In his G4 presentation, industry innovator Jesse Schell discusses the reality of video games today, and how they've adapted to current market trends. No longer do video games concentrate solely on creating a separate, believable reality. Social media games such as Farmville, Mafia Wars and Club Penguin capitalize on linking the value of the game with our own lives.
Schell argues that it is the lack of reality in our virtually-saturated lives that makes this tactic possible. Since we've been immersed in so much technology for the past 20 years, it's like we've forgotten about what's real. We've nearly lost our connection with nature. In today's market, everyone claims that their product is "all-natural", and "100% real" to give themselves that image of reconnecting us with nature. Yet, we know deep down that none of this social media stuff is real, right? Maybe we'll forget what's real. So what happens when we can't tell the difference is that we get stuck in this habitual, self-sustaining process:
We're on the internet too much and want to revisit our real lives, so we "buy into" products/services that exist on the internet which claim to be reconnect us with part of reality, yet we're still in this virtual reality. Is this the future? Sure there's GREAT potential to make money here. But at what cost? How long do you guys feel we can take this until our bodies just start to fight back? There are some real ethical boundaries here. Let me know your thoughts.
sketch the moment,
Jon
I agree with you, what is the limit?
ReplyDeleteI hear people live parallel virtual lives in the internet with different bodies, personalities and fake relationships and believe its real..? Which is really scary.
But I think that as long there's potential to make money it will exist and it might be a trend because is a new technology and a new way to interact with people (which in some cases is great) but maybe one day in the future this will change and to have real life experiences and person to person contact will be trendy again.
There is no limit. People are becoming obssessed. If they are not "with the program" then they eventually get with it. It's almost like the credit card industry; they force you to sign up for a credit card because unless you have cash for everything you purchase, you can't do much. So your forced to adopt to the credit card life and the debt it carries. The internet now-a-days is exactly the same way. If we dont learn to adapt, we will be left behind with the dust in our eyes.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is up to each individual to make the decission to reconnect with nature. Corporations are still going to keep feeding us technology and information but each individual has to capacity to stop it in our lives. We need to make an effort and go back to basics such as making a phone call instead of texting or even better to meet up in person and sustain a conversation. To go outside to check the weather instead of looking at our phones for the forecast. It is the simple things in life that make the difference.
ReplyDeleteThe most thought provoking blog I've read in a long time! Kudos to you for connecting the dots of the Matrix in which we all exist, and from which we can't seem to unplug. Our reality has become a facade, a contrived reality that's packaged and presented by media manipulators. It’s a pseudo-reality and most voyeurs of this alternate reality cannot distinguish fact from fiction.
ReplyDelete