PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds: Radical Text with bad effect?
Blog Topic: It’s possible for a video game to be radical text? Answer through an analysis of one videogame.
Nowadays, the development of
video game industry is growing rapidly. For some people, it has become an indispensable
part and pervasive of their lives. Videogame, people does not have to have it
in their lives, but it cannot be lost now. However, videogame is possible to
become a radical text and bring effect to gamers. In this essay, I would
critical discuss the influences that videogame affected to gamers and society from
the videogame nature, based on the argument that videogame could be a radical
text. A new released online multiplayer battle royale videogame PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is used to
be the example to analyse the topic.
PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds (2017)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) (2017) is a new released online
battle royale videogame developed and published by Bluehole. It was released
for Microsoft Windows on Steam’s early access program in March 2017 and the
full Windows version will be publishing and supporting release by Microsoft
studios by the end of 2017. PUBG is
based on the previous mods (DayZ: Battle
Royale) of ArmA2: Operation Arrowhead (2009), developed by Brendan Greene.
Brendan Greene who is the creative director of Bluehole. It is a realistic shooting
action game, up to one hundred players fight in a battle royale, a last-scale
last man standing dealthmatch. Players can choose to play whether solo or with
a small team, the surviving one or team will win the game. Player’s characters are skipped to the island
without any items. After landing, players will be able to search for the
weapons, medical supplies or other equipment to protect themselves. Every few
minutes after the game start, the “safe” area will be zoomed in toward a random
location.
Landing
Players are allowed to set their
character by themselves, whether gender or race, which sexual and racial
discrimination do not exist, unlike Resident Evil series, same as a shooting
action game, shooting to the black people cause racial discrimination issues in
the real life. when Resident Evil 5 released, some people found that the number of black people characters decrease. However, PUBG
might cause a violence issue. PUBG’s
narration was based on a Japanese film Battle Royale (2000), which
was about a class of student fight for the last survivor. This film was
criticized and doubted by Japanese government that might affect adolescent behaviours,
at the result, become the first film must accepted the Japanese parliament’s
questions. The Narrative of the film and game both not ordinary or exist in
human’s real life.
Character
Character
Character
Battle Royale (2000)
Anthropy (2012, 3) mentioned
about the problem of videogames, most of them were reporting that dangerous to
children, because some of the narrative of the videogame might teach children
some bad behaviour. As PUBG to be an example, shooting an unknown
person is allowed. Games, digital transmit ideas and culture. Bogost (2010,
71-75) also had a similar idea, he mentioned about the concept of ideology and
interpellation. He indicated that hidden procedural systems drive social, political,
cultural behaviour referred to ideology. He quoted Karl Marx’s understanding of
ideology: “they aren’t aware of it, but they do it”. What he means is ideology
could not be realised in outside, it is expressed in internal, accompanied by something
happen in ordinary life. For example, it could a thought, manners, rules, etc. Ideology
is conscious, but it comes out unconsciously. Interpellation is a process
addresses ideology to individual. The concepts of ideology and interpellation
could be considered as the problem of videogame. The violence behaviour
presentation in videogame might address in human’s real life unconsciously.
PUBG becomes
one of the most popular online game, there are the first person and the third
person camera in this game. First person camera not only exist in PUBG, also other action game like Counter-Strike
(CS) (2000), which create realistic view for players make them feel
more like the game character.
Within six months, PUBG selling over ten million copies in
each kind of languages, players have peak reached one million. PUBG has overlooked Dota2 (2013), became the
largest numbers of players of Steam online game. WeGame published that PUBG
might decide to bring a free-to-pay version to Chinese market. (Khosravi,
2017) Although, PUBG have not officially entered in
Mainland Chinese market yet, Chinese people can pay to play by other area
version, for example, south east version or Taiwan version. 19 percent players
of PUBG are from China. (Matulef,
2017) Chinese language version is a bit different to the original version, the
blood players lost when get a trauma in the game in Chinese version is green
not red. Red blood were not allowed by the Chinese Government Censorship. Personally,
usage of green blood is a tool to isolate and clearly distinguish game world
and real world.
lost blood in original version
Green blood in Chinese language version
PUBG as a
radical text not only in people psychological aspects, but also cause malicious
competition. There is a ranking broad in PUBG’s
menu. Recently, A famous Chinese PUBG
players was revealed cheating by exploiting by another famous PUBG players. They were both a small
group celebrity in China, because of the popularity of PUBG, this has become a large and hot issue in Weibo and other
social media platforms.
However, Anthropy and Bogost
both consider videogame as an offbeat art work. (Anthropy 2012, 3) (Bogost 2013,
11) Bogost (2013, 10) indicated a concept of Dada (Dadaism) when he discussed “Art”
and videogame, Dada scorned traditional artisitic and social conventions in
favour of absurdism and recontextualization. He mentioned that traditional
notions of “art” should have meaning/ reflection to outside (social) or have a
context. Dada is desire for no meaning, there is no principle for “art”, it is
more focus on “art work” itself. Personally, Bogost means people considering
videogame, like PUBG, reflection,
resonance of the game should not be considered. He mentioned we must look
deeper to the particularities of specific aesthetic trends in game development
itself. (Bogost 2013, 12) In contrast with the “tradition”, creative and
technology development are what we should look forward. The creative ideas of PUBG, the creative way to play are worth considering. For
example, two Chinese online video platform uploaders play differently to each
other, they explore new way and funny way to play PUBG. Among, there included some bugs of PUBG, for example, how to land on the bridge, how to join others
team secretly.
DouChuan- How to join other teams secretly
DouChuan- New technique: landing on the bridge
More, Anthropy (2012, 9) indicated that the only real
barrier to game creation is the technical ability to design. As my example of
two Chinese uploaders, their video showed some bugs of PUBG, those bugs can help developer to improve their game. Game history
is also a proof Technology development. Videogame were transmit from 2D- field
to 3D-field, from stand-alone game to online game. Also, the
design of the game. For example, compare PUBG with CS, the background, items, and sound
effect of PUBG are better than CS’s.
In Conclusion, PUBG
as an example to discuss videogame as a radical text, might cause social or
political problem, bring bad effect to players. However, it also depends on how
people think about the development of game industry.
Bibliography:
Anthropy, Anna (2012). “The
Problem With Videogames.” Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs,
Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are
Taking Back an Art Form. New York: Seven Stories Press, pp. 1-21.
Bogost, Ian (2010).
“Political Processes.” Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, pp. 66-98.
Bogost, Ian (2013). “Art.” How to Do Things With
Videogames. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, pp. 9-17.
Grimshaw, M.,
& Schott, G (2008). “A conceptual framework for the analysis of
first-person shooter audio and its potential use for game engines.” International Journal of
Computer Games Technology, 5.
Khosravi, Rye (2017).
“‘PUBG’ Tencent: Riot Games owner
reportedly interested in ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’.”
Accessed September 16, 2017. https://mic.com/articles/183780/pubg-has-a-new-backer-in-chinese-tech-investor-tencent-it-could-mean-big-things-for-the-game#.0Wy4LfaYS
Lair, Zeus (2017). “Cheaters
caught in PUBG” (Video). Accessed September 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8NffaoZs_o
Matulef, Jeffrey (2017). “PlayerUnkown’s
Battlegrounds made $100m in 13 week.” Accessed September 16, 2017. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-23-playerunknowns-battlegrounds-makes-usd100m
知名游戏主播录制组 (2017).
“【逗川kshadow】裸体求生：大盘鸡日常 — 如何混进别人的队伍” (Video). Accessed September 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCKY63KR-Q
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