Delving into the world of computer games

KARLIN LILLINGTONreviews Fun Inc.By Tom Chatfield Virgin Books, 258 pp, £12.99

THE FIRST video game arcade that opened in my California town in the 1980s caused a concerned outcry and a flurry of letters to the editor.

Even though it was based in a bright, cheerful corner shop, parents worried that kids would waste time on seemingly pointless games, be psychologically damaged and become good-for- nothing loiterers.

I was working across the street and my friend Lisa and I joined right away, spending most of our work breaks competing for the high scores on Centipede and Galaga, surrounded by small boys so intent on their own game-play that they never seemed to care that grown-up girls had invaded their space.

That mismatch between concern and reality was my introduction to the emotions, uncertainties, realities (and just plain fun) of video gaming. Fast forward several decades and the concerns remain the same, but now, there are scholarly studies on whether games promote violence and disconnection, or create community and develop useful skills (like help produce tomorrow’s surgeons).

In Fun Inc., author Tom Chatfield delves into the controversies and joys of computer gaming and makes a passionate, although not always entirely convincing, argument that games are, as his subtitle declares, “the 21st century’s most serious business”.

Big business they certainly are. More than 350 million people worldwide play games, including 65 per cent of US homes. Factor in online gaming subscriptions, and this was a $40 billion global business in 2008, matching the film industry and expanding faster.

Chatfield delves into many misapprehensions. Gaming is still popularly viewed as an industry for adolescent boys, yet in the US, almost double the amount of adult women play games as teen boys (33 to 18 per cent). The average age of a gamer is 35. This is clearly an entertainment industry that increasingly has something for almost everyone, from short, “casual” online games to the immersive blockbusters.

A fascinating, myth-puncturing chapter looks at games “addiction” and sex and violence, placing concerns in context with previous generations’ alarm with some films and books. Studies indicate “addictive” gaming to be a symptom of broader disorders, not a disorder in itself, Chatfield sensibly argues.

He wryly notes: “Sex and violence aren’t nearly as high up the list of what most people demand from games as most critics assume”. Of the 20 bestselling console games of all time, only one features real-world violence and it has an adult rating similar to a film rating.

The top three are all gentle, family-oriented games.

Given the book’s exploration of the many quite serious and challenging aspects of games via philosophy, culture, economics and psychology, I’d have preferred a more structured and formal writing style as well as footnotes rather than the book’s blend of informal chat and argument.

Although very balanced, at times Chatfield pleads his case a bit too earnestly, like a mediator that is actually related to one of the parties in a dispute.

Fun Inc. though is a lively, thought-provoking and thoughtful read on an entertainment juggernaut many of us have failed to properly recognise.

A good book, too, for parents, who might feel far more comfortably informed about a sector that can come across as – literally – an alien world their kids inhabit.

Karlin Lillington writes about technology for The Irish Times.