Rather than Man the Hunter... Giant Hyena Chow, or Protein on the Go.
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Apr 26th 2006 at 9:45AM }
We're
goin to appeal to your patience and mental flexibility, again, reader, as we point you to this fantastic article that
develops an alternate theory on the origins of man and busts the myth that we've been almighty hunters for a very long
time.
First, read the article. Even if you don't see an immediate connection to gaming, there's plenty to like, what with images of giant pre-historic cousins of cats, dogs and eagles sinking their fangs, claws and talons into human skulls.
Next, think about what this means for games. Though games are cultural artifacts and therefore don't question cultural norms and standards, many successful games do manage to violently yank us back to a time when we were mere prey being hunted for someone else's dinner. Think about those jump-out-of-your-skin moments from Half-Life: such game moments play on fear that comes from hundreds of thousands of years spent fleeing from jaws of death.
The second critical thought in the article is that cooperation with fellow humans is what lead us to build technologies that protected us from predatory animals, and this urge too is echoed in games through coop modes that drive home the idea that we're stronger together than we are apart. And so we come to a view of games in which all game designers simulate just a few archetypal situations (flight, fight or cooperate) not because they lack creativity, but because we're still rather close to an age when mortal conflict dominated every waking moment.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
32_footsteps @ Apr 26th 2006 10:30AM
Though it was about horror movies, the Moxy Fruvous song "Splatter Splatter" manages to touch on this well.
One thing I think people overlook is that part of the survival instinct is that you feel good for surviving, even if you weren't in actual danger. I once nearly drowned in a swimming pool, and it felt unbelievably good once I managed to pull myself out from under the water. It was an unbelievable rush, and many of the sensations I had after that I've never had duplicated.
Now, when we watch scary movies, or play violent games, we tap into that to some extent. Being able to get a piece of that exhilirating feeling without actually putting yourself in any real danger? Some of the reward with none of the risk? Sounds like a good deal to me.
Whether they realized it or not, many people have gotten rich by playing on this idea.
Douggy @ Apr 26th 2006 11:00AM
Well, its tough to say that its video game related, but definately an excellent article. I particularly liked the last paragraph, where it states, ""the loathsome cruelty of mankind to man ... is explicable only in terms of his carnivorous, and cannibalistic origin." But if our origin was not carnivorous and cannibalistic, we have no excuse for loathsome behavior." It seems to suggest that war is unnatural to man. Maybe all of the production companies designing WWII games should take note...
san @ Apr 26th 2006 11:17AM
How novel is this idea? It's seemed for some time, in anthropology, that our ancestors were probably slower, weaker and less suited to their environments than the local predators. Our big brains, the ability to evade and out think, were what saved us as a species. Same thing that has brought us war and intolerable cruelty, our big brains. Too much space in there, space to store thoughts about what we don't have. Hey, Poland looks pretty good. That sort of thing.
32_footsteps @ Apr 26th 2006 11:34AM
Wow, this thread didn't take long for Godwin's Law to come into play.
san @ Apr 26th 2006 11:49AM
Russia invaded Poland in World War I, too. That wasn't invoking Hitler; that was a general statement about taking what is not yours in war, because you want it.
Jonn @ Apr 26th 2006 1:18PM
I'm sorry, I can't understand all of this "serious discussion". Would you care to dumb it down to something involving Nintendo?
Seriously, one could argue that if the genres listed above are based on survival, then more open-ended games are based on simple play.
>4. Wow, this thread didn't take long for Godwin's Law to come into play.<
Godwin's doesn't apply when the comparison to Nazi's is actually valid, and especially if it's not being used in an inflammatory way.
32_footsteps @ Apr 26th 2006 2:25PM
First off, when you reference Germany invading Poland in the modern day, it's an obvious WWII (and thus Nazi Germany) reference. I know that Germany invaded Poland several times, but the most frequent reference is for WWII.
As for Godwin's Law, it simply states that the longer a conversation on the Internet takes place, Nazi Germany or Hitler will eventually be brought up. It has nothing to do with flame wars, although it does frequently come up there.
Finally, there is the belief that Godwin's Law doesn't apply when the topic is World War II. Fair enough, but the original topic was prehistoric human instincts and how they affect video gaming today. So you can't use the WWII-as-a-topic dodge.
san @ Apr 26th 2006 2:43PM
I didn't mention Germany. I mentioned Poland, a loose allusion to invading Poland. I never mentioned Germany. Other nations have invaded Poland. This is getting goofy, but I have to say, you're the one who caused a Godwin's Law scenario: I never brought up Nazi Germany, you did.
jaemz @ Apr 26th 2006 3:13PM
Techincally... Douggy brought up WWII, which was full of Nazis and Germany references. However, I don't remember anything about WWII and punctured monkey skulls.
Hmmm, I wonder if Godwin's Law covers time travelling monkey Nazis being stalked as prey and carried around by large cats in Poland.
32_footsteps @ Apr 26th 2006 4:01PM
Of course I invoked Godwin's Law - I said it, which means I invoked it.
However, san, you just demonstrated it. You can pretend all you want, but when you talk about an invasion of Poland (which you did), the most immediate reference is the most famous invasion of Poland, during World War II.
You can try to cite vague words all you want. I'm just calling a spade a spade. Just admit it and move on with the discussion. There's no shame in it.