Heroic Possibilities: Video Games as a Way to Learn and Understand Culture
In: Cultural Perspectives of Video Games: From Desiger to PlayerSearch for other papers by Alexis Rodríguez Ramos in
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Video Games, like any other game, are a way in which people relate to culture. They are cultural artefacts. Following Lev Vygotsky’s cultural mediation theory, we can establish that video games contribute to teach some aspects of culture. According to Vygotsky, social interactions with others and with tools are important aspects regarding the development of the mind. Through the interaction with tools, in this case video game hardware and software, people learn to interact with technology. They also have the opportunity to exercise their logical thinking, attention, memory, and other higher cognitive functions. Through the interaction with other people, even virtual ones, people learn cognitive patterns. Games demand a particular way of thinking in order to advance through them. Gamers develop a particular reasoning that is necessary for solving the problems and situations that take place in the games; however, this kind of reasoning can be used to solve common everyday problems. Also, games teach us about culture. Through avatars, games reproduce some discourses that privilege a specific set of social values and behaviours that are characteristic of post industrial societies. Like the mythological heroes of the past, these avatars represent those characteristics that society has established as desirable in a human being. Analysed here are three of the most influential characters in video games. Kratos from the God of War series, Snake from the Metal Gear: Solid series, and Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series. I discuss how these characters reflect, through a combination of their physical representation and their actions, some of the social and cultural frameworks that enable the consideration of these characters as new heroes.