Through the Looking Glass Sharply - The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future - page 234

Table 12.2 Daydreams in a Virtual World

Item From the virtual world Comments

Hurtling through the
ice-fl ows.

Action games. Although not specifi c,

games tend to show an
escape from a dangerous
type of plot.

The medical expert
and on the spot inventor.

Dif erent simulation
games.

Although not specifi c,
games tend to show an
expertise type of plot.

The expert witness and
marksman at trial.

Adventure games that lead
the gamer through a story.

Although not specifi c,
games tend to show, or a
need to develop expertise
in an area, type of plot.

Into the air with Captain
Mitty.

Flight simulator games. Specifi cally, these games

are used as an element of
expertise or even capability.

Bravery before the fi ring
squad.

Honour of warriors, part
of most war games.

Can one imagine a game in
which courage is not an
element?

in the fi fth does Thurber deviate from the courage, accomplishment, adu-
lation theme. This one is highly internalized. In this episode, he takes one
last drag on a cigarette and faces the fi ring squad sans blindfold. Thurber
characterizes Mitty afterward as “undefeated, inscrutable to the last.”
And what does all this have to do with video games? First, in all games
imagination plays a role. In fact, immersion is one of the goals in the devel-
opment of virtually every video game (cf. Zackariasson, Walfi sz and Wil-
son 2006; Zackariasson, Styhre and Wilson 2006); perhaps one way of
describing video games is they are a better approach to daydreaming. Some
of Mitty's themes are also covered—action games, for instance, revolve
around themes associated with guiding an icon through a maze or onslaught
of dangerous elements. Similarly, expert marksmanship is an element of
expertise in shooter games. Adventure games that lead the gamer through
a story are common in conventional games. Finally, we are not sure that
adulation is built into the simpler games yet, but posting of scores provides
a sense of accomplishment for others to see. In MMOGs, of course, one
shares accomplishments with partners in successful quests.

STEPHENSON — SNOW CRASH

Snow Crash is a science fi ction novel fi rst published in 1992 that anticipates
the successor to the Internet, which at that time was still young (recall at
this time commercial transactions were just coming into vogue). There is