March 2009 Print


Classic Games & Video Games

Pierre Delpos

This article provides an overview of the morality of games in general following the lead of St. Thomas Aquinas. It then takes a look at the main characteristics of today’s video games. It is only in light of the basic principles governing the morality of games that the moral objections usually made against video games can be examined.

When considering the appropriateness or unsuitability, the morality or immorality, of video games (or electronic games), it is a good idea to start with the two words which denote the thing itself. First of all, it involves a game, and this game is played by means of electronic or audiovisual gadgets. Only an analysis based upon these two elements will give us a pertinent answer.

Let’s start with games, or play in general. For St. Thomas Aquinas, play is quite a serious matter. The proof of this is that he devotes almost the entirety of a question of his Summa Theologica (II-II, Q.168, Art. 2-4) to it. He asks whether there can be a virtue concerning games: the answer is affirmative. And since all virtue is situated in the rational middle between excess and defect, he shows that one can sin by playing too much (by excess), but also by not playing enough.

St. Thomas Aquinas begins by explaining why games are necessary for man. Our body, limited in strength, cannot act continuously and thus needs rest, which is provided in particular by sleep. But our soul, also limited in strength, cannot act continually either, and is in need of rest. Now, as our Doctor explains, the soul’s rest is pleasure, so the soul should be afforded a certain pleasure between tasks. And the human activity with an intellectual component but which does not have as its purpose something useful or rational, but exclusively pleasure, is called games.

Games Morally Necessary

St. Thomas recounts an incident reported in the life of St. John. He was amusing himself by petting a bird, and some of the faithful reproached him for doing something unseemly. “If you keep the bow continually drawn,” answered the Evangelist, “it becomes useless. Likewise, if you never relax the soul, it becomes incapable of action.”

However, games, like every human activity, must be in conformity with the nature of man and his proper ends. Games can therefore never have as their object anything immoral. They must not violate man’s rational character. Finally, in order to keep games within due bounds as regards persons, time and place, and other circumstances, games must be the object of a virtue that will provide its own rule.

“Eutrapelia” According to St. Thomas

The virtue that orders playful actions is called eutrapelia—pleasantness or liveliness. It is the virtue by which one is able to play fittingly, neither too much nor too little.

St. Thomas then wonders whether there can be excess of play. He shows that there can be, in two ways: first, by playing games involving immoral things (he specifies obscenity) or injurious to one’s neighbor (through discourtesy, insolence, or giving scandal); second, by failing to respect the circumstances that make the game moral. An example would be playing at times or in places that are not suitable, or about things that should not be made the object of fun. Playing instead of attending Sunday Mass violates the right time for play; playing in church violates the right place for play; making religion an object of jests also violates the right object of play.

Too Much or Too Little Play

Lastly, the holy Doctor wonders if it is possible to play too little, which would also be a matter of sin. He answers affirmatively. St. Thomas makes this admirable statement: “In human affairs whatever is against reason is a sin. Now it is against reason for a man to be burdensome to others, by offering no pleasure to others, and by hindering their enjoyment.”

However, he remarks, the purpose of games (hence the soul’s rest) is to be able to act better afterwards, and not the opposite: the first goal of life is not to play. Games are a spice of life, explains St. Thomas, and a little goes a long way. For games, the “not enough” is per se less easily a vice than the “too much.”

Sinning Against Fun

To sum up this fair teaching of the Common Doctor, we note that games, an activity having no other rules than those which provide us pleasure, are necessary to relax the soul and allow it to resume its normal activity in a better mood. Eutrapelia is the moral virtue governing play such that it is done in reasonable measure and due circumstances. One can sin against eutrapelia by defect and, more easily, by excess.

We should add one point that our Doctor does not mention, namely that play is an integral and essential part of a child’s education: it is through play that the child explores reality. We shall not develop this point further, since discussion of it can be found in good books on pedagogy.

Typology of Video Games

Obviously, a multitude of games exist; for example, games to play alone or in groups, indoor games and outdoor games, games with rules and games without, word games or games of imagination, games needing equipment, etc. A video game is an indoor game, usually with rules, that can be played alone or by several, and that requires some equipment (a console, computer, or screen, depending). Its essential characteristic is an animated image with sound with which the child can interact by means of levers or buttons. For example, in a game of video soccer, by means of levers the child guides his chosen player while the computer or other players try to keep him from making a goal.

Video games can be roughly divided into three categories. Some call for thought, analysis, culture, and, in general, mental skill. This is the case, for example, of video games that reproduce classic games (chess, Trivial Pursuit), or specific video games that involve puzzle solving. Other video games call for quick reflexes, eye-hand coordination, and visual ability. This is the case, for example, with sporting games (football, car racing, airplanes) and war games. Some appeal to the imagination, to the literary, artistic, and poetic faculties, or to the desire to explore. This is the case, for example, of games oriented towards the discovery of an artistic or literary work, as well as those that invite the players to voyage in imaginary worlds.

As with classic games, many video games involve all three of these kinds of games. For example, the child is going to set out to discover an unknown castle (imaginary aspect). His progress is marked by puzzles to solve that will enable him to advance to the next step (intellectual aspect). But the castle is guarded by enemies he will have to fight and defeat (quick reflexes). Upon arriving, in keeping with the classic fairy-tale formula, the player discovers a princess to rescue, the hidden treasure, etc.

