BA1 - Contextual Studies

In contextual studies we were introduced to a man called Caillois, a French man who lived in the 1900s and publised books on wanting a systematic classification of gaming and wrote his thoughts on gaming in his books.  For some home work, we were to answer this question:


Caillois states:
A characteristic of play… is that it creates no wealth or goods, thus differing from work
or art. At the end of the game, all can and must start over again from the same point.
Nothing has been harvested or manufactured, no masterpiece has been created, no capital
has accrued. Play is an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill,
and often of money…
As for the professionals – the boxers, cyclists, jockeys, or actors who earn their living in
the ring, track, or hippodrome or on the stage … it is clear that they are not players but
workers. When they play, it is at some other game. (Caillois: 1962: p.5)
Do you agree with Caillois’ ideas about waste?

Here is my answer:

In some respects, I do agree that playing in general and playing games is/can be a waste.  But in other occasions it is not.  In the occasions that it is a waste playing games they are gambling games such as bingo or slots where greed takes over resulting in loss of money and possibly debt which could then go on to ruin peoples marriage and family life.  These sorts of games are a waste of time and money because the chances of winning are 1 in a million.  Other games that are a waste are games like Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, World of Warcraft, Snakes and Ladders and Mine Sweeper are examples of pointless games.  World of Warcraft is known to be as addicting as gambling with people quitting their work and becoming detached from society.  Call of Duty and Modern Warfare are not seen to require much skill to play as you need a steady hand to shoot, but it's a pointless skill that doesn't help you in reality.  If you become top of the leader board at shooting in the game but then come to handle a gun in reality you wouldn't know how to use it properly.  Most games these days either board games or computer games are not relevant in reality and you don't gain any skill to use day to day.

Play and playing games that are relevant isn't necessarily about what kind of game it is, although educational games do have a purpose to educate, but about the reason to play them.  For example, to kill time on a long journey devices such as the iphone or ipad by Apple have various Apps to entertain for a period of time.  For parents who have young children keeping them entertained and busy is important especially if the parent is busy with work etc.  So in that respect, games are good to keep us occupied, to help kill time.

Games and playing them is, in a practical sense, a waste of time, money, skill and effort.  But, its beneficial for the human mind.  Its another way to keep our mind stimulated and engaged like playing a game of sport, but in a much different way.  With playing games we adapt a new character and state of mind for both board and computer games.  For computer games there are more and different elements than an board game.  For example, large and different locations that can be explored.  The human mind is vast and because of the power of imagination we can dream to be something we are not, to be some where we are not, to create something new and different.  Computer games help stimulate our imagination and our wanting to escape reality even if its for an hour or so.  Also, our need to compete, to be challenged, to somehow become better is helped fueled by gaming by getting points, high scores and unlocking achievements.  Playing games can also be described as a voulintery work, spending time working through the game to give us pleasure.  So overall, in someways games are pointless and a waste of time and money.  But in others very beneficial.  The amount of people around the world playing games, especially computer games is rapidly increasing; this must mean something, maybe the desire to escape reality is becoming an issue.