Jess Goes Interactive

I was in NYC, working downtown, when that last event occured. And I can attest to the fact that sometimes, for some people, communicating their feelings through another medium, whatever that might be, can be extremely therpeutic during an extremely traumatic time. I have seen many depictions of 9/11 that have disturbed me (9/11 the game and the many movies being among them), but I do recognize that these works helped some people deal with something that felt unbearable.

Jess - i truly appreciate your thoughts on this, coming from a historian's perspective as you are. i can't help but assume that the answers to these difficult questions (if there are any, only better and worse guesses) is a very personal one. one's own responsibility is to understand the subject as much as possible, and yet there will always be limits to this dictated by numerous things, including one's own frame of mind - i.e. i'm a historian, i'm an artist, i'm a journalist, and more.

i did some thinking about this and i'm conflicted. first, let me say that i am VERY MUCH for games engaging social issues. i wish we'd see more games that had something more to say about our world today directly than through fantastical worlds that occasionally try to say something through allegory.

additionally, with regards to kellee's comments, i agree that its only natural for artists to react in their chosen mediums in order to come to terms with the issues and feelings that these kind of events bring to the surface. but i have some prejudice that i can't shake. somehow i would never question a painter creating a painting in response to something like 9/11 or the Katrina disaster even a day after, yet it seems wildly inappropriate to create a board game even after some time has passed. To me, there is something very different about the way these two things are experienced that cannot be painted over in the broad strokes of "artists expressing themselves". maybe part of it has to do with the context i associate with board games... for me personally, i usually play board games either with my immediate family or with a bunch of friends with a bunch of beer and the general experience has never really encompassed the emotional range required for tragic events.

have you ever thought about the horrifying consequences of war while rolling dice in a game of risk?

maybe there are board games that have effectively dealt with tragic events and if anyone knows about some, i'd be interested in finding out more about them.

also, i'm not necessarily trying to apply what i'm saying here to digital, screen-based game experiences. to me, that is a wholly seperate medium not comparable to board games in this sort of context. anyway, i've got more to say on the subject but i'm losing my focus so i'll come back to this after the discussion has progressed more.

Medium, if it's eligible for the title, is nuetral. Isn't this more the matter of "how to" than "what to"? (Personally, I'm for the $5M USD donation by my country to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster while I'm so aware how much it really is to an average Chinese people).

During recess at a pre-school, there was some kind of accident that took place in plain view of the kids. It was between a car and a motorcycle. The cyclist fell off his bike and was lying on the street, unconscious and bleeding. Soon after, an ambulance came. By this time, everyone in the playground was watching. The paramedics lifted the motorcyclist onto the stretcher, wheeled him into the ambulance and drove away. The kids were abnormally quiet. Finally, the caregivers escorted the kids back into school.

The next day, a few kids started playing "motorcycle." One kid would drive around on a pretend motorcycle while another would drive a pretend car. They'd crash. The "motorcyclist" would lie still on the ground. Other kids would then try to lift (or drag) the motorcyclist around the playground, while sounding their pretend sirens.

This "game" continued for a couple weeks, and slowly dissolved into a game of tag.

This is a true story, captured by an anthropologist and recorded in the annals of The Association for the Study of Play.

For the kids, the game served an important purpose. It was an invitation to integrate, through play, the various factors that led to an overwhelmingly powerful event. It turned out to be a "good game" - good enough to be repeated for a couple of weeks. Because it was fun and built from a truth.

I think the same thing holds true here, even for something as disproportionately painful as the events surrounding Katrina. I also think that the people in our class are in a uniquely qualified to capture whatever they understand about the dynamics of the event, and express it in game form - and yes, a game that is fun to play.

I brought up the Katrina event because we were at the time studying a game of chance and strategy. All right, not very much strategy, even with Backgammon as the archetype. To illustrate how powerful a role chance can play in games and life, how the source of dice and spinners comes from the same source that confronts the gods. They call it "divination," don't they?

All of which is to say, I am delighted by the sensitivity and concern that is being expressed in this dialogue, and honored to have played some role in its genesis.

Here's a sidenote, didn't know where else to put it:

http://nokatamaricleanup.ytmnd.com/

Reading this post and comments, I came up with this word "Edutainment". That is simply from the belief that we are learning things better while we are enjoying doing them. There are many valuable life lessons we can learn while having fun but certain lessons are to be learned only through certain amount of pain big or small.
Still, the word "game" instantly reminds me of having fun while doing that. What if it is called designing an "interactive media" that actually gives a lesson in the intention of letting people know what we could have done to prepare for the tragedy and what we should do to prevent this from happening or reducing the damage from it? It sounds totally different to me. I don't mean that the term "Interactive media" is always indicating works that are more serious or less fun than "game" but "interactive media" as a bigger area including "game".

I heard there is an one day event of experiencing wheel-chair outdoor. Obviously people doing that should not look like enjoying that, but I was kind of concerning because some people tend to smile or laugh unintentionally when they are in an embarrasing situation to hide their feeling. Also I was not so comfortable with the idea of experiencing their trouble in just one day although the intention of the event was clearly understood.

This was good topic to think about, and I think Susana's thesis project is really closely related to this. She must be giving a lot of thought in how to deal with this.

P.S. The picture from sidenote link from kellee actually made me feel confused. It was somewhat similar to the feeling that I had when I made innocent people rolled up and shot into the sky for the first time. In game it is just meaningless and pointless humor but I couldn't really laugh actually.

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