[NetBehaviour] Persuasive Games: Why We Need More Boring Games.

[marc]

Persuasive Games: Why We Need More Boring Games.

But why is Brain Age a success of this kind? It’s certainly a very 
different kind of game from Halo or even Miyamoto’s own Zelda series, 
games that allow the player to inhabit complex fantasy worlds. Instead, 
much of Brain Age’s success seems to come precisely from the 
ordinariness of its demands.

It is a game of chores, really, not of challenges. Games like speed 
arithmetic and number tracing actually become maddeningly dull after 
only a short time, but many players persist because they want to have 
the sensation of keeping their minds sharp. We use Brain Age like we 
might use an exercise video, or a bathroom book of aphorisms, or a 
low-carb cookbook. Whether or not the game really contributes to 
long-term mental health is irrelevant; it makes people feel as though 
they are improving their long term mental health. It satisfies a mundane 
need for personal upkeep.

As a medium becomes more familiar, it also becomes less edgy and 
exciting. This is what Marc Ecko means when he refers to movies as 
demystified. Over time, media becomes domesticated, and domestication is 
a mixed blessing.

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