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14.
MY SIMS CLEAN UP SO I DON'T HAVE TO
I find myself gaming
to relieve stress, to entertain myself, and to ignore responsibilities.
Moments of harsh self-critique lead me to realize that my life
is a mess, and certainly the physical space I inhabit is. A friend
visited me the other day while I was playing The Sims: Bustin'
Out on my XBox. Upon walking into my room and assessing the
situation, he laughed hysterically at the event before him. There
I was, sitting on a beanbag chair in the midst of mountains of
dirty laundry, a week's worth of empty food and drink containers,
and the heavy stench of university squalor. Fixed to my television
screen, my eyes watched as I managed a miniature man made to look
like me as he went about his daily routine of mopping the floor
in his pristine abode and taking out the trash.
The
gaming mode quickly finds players sinking into a static existence,
where the enthralling simulation via thumb twiddling overtakes
the effort needed to get up from a near-fetal position. The overbearing,
all-encompassing nature of certain games on certain peoples' lives
is well-documented in reference to the several cases of suicide
related to Everquest that have been attributed to a gamer's
amputation from reality. Quest games such as that are structured
on the growth of a character on a fantastical level. Certain events
lead one to learning new magical skills or conquering set goals
in the game world. Through the simulation of overcoming impediments
in a mythical land, it can be rationalized that a gamer is left
to reflect on her own inability to triumph over anything, including
her inability to stop playing. Klien et al suggest that
in
inviting gamers to involve themselves with the details of Sims
careers, leisure, and domesticity, [The Sims] interpellates
or addresses players who are already engaged in a multitude
of social discourses identified as precisely the subjects of
such career choices, lifestyle decisions, design, purchasing,
and domestic decisions. In doing so it not only reflects but
also reinforces and reproduces these identities, preoccupations,
and roles12.
He
goes on to criticize Henry Jenkins' assertion that "by simplifying
a complex world into a 'microworld' the game leads players to
examine their own lives"13,
as a reading which reinforces an approach to marketing under the
security blanket of irony. I find myself though, examining my
being in relation to the roles it sets up for me, and come to
the conclusion that The Sims, by being highly replayable,
in fact imposes upon me an inability to reproduce the identities
it presents. In my oafish state, I am unable to involve myself
in the social discourses that I am assumed to be a part of. In
playing out this addictive Simple reality, the supposed preoccupations
of the gamer are forced to cease. The most interesting thing about
The Sims is its crude artificial intelligence. As a slap
in the face to the player, involvement of any kind is not even
necessary in the game's design. If I put down my joystick, and
take a moment to consider what I am supposed to do with my life,
my Sim follows his instincts and does exactly what he must to
get by, without instruction from me.
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