We want your ideas for a book on video game philosophy!

[roushutsu]

For Death and Ending, how about Persona 3?

Spoiler: The overall theme of the game is 'memento mori,' which is Latin for 'Remember you will die.'

The overall theme of the game is "memento mori," which is Latin for "Remember you will die."

There are a variety of things that allude to this. For example:

When the Dark Hour approaches, people change into coffins. This protects them from the shadows that lurk during this hour, but if someone has not changed into a coffin and has no means to protect themselves, then the shadows will attack them.

We have a robot who's character arc focuses on her learning what it means to be human and alive.

The mythological stories of Nyx and Erebus play a major part. If humanity truly wishes for death, Erebus will manifest and begin searching for Nyx, and should the two meet then the world is doomed. The entire purpose of the main character is to sacrifice himself in order to seal Nyx away from ever coming into contact with Erebus. And the "memento mori" theme comes full circle.

 

[Lewg999]

How certain games give the option for you to outright ruin the characters chances of success for the sake of your own curiosity whereas others refuse? For example in Batman Arkham City you're given the choice as Catwoman to not go back and help which results in an alternate ending where Gotham is doomed. Meanwhile in games such as Pokemon Black/White 2 , and i'm sure many others , you're offered the chance to reject going on a heroes journey or similar but if you do you're still forced into doing it anyway.

Good luck with the project

 

[BeeGeenie]

How about "progression through violence": The psychological tendency apparent in RPGs, FPSs, and other games that encourage violence as a means of progression/growth/success and it's implications about human nature?

Not that I'm advocating the whole "video-games make kids violent" argument, because that's dumb.
Rather that "violence in video games hints at underlying aspects of human nature and human perceptions about violence in general."

 

[Redd the Sock]

Being the finance guy, I've always wanted a more in depth look at how video games shape economic philosophies and how they can impact view of a real economy. A basic idea is that games can promote a very Ayn Randian view of a system where the player can grow based on the work they put into grinding and doing quests, but that doesn't follow into the real world where there's no infinitely re-spawning slimes to kill, no merchants selling unlimited potions or buying anything you offer without question, the inn has to make a profit and doesn't just keep functioning, and the money supply is subject to inflation.

 

[Waffle_Man]

If nothing else, please avoid the mistake of talking about games on a purely textual level. Just because a game has a three hour rant on a subject does not make that game about that subject. Not that you and your friends are necessarily going to do that, but seeing the your "meaning of life" category being dominated by systems of binary choice systems is a bit disquieting.

Another issue I have is that trying to tackle such a broad array of subjects is a perfectly good way of making all arguments fluffy and pointless. It would be far better to start with what video games are and work your way to what they can help us understand about ourselves. I suppose it might start to edge on a philosophy of art, but the end result would be far more compelling.

At this point the world of video game philosophy is rather disjointed and infantile, but it is not non-existant. I'd suggest looking at stuff like The ludologist, [http://www.jesperjuul.net/ludologist/] or errant signal, [http://www.errantsignal.com/blog/] or the escapist's own Experienced points [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points#] for a bit more of an academic/formal analysis (though that might be using the term loosely) of games.

 

[beyondbrainmatter]

So, what do you think are video games that present a real philosophical perspective on their own virtual world?

None. No game is meta enough for that.

Here's a somewhat relevant question though:

How do you play a language game without a broca's center?