![]() Today we tend to condemn escapism as a necessarily bad tendency: if people attempt to escape reality, it means something is definitely wrong with them rather than with the world they want to evade. Far from changing it, they refused even to explain it. They never intended to respond to reality or interpret it. They still endeavored to make players forget about their real lives at least for a while. But even in the 1990s, at a time of explicit demand for realism (translated not only into the very first 3D Polygon graphics for the original PlayStation but also into the Sega Genesis 1 games featuring characters with almost human body proportions), videogames were still escapistic. (1985), or The Legend of Zelda (1986) were perfect examples of escapism both in form and content.Ĭlearly, games evolved over the course of time. Such games as Adventure (1979), Super Mario Bros. These stories intentionally pave the way into other worlds, full of magic and superpowers. Indeed, the very first, basic game narratives unfolded in fantasy or fantastic settings. However, the origins of videogaming do provide a good enough reason for such designations. Inertia is the only reason to keep labeling videogames as an escapist phenomenon today. ![]() In other words, metaescapism is a form of escapism that is intrinsically antiescapist. This new aspect of videogaming is captured by the term ‘metaescapism.’ Just like metamodernism, which takes a detached perspective on the tension between modernism and postmodernism, metaescapism goes beyond both escapism and postescapism. The pandemic has revealed the role of gaming platforms as our non-human friends and companions that allow us to safeguard ourselves, our environments and networks as well as our familiar ways of life. Videogames today are denouncing the most urgent political and social issues, challenging ideologies, deconstructing cliches, advancing flexible thinking and inclusivity. ![]() The point is that instead of means by which to escape reality, videogames are offering the means for its exploration and explanation. Although escapist games do exist, the gaming culture of the past ten years has been dominated by postescapism. Videogame media are still conceived as a form of escapism, as if their only purpose were to provide a digital haven for those who are no longer able to cope with crude reality. ![]()
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January 2023
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