[ExI] video games take 2

[BillK]

On 5 August 2017 at 01:37, William Flynn Wallace wrote:
> As a libertarian I must add that I have no objection at all to anyone
> playing any sort of game, video or otherwise.  If someone wants to set a
> record at Pacman as their life's goal, then he has my respect as human
> being, of course, but no respect whatsoever otherwise.  If, as Adrian says,
> a sort of glory can be achieved this way, then go for it, as it is likely
> the only sort he (and the occasional she) will achieve with that brain.
> Flaunting this success as a pickup line will, I am sure, meet with  total
> awe on the part of the women he tries it on, though perhaps not the right
> sort of awe.
>
> As a psychologist I would have some suspicions about such a person who seems
> to want to rot his brain and develop no new neurons at all, but it's his
> brain.
>
> As a transhumanist I suggest that this is not at all the sort of person we
> want to develop - I suspect I will get no flak over this opinion.
>
<snip>
>

Pacman and Solitaire are 5 minutes of relaxation and are not relevant
to the virtual universe games that millions of people spend many hours
playing.

See: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG>
for more information.

This is a huge industry, both in money and number of players.

Quote:
The global media and entertainment market has consistently been on the
rise. The entire worldwide market is projected to grow from an
estimated 1.72 trillion U.S. dollars in 2015 to 2.14 trillion U.S.
dollars within five years. Gaming is an integral and ever-developing
segment of this market. The two largest gaming regions, Asia Pacific
and North America, are predicted to account for 78 percent of global
revenues in 2017. Online gaming in particular is one of the branches
that has evolved over the past decades. It includes social gaming,
mobile gaming, as well as free-to-play and pay-to-play massively
multiplayer gaming, otherwise know as MMO gaming. The latter two
segments combined generated revenue of roughly 19.9 billion U.S.
dollars in 2016 and, judging by the data volume of global online
gaming traffic alone, which is forecast to grow from 126 petabytes in
2016 to 568 petabytes in 2020, it is safe to assume online gaming is
here to stay.
----------------------


As Christian mentioned, these games are also social games where
friends chat, form alliances, combat opposing groups, plan campaigns,
etc.  They are becoming more and more like a 'better' version of
real-life, involving real people communicating with each other.

And at this stage these games are played on screens. When immersive VR
arrives, putting on the headsets will really be like entering a new
world. When this is available it will become more and more difficult
to tear off the headset and return to the grey colourless real world.

BillK