A Theory of Play's Revolutionary Power | Playfulness 

Seems like a crucial addition, and great food-for-thought. For me however, I'd like to think that 'changing oneself' is not an act done in a vacuum. You don't just lock yourself in at home, play some video games and poof - you've changed yourself (for the better I'd hope?). Your change of self happens in the context of the wider society and all of its forces/narratives/roles. I stopped playing video games 10 or so years ago (not for any particular reason other than I got interested in other things), so my knowledge of the video game industry is limited and outdated. I am curious on your (or someone else's) perspective on the following: given the video-game industry is also not in a vacuum (predominately oriented around profit seeking), and, despite it having, as you say a 'great potential in psychologically impacting its players', what sort of 'impact' are we talking about here. Surely, most games are not geared towards self-emancipation from the status quo, or less politically charged, psychological self-actualization. Many games, from what I gather - looking mainly at my 16 year old brother's manic obsession with video games - are mostly in the category of entertainment - not that entertainment cannot be radical (well, that's an interesting question for another time...) but I hope you see my line of query here. In short: video games "have" the potential for immense psychological depth, but what kind and just how much of what people actual play, have that at the centre of focus... otherwise, anything by definition has >. Just some random, somewhat messy, online stranger thoughts. Hope you're well all the same :)

@@9robke123Indie tabletop rpgs provide fertile soil for that. Lyric games (not what it sounds like) grew from them and play with the idea of "play" itself from a sort of transcendental angle. I too play less video games these days, because these new forms have captured my heart ~

It isn't just that those games deal with political themes, but rather, that those political themes only exist within the confines of the game. When you play a game like Jet Set Radio, you don't go out into the real world and begin spray-painting walls and fighting cops. "Grafitti is art, but it's also a crime," says the disclaimer before the start-screen. By merely playing Jet Set Radio, you aren't pushing any boundaries with regards to concepts of private property or personal expression. Instead, "play," as the Game Overanalyzer puts it, can reconfigure OUR conceptions of those things and inspire us to go into the world and enact change--or rather, bring play into the world.

@@malcolmflanigan1159 Elegant summary, I believe you are correct as I took away the same meaning from the video. Either way, it's fun, informative and very gratifying to see mature discussion such as you two are creating here, which doesn't involve constant insults and personal attacks. Games bring so many of us together, it's universal appeal speak wonders of it's effectiveness of conveying powerful emotions and having a direct effect on how we both express ourselves, but also view the world around us. One recent case I found inspiring was of the crowdfunding to repair a Tori gate that had been damaged by a storm in Tsushima island in Japan. Gamers were motivated to donate to the repairs due to their love for Ghost of Tsushima. It's this powerful feeling of intimacy that games instill in us that I've always been gravitated towards.

@@malcolmflanigan1159 You might be right about that. But what's so fascinating to me is how big of a motivater games and art in general can be

@@SimpleArt93 Thats 100% true and thats why I love these smaller communities so much(its hard to keep that atmosphere up in a bigger community, since the more people there are the more deconstructive people there are, although groth is generally good for discussion since more viewpoint are applied). I feel like you can have really good, constructive arguments here. The Tsushima thing sounds so cool, i have to look it up. Reminds me a little of the recent Gamestop thing

the problem is that people saying it's the medium of freedom. but like you sayed it has limitations too.