Games have an ＂unexpectedly＂ new value
Editor’s note:
In recent years, the rise of online games has attracted great attention from all walks of life. Mr. Fang Zhenghui’s article "Games have" unexpectedly "acquired a new value. Rational and emotional are intertwined, and memories and prospects are accompanied by each other. It is like a spring breeze to read, and it is deeply beneficial to read it carefully.
The happiness of childhood accompanies the game, and the process of growth accompanies the game. The author starts from the colorful childhood memories to talk about the game, which seems to be tranquil and peaceful, but also deeply "unexpected". He analyzes the relationship between virtual world games and real world life, and the impact of games on people’s lifestyle, spiritual world, and cultural concepts. Then he reveals with an insightful perspective: in the general trend of Chinese enterprises "going global", online games have established camps and fought overseas with their unique civilian and capital advantages, and have broken out into a world. In fact, they have become the bearers and disseminators of Chinese culture. As an important part of the digital economy, games and the real economy promote each other and develop together, and become the embodiment of a country’s hard power in science and technology and soft power in culture.
Perhaps as the author said, today’s "games" are no longer the entertainment products that can be ignored, nor are they just for urchins, but "unexpectedly" have a new value.
An old artist, Mr. Ying Ruocheng, once told an interesting story when recalling his childhood: One year during the Spring Festival, when a large family had dinner, he quietly hid in an unknown corner and wanted to see if everyone was in a hurry to find him and then came out to give people a surprise. As a result, no one looked for him. He fell asleep in the corner until he woke up hungry and found that the building was empty and there were only remnants left on the table – everyone forgot about him. Mr. Ying Ruocheng humorously said: Don’t think how important you are, no one takes you seriously. When you heard this story, you couldn’t help but laugh and think about it. Many people will remember the funny thing in childhood when they played games and didn’t care to go home for dinner. A few years ago, the phrase "Mom calls you home for dinner" became a popular Internet celebrity phrase, and the touchpoint that initially resonated was to evoke the memory of people playing and playing in childhood and forgetting to go home!
The joy of childhood accompanies games, and the process of growth accompanies games. What we don’t understand when we are young is that we grow up little by little through the role substitution and imitation in games. Times change, thanks to the development of electronic science and the Internet, the relationship between virtual world games and real world life is strong, and the impact on people’s lifestyle, spiritual world, and cultural concepts may be far beyond our imagination and cognition. The degree of "surprise" can’t be overstated as "shock".
Our understanding of online games has gone through several stages of continuous change, and it may also be regarded as a stage of continuous development and improvement of games: at first, the game was relatively simple, entertaining, relaxed and enjoyable, relieving stress, chatting for entertainment, and a little bit of control, which is beneficial and harmless; after that, the game became more and more rich and complex, making full use of the magic of sound, light and electricity technology, integrating life, culture, thought, emotion, history and reality, carrying a certain function of education and dissemination, and began to evolve into a cultural and social phenomenon, which attracted much attention and caused some controversy; then, with the update and iteration of Internet technology and business model, online games have leveraged the rich soil of the Internet to become an industry with great potential and promising prospects; in the general trend of Chinese enterprises "going global", online games have become an industry with their unique folk and capital The advantages of setting up camps overseas, struggling to make a difference, and in fact becoming the bearer and disseminator of Chinese culture, the mission significance is revealed; today, game technology also widely radiates to aerospace, medical and health care, smart cities, film and television creation and other fields, its industrial value is no longer limited to the cultural and entertainment industry. As an important part of the digital economy, it promotes and develops together with the real economy, becoming a manifestation of a country’s hard power in science and technology and soft power in culture.
Today’s "game" is no longer the entertainment product that can be ignored, nor is it just the specialty of urchins, but "unexpectedly" has "power and value that can no longer be underestimated". Recently, the research group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released a research report, defining "game technology" as a technology cluster that realizes large-scale application in video games for the first time, with the main purpose of enriching and improving human interaction experience; game technology has become a natural incubator and test field for the innovation and development of many cutting-edge technologies, accumulating a large number of unique technical capabilities; game technology provides a unique scientific and technological contribution rate to our country’s chip industry and important infrastructure such as 5G, and has become one of the important sources of promoting scientific research and innovation development. The report points out that emotional value judgments about games are not conducive to our true understanding of the whole picture of games and the technology behind them. Reviewing game technology from the perspective of scientific and technological innovation will not only help the whole society to re-understand the value of technological innovation contained in the game industry, but also better play a key role in the development process of digital integration.
