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I found our discussion last week with respect to gamer vulnerabilities fascinating. In line with that, I’ve recently been interested in how the digital world can affect, or eek into the physical. For example, I have a room in my house dedicated solely to gaming and my gaming peripherals. I’ve enabled video games to transform a part of my house. This thought reminded me of the “algorithmic self” and how we ought to strike a “delicate balance between appropriating new technologies and being appropriated by them.” Again, more or less I’ve let video game technology appropriate a room, that for argument’s sake, could be put to other, maybe better uses, say a guest room.

I understand this may not be a “vulnerability” in the context of last week’s talk, nonetheless I suggest it can be, at least indirectly. Consider the behavioural effect of video games we discussed. Am I not bringing vulnerability closer to myself and therefore making myself more susceptible? The ease at which I can now game as compared to when I was a kid (i.e. waiting until the one television set was free) is measurable. Moreover, this isn’t a phenomena unique to hardcore gamers, video games are everywhere, and the ease at which we can play due to improvements in internet technology is also meaningful (e.g. games on smartphone). In this context, should we be paying more attention to vulnerabilities?

(picture sourced from: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/24/23420502/video-game-kid-brain-function-fmri)

Maybe not, we need to strike a balance! I came across this article by the Verge today (see: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/24/23420502/video-game-kid-brain-function-fmri) which refers to a new study that suggests “gamers have better performance on some tests of brain function.” According to the study (as cited in the article) this may lend support to the idea that games have  the potential to treat cognitive problems. In other words, there is therapeutic value in video games. This research is relatively new and yet to be fully explored, regardless, it will be interesting to see this push and pull as we learn more.

Two years ago was a strange time. We were in a pandemic, I started my first year of law school and Nvidia had just announced their new 30 series graphics cards of which I had the fortunate success of purchasing before the price increase, the supply shortage, and the crypto-mining surge. Nvidia is set to release their 40 series cards soon, however, according to PCWorld the cheapest of the new graphics cards will have a $200 mark up over their predecessor, and quite possibly even more of a price increase (see: https://www.pcworld.com/article/1074935/nvidias-tone-deaf-pricing-is-a-golden-opportunity-for-amd-and-intel.html). Yes, there are more inexpensive ways to game. I don’t want to suggest we need high-end hardware to enjoy a video game. I simply bring up the Nvidia story to address something we have yet to in class, that is, accessing video games, in other words, what systems, disks, digital files, etc. we require to game.

I don’t have the raw data on hand, however, I can surely tell you that it “feels” as if gaming has become more expensive. Is this really the case? Bloomberg writes that the “60$ video game dates back” to the 90s (see: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-09/game-prices-go-up-to-70-the-first-increase-in-15-years). However, in 2020 publishers for the first time in 15-years increased the price of video games to $70 using inflation as their justification (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-09/game-prices-go-up-to-70-the-first-increase-in-15-years).

(image from: https://sea.ign.com/nba-2k23-next-gen-version/190180/review/nba-2k23-review-in-progress)

Games can be expensive and have clearly gotten pricier. But what I mean by too expensive is not related to price of access necessarily, but price to play. I was talking to another classmate in Video Game law and they agree, a lot of new games implement grind elements that are just too time intensive. For example, NBA 2k for the past few years have made it where an aspect of the game, MyPlayer, and its online counterpart, MyPark, rely on time spent playing. To make your player competitive you have to play through the game to earn in-game currency (VC- VC isn’t rewarded well through sheer time alone). This currency is then used to upgrade attributes of your player. However, you can almost bypass the initial grind and simply buy VC with real dollars. In effect, many players are paying roughly 60-70$ on top of the game’s purchase price to make that aspect of the game enjoyable (MyPlayer/Park are also the most popular game modes). Although you can grind your character, this is almost a non-option for those who don’t have the time. As a result, myself and many of my friends have given up on the game.

2K isn’t the only preparator of making games “too expensive” but it has set a precedent. What does this mean for the busy gamer, should we simply move on? It seems as if game hardware (e.g. game consoles, PCs) and games themselves are getting increasingly expensive, do you agree?