some way, somewhere. As you read, it's incredibly likely a duo of expert builders just made a life-sized replica of the Buckingham Palace in Minecraft and are currently celebrating. Or a trio of bumbling adventurers fell into the same lava pit that has murdered their hopes and dreams for the past week. Maybe a single person just finished updating his popular mod pack, and put it up online for the rest of the player base to finally enjoy.
In Minecraft, detachment from the frame, or from other players, simply isn't a thing. Even solo, you are more than likely to borrow concepts from other players. The fact that Minecraft became as big a thing as it is today proves that McLuhan's point has managed to withstand the test of time.
What would happen if Minecraft had a completely different graphics system? Instead of looking like legos, what would the message be if it resembled Halo or World of Warcraft? What would this new message be? How many times would the server lag or shut down I wonder? I feel as that if the graphics on this game would change then so to would playing, theme, and the message. The playing would change because instead of moving small lego like pieces of earth you would move trees and actual looking boulders. How would the game ask you to shape and change these item to make your castle or house? The playing would be extremely varied then. The theme would also change from a cutesy building game to a serious architecture and puzzle game.
ReplyDeleteThe medium definitely is the message for this game. But I wonder what would happen if you change that medium, if only slightly.
I find it incredibly interesting how much more true that statement has become with the introduction of the Internet and online gaming. In GTA San Andreas, a group of players developed an online multiplayer system that connected millions of people in a game designed to be, at the most a 2-player game. People can't be separated anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhile I myself have never played Minecraft, from an outsider it looks like many other online games with the added addition of building your own world. On this level, it reminds me of Sim City, or the Tycoon games. How different is it from these?
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