The report refreshes our understanding of "games" in concise, clear, accurate and powerful language. This research report has a clear awareness of problems and social concerns. It is not only the result of rigorous academic research, but also reflects a strong humanistic spirit. It is clear, easy to understand, credible, and has considerable persuasive and infectious power. It has brought us many "unexpected" inspirations and thoughts.
Just a year ago, some media also criticized online games as "spiritual opium", causing an uproar in public opinion. Colleagues and friends can often be heard complaining about children’s addiction to online games, and there are many who think that it should be "completely banned". When the public talks about games, the feelings of contempt, unease and even anxiety reflect the reality that game technology has rapidly expanded and penetrated into people’s lives. This is a normal reaction. However, the statements and practices of some senior "players" are "unexpectedly" calm and representative: games have been around since ancient times and have been evolving, and now they are just electronic and online. Games have a strong social function. For today’s generation of online natives, rejecting and rejecting games makes it impossible to communicate with others. Just like our childhood was forbidden to play, which goes against nature and growth laws, and easily causes loneliness and closure. For online games, it is better to guide them than to block them. Play games with your own children, let the children contact and feel normally, and guide the children to recognize and distinguish the pros and cons of games and high and low technology during the interaction process, so as to gradually improve the children’s independent judgment ability and play the functions of game puzzle, fitness, competition, and communication. In this way, the children will not be addicted to mobile phones, and will also enhance the parent-child relationship. Maybe it is not easy to do this, but cognition determines behavior.
Technology has always been a "double-edged sword". When humans take advantage of the benefits brought by an innovative scientific and technological achievement, it is in principle impossible to rule out the occurrence of adverse changes. The significance of the rule of law, supervision, and rules is to make necessary constraints and demarcate boundaries, so as to incentivize and protect innovation, promote scientific and technological progress and social development, rather than giving up and putting new technologies in the cold. It is not easy to develop new technologies, and it is also not easy to solve the many problems that arise after technological development. But it is better to have problems than not to have any problems at all. After all, civilization moves forward in solving bit by bit problems, and development is the last word.
Game technology relies on the support and promotion of content. When games full of Chinese cultural symbols go overseas, they have inadvertently become the messenger of spreading Chinese culture and enhancing exchanges and integration – which is also an "unexpected" joy. According to the data of the global survey report on China’s national image conducted by some institutions in recent years, the young group has a more positive and objective impression of China than the middle-aged and elderly group. The reason behind this is that the young group has no stereotype of China and is less influenced by ideological factors. Second, they have relatively diverse information channels to understand China. They obtain information more through the Internet and social platforms, and their understanding of China is also more diverse and closer to the objective reality of China. It can be said that games have played an important role in it, and there is still a broader development space in the future. Its far-reaching impact is unpredictable.
In recent years, the overseas market of China’s self-developed games has continued to grow, and the revenue growth rate is higher than that of the domestic market. Many games have entered the top of the global best-selling list, and the international competitiveness has been significantly improved. While attracting players, games with the core of Chinese culture have also become a cultural weapon for differentiated competition in overseas games. Values and worldviews are the soul of the game. Only when the game has rich and valuable cultural connotations can it move the audience from the depths of emotion and make them loyal players. Therefore, for game designers and producers, it is not only necessary to stand at the forefront of game technologies such as multiplayer networking, real-time communication, and holographic images, but also to enhance the content of Chinese culture. To tell Chinese stories well, it must be truly melted in the blood and rooted in the heart. It is not something that can be easily labeled, and players will not buy it. In this regard, we still have a lot of shortcomings to make up for, a lot of homework to do, and a long way to go.
In the process of Chinese culture going global, there are both intentional flowers and unintentional willows. The same sky and the same land are full of color and color, so as to reflect the magnificent atmosphere of Chinese culture’s tolerance and accumulation. We are optimistic about the irreplaceable role of games in international communication. Confucius has a famous saying, "Those who know are not as good as those who are good, and those who are good are not as good as those who are happy". The game is a thing, and its magic that makes all kinds of people enjoy it is rarely matched. This alone gives us reason to believe that in the feast of cultural going global, no matter how various roles change, games are indispensable; when technology and art are two-way, and technology and culture are deeply integrated, games will definitely bring us more surprises and surprises.
(Author: Fang Zhenghui, a senior media professional)