Ready Player One: Gaming in Virtual Spaces.
- Apr 23, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 23, 2018
Video games are a hobby for a lot of people worldwide. It creates an opportunity for the players to indulge in and sometimes also escape reality. The concept of ''Virtual Reality'' is getting more recognition these days due to its capability to introduce the user into the sphere of fantasy worlds and realms. When a person watches a movie, the elements of the cinematic world are brought to the subject; In a video game however, this concept is reversed. The 'presentation' (which in gaming culture represents an indispensable artistic component that extends to all artworks and also shapes the way the participant perceives them) and the interaction have to be effective to facilitate absolute immersion of the player in the game. These components make the 'video game space' the player’s reality, where the real and virtual identities can at times swap places (Turkle, 1996). This is constantly seen happening to the characters in the movie, Ready Player One.
The story's time line is based in 2045, where due to adverse geopolitical conditions, various city settlements across the globe turn into slums. The people of this world have turned to the virtual world inside a game called the 'OASIS', which gives them a near constant, blissful escape from their troubled reality. The 'OASIS' enables its players to explore various worlds from popular culture, the most noticeable one's being Minecraft, DOTA, Super Mario etc.
Video games in general started becoming mainstream in the 70’s with introduction of games like Pong, arcade games like Pacman, Tetris etc.
This popularity increased furthermore in the 80’s with the availability of the gaming consoles and personal computer games to general public. This journey has successfully produced many hits like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo’s Pokemon and with this the concept of virtual worlds gained further popularity. Further evolution of video games from 2D to 3D and, in recent times, to VR and with low tech consoles to 7th generation gaming consoles all being provided to the user with top notch presentation of the game enabled by high performance processors, all at once, has caused a surge in Utopian, virtual world concepts like the one discussed in the movie.
The viral breakthrough in multiplayer gaming occurred after the introduction of a ''death match'' concept, in Doom(1993). Since then many multiplayer games have emerged, with the most famous examples being Counter Strike and Quake 3 Arena, Halo etc. Multiplayer helped form a new genre of gaming with a sense of community and ultimately promoted gaming culture as a whole.
If one is to observe Korea’s gaming culture, it is equipped with a lot of facilities which act as gaming centers and provide people with the necessary hardware to play games, and also house player support systems such as beverages, meals and snacks, sometimes even resting cabins. They have groups and organizations who employ many professional gamers who are formed into teams, coached, paid salaries, and enabled to compete in various gaming events organized internationally as well as in the country. This gaming culture mirrors the same kind seen commercialized in the movie via the IOI (Innovative Online Industries), which employs people called 'sixers' who are also sometimes indefinitely indentured as labor to the company.
Majority of the concepts showcased in the movie, can be seen mirrored in the real world. Things such as bodysuits which enable the players to feel the 'physics' of the game, wire suspended rigging mechanisms that constrict and imitate one’s body movements, 360 deg treadmills enabling one to move in all directions; the interactivity of the game is shown to be near perfect, which empowers the players to an extent where they prefer to feel and explore the presentation, instead of the real world.
Virtual reality spaces are majorly dependent on human knowledge which they tend to acquire over the years, the logic, the software and hardware development. It is also possible to develop virtual spaces separately from their surrounding spaces that are not in immediate context, which makes these spaces more 'spatial' than a place. If these objects were to be viewed as a collection of polygons, these said polygons can be transferred into “places” by the engagement of the player, often through interaction and understanding. However, to achieve virtual reality’s highest potential, reinvention of spaces should be done; where one can transform it and themselves by collaborating with reality. (Laurel, 1993)
The worlds in the movie are so beautiful in nature, a fantasy world is a vertical connection between heaven and earth (Eliade,1987 ).
The lead in the movie Ready Player One, Wade Watts (played by Tye Kayle Sheridan in the movie), lives in a slum which has stacked trailers, giving it a building like construction. His character in the OASIS is “Parzival”, from folklore- a character who hunts alone. He is a 'Gunter' (one who hunts for the golden egg put in the OASIS by its creator). Many critics feel that the movie fails to show an organic character building of Wade Watts, not showing why the 'Gunters' spend a lot of time in the OASIS. This however can be explained by the statement given by Wertheim, who says "if there is a space and one exists there', then there should be a there, thus making a cyber/virtual space real despite of its lack of physicality''. This goes to explain why the director developed a sense of narration around ignoring the gravity of the situations in the real world, rather putting more focus on building the alter egos or virtual avatars.
The movie shows that to the long-time players like “The High Five” the OASIS becomes home, where they have more social interactions with each other and other players, than in the real world, justifying the statement made by Wertheim. Complex social structures are seen forming when OASIS is combined with the volume of players, adding depth to each character (T.L.Taylor, 2006). The sheer number of players present through their user-avatars in the OASIS humanize this environment, making OASIS such a breakthrough in their world. “Presence of human gives more characterization to the Virtual space” (Matsuda, Miyake and Kawai , 2002).
In the movie they show that in the video game space such as OASIS, a lot of freedom is provided for the player to create, modify, repair, purchase things and spaces around them. In one noticeable scene, a very famous bike from Akira (a fairly popular animated cult status movie), which has been crushed beyond recognition, gets repaired within a record ten minutes. Many other instances project a similar kind of attitude. Interestingly, most of the tasks which are planned by the Creator can only be achieved if the player is rebellious and follows the concept of "there are no rules"
They utilize the space in the game far more than the tasks it was intended for. The concept of innovative use of ones resources and space is encouraged. It is a subtle nod to the concept of the corporation vs. the creatives, the bourgeois vs. the common, the commercialized sell out vs. the artists.
James Halliday the creator of the game intends the winner of the challenges set in the game, to be his heir to the company understands the value of this innovative streak, love and passion for games in general and this game in particular. He owns the space, and therefore treats it with respect.
Virtual Reality holds its place as a concept that has immense potential, unlimited if one puts the work to it. This movie is not the first attempt to show the extent to which the potential can be exploited, and also not the first to explore the dangers of the same. In the rapidly VR adapting market, it is not long before the effects of a dystopian/utopian world concept of a similar society transforms into reality.
References:
Michael N (2018). Video Game Spaces. [online] Available at: https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/jaro2014/IM090/Michael_Nitsche_Video_Game_Spaces_Image_Play_and_Structure_in_3D_Worlds_2009.pdf [Accessed 17 Apr. 2018].
Tay.kinja.com. (2018). The Importance Of Presentation In Games And How to Strengthen It. [online] Available at: https://tay.kinja.com/the-importance-of-presentation-in-games-and-how-to-stre-1771484710 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2018].
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