Video games can be played alone or with several players in front of the same game console (thus in physical proximity of one another) or even with several at a distance over the Internet. This last sort, rather complex, is aimed more at adults. In this kind of game, the people encountered (enemies, princesses, dragons, etc.) correspond with other players, and the game itself can last some time (like a giant jigsaw puzzle that takes weeks to complete). Currently, games billed as “massively multiplayer” gather hundreds of thousands of people and run 24/7, the player resuming the game which continued to evolve in his absence.

True Video Games

When examining video games, we should be aware that some of these games are partly inspired by classic games, but that a “true” video game is one that exploits specifically computer-based resources. Let’s take a universal, classic game: playing with dolls. The little girl dresses her doll, puts it to bed, feeds it at her dinette set, makes it socialize with other dolls, etc. But the game is situated exclusively in the child’s imagination and in the child’s words: the doll remains passive. In the 1960’s, there was an attempt to introduce talking dolls, but it was very limited in scope.

Now let’s suppose that the doll is able to react to situations independently of the little girl. For example, the doll does not want to go to bed (it cries) and the little girl will have to find a way to get it to go to sleep (scolding, caresses, lullabies, etc.). This is the principle of an electronic toy like the “Tamagotches,” small, digital electronic animals endowed with autonomous behavior the child must respond to when the Tamagotch requires (or else it may even “die” from lack of care).

Interactive Games

Let’s take it a little further. Suppose a game is set up in which the player must manage a community of some sort (for example, a town). Here the player is confronted with the manifold results of each one of his actions. If he is the mayor of the town and the trash collectors go on strike to get a pay raise, he can refuse the increase to protect the town’s finances, with the risk that the community will be submerged in trash. Or he can yield to the strikers at the risk of imperiling his budget. Moreover, if he wants to be re-elected he has to keep in mind the reaction of the inhabitants. You begin to see the remarkable complexity of such a game. It is called “The Sims,” and it has 20 million adepts, 40% of whom are women.

But “The Sims” only partially exploits the possibilities of video games. The multi-player online game “World of Warcraft” goes a step beyond. Inspired by the universe of the book The Lord of the Rings, it involves an immense, virtual world replete with dungeons, jungles, moors, etc. In this world exist diverse beings (humans, gnomes, elves, trolls, the living-dead, etc.) as well as a variety of roles (druids, hunters, warriors, paladins, priests, etc.), without forgetting a multitude of objects necessary for certain actions (armor, bracelets, arms, vestments, etc.) that must be sought on a quest strewn with ambushes and enigmas.

Every player is a character who begins to interact with the other players in trade, alliances, battles, or simply in seeking objects useful for a particular objective. It might be likened to a game of checkers (rather than a game of chess, since the basic rules are very simple), but with thousands of different-colored pieces, constantly changing boards and players, and perpetual encounters. Some 2,000 technicians offer 24-hour support to the players and continually create new objects, new game possibilities, and even off-shoots like “The Burning Crusade,” recently launched, that gives the player access to new universes with other landscapes, characters, and objects.

It is not surprising that this game (after all, not very violent; the goal is not to fight but to pursue one’s quest) today attracts ten million adepts worldwide who pay a monthly fee.

Second Life

“World of Warcraft” may seem like the archetypal video game, yet it is about to be eclipsed by a game of a totally new conception, which opens heretofore unimagined possibilities, and perhaps defines the way in which the Internet will be presented to us tomorrow: it is called “Second Life.”

The principle of the game is wonderfully simple. It involves a virtual world that offers tools enabling the players to create all kinds of objects: houses, roads, merchandise, etc. To enter the game, the player creates a persona (an “avatar”) and defines its characteristics. And then he projects himself into this virtual world. From that moment, with time and work, everything becomes possible. You can take a walk. You can meet and chat with other avatars. You can build a house, but also buy other houses (with game money that you acquire with your real credit card). You can do business, offer various services, visit expositions, watch movies, etc.

In short, everything that can be done in the real world is possible in this “second life,” but without the physical constraints of real life. For example, you can get over your shyness on “Second Life” and meet people whom you’d never dare approach in real life. A modest office worker can console himself by becoming, in the game, a clever, successful capitalist.

Juncture Between the Game and Reality

The astonishing craze for this game (which has already attracted several millions of fans) is such that the border between reality and fantasy tends to disappear. More and more real-world realities are showing up in the game. For example, one of the best-known characters of “Second Life” is a real estate sales agent named Anshe Chung. This lady (a Chinese woman in reality named Ailin Graef, who lives in Frankfurt), buys undeveloped virtual spaces, has her (real) employees develop virtual real estate programs, and rents these virtual properties to players. The game has become her sole source of (real) income, and she is now a millionaire (in real dollars).

Political groups have created presences in “Second Life.” The first to set up shop were the National Front and the Socialist party. These virtual political militants hold meetings, distribute tracts, and hold demonstrations in the middle of this virtual world. Business enterprises are beginning to invade this new universe. Reuters news agency has opened a branch there. Television stations have offices there. Dior is planning a virtual boutique (though shoppers still cannot buy anything). Dell, Nissan, Coca Cola, Toyota, Reebok, IBM, etc., all are present.

In short, a new world is being built right beside us, a “second life.” It is a game. It is also reality. It is the video game of tomorrow, and perhaps also a part of tomorrow’s reality.

 

Translated from Fideliter, May-June 2007, pp.68-73.