Play Meter

THE LAST WORD
Videos have a purpose
by David Pierson
Arcades and videos are being victimized by a
whole host of public ~nemies because everyone-
including the games industry itself-perceives the
videos as nothing more than a great waste of time .
Non-essential. That's the real reason why a lot of
people want to outlaw the games. All those other
incredulous reasons they keep coming up witb are
not stating exactly what it is these people don't like
about the games. The real reason so many people are
anti-games is they don ' t see the games as having a·ny
socially redeeming value .
And , because the public and the industry itself
have always perceived coin-op amusements as being
something of a barnacle on America".! life-state and
local governments, in this era of Reaganomics, are
easily tempted into over-taxing an industry which is
perceived by the voters as being non-essential. After
all, they figure, even if government makes a mistake
and taxes the whole industry out of business, it's no
loss. Society wouldn't be hurt by it all. Video games
are just another silly fad , like Hula-Hoop, like the Pet
Rock.
When the anti-game attacks first started, some
industry people pointed out that playing the games
improves one 's ey.e -hand coordination. These people
correctly sensed that the games had to have some
socially redeeming value in order to survive against all
this adversity. Well , the returns are in on that argu-
ment. And, while it's true that playing games will
indeed improve motor coordination , it's hardly
enough justification as far as a skeptical public is con-
cerned.
Then what about the argument that the games
condition and train people for the future to deal with
computers? That' s a little better, but probably still not
enough of a justification for the games because that,
like the eye-hand coordination argument, is only
· related to a side-effect of playing tlie games. The real
justification has to come from the games themselves,
not the side-effects.
And there is a reason:;-a justification, if ~ou .will-:
why the games shou~d
b allowed to flounsh 1n our
society. These games ad ress a psychological need in
today's society that n
ing else can address as effec-
tively or as well. And, therefore, to eliminate these
games would be to the disadvantage of society itself.
And , obviously, to tax them to the brink of bank-
ruptcy would jeopardize the continuation of this vital
industry.
Consider, first of all , the high anxiety inherent in
modern society. Inflation, the Bomb, senseless
violence, cancer lurking behind every food label,
declining morality, international crises, unemploy-
ment-and those are just some of the universal adult
worries. There's still an endless list of singular and
domestic problems that each adult carries about with
him daily.
. '
And the children have their own anxieties also-
everything from pimples and peer pressure to sex and
drugs. There's a lot we've all got to contend with.
126
Now consider what video games have done. They
have offered-from Space Invaders on-a medium
that allows people to take out their aggressions, to
work out these hostilities in a socially safe manner. A
player's countless anxieties suddenly take form on
that video screen before him, and he can vaporize,
elude, or leap over these adversaries until he is finally
overwhelmed.
It all started with Space Invaders. There was the
player, alone, confronted by countless enemies,
aliens, unreasoning foes, who were bent on one thing
only-the player's annihilation. And it was all the
player could do to fight them off, to gain a moment' s
reprieve. But like life itself, more alien forces would
appear, to continue the battle until the player finally
succumbed.
This same theme is manifest over and again in
today ' s video games. It' s part of their structure. The
games allow the player to use his imagination , to pro-
ject onto the screen whatever enemies or adversaries
he has to contend with-whether th ey be real or
abstract, universal or individual, within or without his
control.
In some of the games, like S..pace Invaders ,
Ast eroids, and Pac-Man , it' s all the pl!!yer can do to
fight for his own survival. But in some of the games,
Defender and Donkey Kong among them , the player
also has a hero role to perform-that of saving
earthUngs from be ing kidnapped by aliens or of
rescuing a beautiful girl from a terrible gorilla who
doesn ' t know the girl's too good for him.
In any case, the player finds himself fighting
against great odds just to survive, to endure in his
struggle.
.
It's this primal battle within the psyche of modern
man which has created the need for today 's video
games. That' s why these video games appeal to
both adults and children . That's why people will put
quarter after quarter into a game to fight off aliens or
Blinky and Pinky or leap over a barrage of barrels.
Why do you suppose people become so engrossed in
these games? Of course, it all looks nonsensical to an
outsider. .. in the very same way that someone else' s
dream may appear nonsensical to you-and your
dreams to them . But if dreams mirror real life, then
video games are mirroring the dream world, the
collective unconscious ~ f modern man . These video
battles, whether they be waged in the distant, silent
reaches of outer space, on the Empire State Building,
or even wtthin the corridors of a fantasy nightmare
where hairy figures try to gobble up your little Pac-
man or Pac-woman, the games are the stuff dreams
are made of.
You see, the video games are justifiable and
essential to society. It's just that the public has to be
made aware of the games' role. If that role is articu-
lated , then the industry will flourish. If not, the
industry will fall victim , like the player's base in Space
Invaders, to an endless wave of unthinking
adversaries.
PLAY METER , June 1, 1982