林廷祐
When you walk out of your home, you must have noticed that there have
been major changes with the stores on the streets recently. The
snack-bar you used to frequent is now closed, being replaced by a cyber
cafe. What is more shocking is that, you enter a cyber cafe and notice
that instead of the usual crowd of self-absorbed teenagers hunched over
the computers and cokes, tables of MEN are now the major customers at
the cyber cafés.
As cyber cafes spring up, we
tend to think these are places for young men to play computer games.
But actually, they are not. Research shows that 20~40 years old men
are joining the battle of game players, too. The average video-game
player in the US is now 28 years old, according to the International
Digital Software Association. It's also this generation, 20~40, that
has contributed to the incredible growth of the video-game industry in
the last two years. So, what is the magic of those games?
Many men are fascinated with
the amazing graphics of those games. In Taiwan, Diablo II is the
most sophisticated and popular product with gamers. " In Diablo II,
different environments require players to alter their equipment and
their strategy," said a 29-year-old player. "Even in the virtual world
of the game, the graphics engine is able to create endless snowscapes
and cliffs of ice that look almost real. With the addition of zoom
capability, players can become totally engrossed in the movie-like
story," said Antonio Lu, chief editor of the Gamebase Web site.
Other players enjoy the virtual
world the Internet has created for them--- both entertaining and
true-to-life. One big seller, Counter Strike, is a game built
around the hostility between cops and criminals. The fans of CS
love to be lost in a world that looks and sounds like a version of the
opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. In the game, you have a
choice of various weapons, from pistol to machine gun, grenade to
flashing bomb. All the costumes and occasions are based on true
happenings. Take one part of the game for example. The 『blood』 of
characters decreases according to which part of the body is damaged, so
making a hit of one』s head could be lethal as it would be in real
life.
Still, others love those games
because they help release their hidden desires. In America, the
best-selling and---the most violent game: Grand Theft Auto 3, is
an anti-social carjacking escapade in which players are rewarded for
having sex with a prostitute, killing her and stealing her money. A
24-year-old player said: " The drive-by shootings of innocent
pedestrians are always fun. It really does bring out the quote-unquote
evil in you." Why are virtual carjacking and killing innocent people
appealing to both teenagers and adults? According to a research done by
a University of Miami professor of education, games of this sort satisfy
the urge to be naughty. "It allows us to enter a dangerous space in a
new way and to explore something that's a bit forbidden, " the professor
said. " Maybe it's not a space we want to go to in reality, but it's
something we want to test out."
Given the diversity and the
appealing effects of both vision and sound, the success of these games
is not surprising. They not only enchant the minds of teenagers, but
also adults, who we used to stereotype as those far from the age of
sitting in front of a television or computer, focusing on one video
game. Games are no longer the patent of teenagers. Maybe next time you
will meet a match in the Internet game, and it turns out to be that, the
guy is your DAD!