Games, Dreamstates, Etc

I don't think it's been the first time I've realized it, but perhaps the first in context - the video games I play influence a particular portion of my wind-down and sleep cycle to the point that I consider them - their challenges, outcomes, surprises - in the course of the day's recollections and recap prior to setting the alarm and settling into a comfy alpha-wave.

At this point you're probably in one of two camps: either you're feeling sorry that a human being can have their "normal" functions sliced into this way by electronic entertainment and feel the usual bit of disconnected sympathy, or you've already been down this road and could probably write your own article about it.

But for both of you, I have a proposal, a vision, a hope.

Setting The Stage

I was playing the World In Conflict demo earlier today instead of heading out for the usual airsoft skirmish in the woods, which was looking to be a rainy proposition.

World In Conflict is a tremendously promising real-time strategy game that has what it takes to be Game of The Year, not least for its immersive sensory experience - you feel you're there - accomplished by a variety of clever audio-visual effects.

It's also a fairly complex game with a variety of strategies and tactics to implement in the hopes of victory. There are an endless number of ways to play, and, if you're like me, an infinite number of ways to get beat up and leave the battlefield thoroughly embarassed.

Point is, I take these defeats to bed, not necessarily in an emotional way, but in a semi-rational semi-visceral mix that ends up being a series of "replays". I might find myself imagining the smoke from an oncoming rocket, or visualising the glowing red chevrons that indicate the fatal flight path of an oncoming airstrike. These feelings, these ideas, feedback on themselves for a while before sleep comes around.

What strikes me is that these revolving scenarios and their constant replaying and reassessing starts to feel like how I approach scenarios at work - my brain is doing the same basic cycles when handling what is ultimately a completely fictional, fabricated situation.

Electronic, yes, entertainment, yes, but to the thinking brain, the line is growing blurry.

Enter Zoolander

I start to understand better why so many people enjoy "mindless" activities, and I'm starting to wonder if we might not consider the same direction for games - a new type of game that can influence mental "cool-down" activities in a new way.

Could we, for instance, devise a game that has an external sense of appeal, but has internalized benefits as well? Something that, instead of manifesting stress or worry in dreams or pre-dream states, can pave the way toward easier, more relaxing, more stress-reducing sleep?

A goal in this endeavor might be to engender certain dreamstates or dream scenarios that the user would like to have. We believe dreams to be metaphorical expressions of conflicts, questions, analysis, and other mental processes, and while they aren't under our control, games may be a conduit to "prime the pump" by introducing the necessary challenges or situations to build a desired dreamsequence.

Want to have a "flying" dream? Play "Game A" for one hour before bed.

The Why and The How

Perhaps this is as simple as introducing games that have no "skill" involved - the idea of "non-game" interactive experiences, such as digital gardening, touch surfaces, and electronic sketching experiences seem to be more in this category - but I think there's a subtle shift on the horizon that may move us toward "cool-down" games in evening activities, even if we don't openly admit - or realize - that we're gravitating toward them.

I'd say as even just as an escape valve for the future's ever-increasing stressloads, transitioning, at least at certain points, from common gunplay catharsis to a more theraputic model of games may be not just recommended - it may be necessary.

Wow.
A switch from blow-shit-up games?
I knew one day I'd say something like that.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm getting old.