Thought for the day
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Is TheSims "just a game"? You have surely heard of TheSims. It is the best selling game of all times, and has the additional distinction of being a game that appeals to women and girls as well as to men and boys. Many if not most players are adult. To describe the game makes it sound hopelessly inane, but it can perhaps be summed up as a "simulation of life." It is creative, self-paced, non-violent, and allows the player to set his own goals Recently, when fans have complained of this or that (we are, after all, an intelligent and hard to please lot who have chosen to rally around the life's work of Will Wright) the popular answer has been, "Hey, what are you so upset about? It is 'just a game.'"
And this is what is nibbling away at me. Is any game "just a game" given that it DOES affect our personality and our intellect, may even help us form our outlook on life, and goodness knows what other intangibles. (All of this not to mention our pocket books! I personally think TheSims was responsible for the surge in computer sales several years ago :-)
The reason this thought is nibbling away at me is that The Sims web site has been playing up a new expansion pack for TheSims, the SEVENTH which is tentatively named "Makin' Magic."
Well, can you imagine a more stupid idea for a title? I mean, considering this is a life simulation program, that the Harry Potter people seem to be sopping up the fantasy market, and that there are about 1 zillion requests that Sim Fans have made of Will's brethren, why on earth would they wave around the word "magic."
Well, for science supporters like me, this is, of course, a great time to "spread the word" for science, and, most of all, to ask for what we REALLY WANTED, which was certainly not "magic to help us deal with suburban life." Furthermore, we realize that Will Wright is also a supporter of science. So we felt he would understand.
I checked in at the site last week for the first time in a while, to see what people were saying about Makin' Magic. Of course there were the inevitable comments that magic was either in or against their religion. And there were those of us who felt that those wanting magic had already had their share of "new stuff" and it was our turn.
I haven't been able to check it, because those wonderfully enlightened people at Maxis :-) decided I shouldn't be able to get on the site any more after reaming them for threatening to close down the "thread" in which we were discussing magic. Apparently they just "moved the thread" but I can't check that, because the last I knew, the thread was terminated, posts deleted, and critics removed from the scene.
Well, my answer to the above question is obvious: Nothing is "just a game." These alleged games manipulate emotions, tailor opinion, and even provide emotional support for people, not to mention the chief reason I play them: to stay sharp intellectually.
If Maxis wants to introduce its umpteenth magic "object" and call a whole expansion pack "Makin' Magic" it is going to have to face the fact that, since they probably have the most intelligent players of any game, who are going to wonder what in blazes they are trying to do when they say that magic will solve our suburban problems. Come on, guys. This from the people who wrote SimCity, used in SCHOOLS? We expect better of Maxis.
And if you don't want static, Maxis, call the pack something like, "Making Fun" or "Having Fun" or "Carnival Time" or goodness knows what, and for crying out loud, remove the stuff about magic solving suburban problems.
Will Wright, I know you will restore our faith in your baby.
Ginny
14 August
2003