The Problem of the Combat Metaphor

It would be a bit odd to talk about reading books or watching films in terms of combat.  For example, at least in our society, we never use phrases like "I finally beat that book" or "I just won that new movie" unless we are being literal (perhaps we won a book in a contest).  However it is not especially odd to describe our experiences with videogames in these terms.  To prove this claim, I did a quick experiment   A google search for "I beat the Legend of Zelda" returns 105,000 results, whereas a search for "I beat Life of Pi" returns zero results.  In case that was simply too high brow of a film, I also did a search for "I beat Taken 2", which also returned nothing.

So, why does it matter that we talk about videogames as though they are combat?  For my thesis research I've been reading Metaphors We Live By.  In this book, Lakoff discusses how our every-day metaphors shape our perceptions by emphasizing certain aspects of a concept and deemphasizing others.  When we consider videogames in terms of combat we emphasize the competitive aspects of gaming, and privilege difficulty over artistry and mechanical challenge over emotional or intellectual stimulation.  This limits our imaginations in regards to what videogames are and can be.

What's more, there are a growing number of games that do not fit the combat metaphor.  Dear Esther is an especially good example of a game where the combat metaphor fails us, and as a result we don't know what to make of it.  Both supporters and detractors are unsure if Dear Esther is a game or not.  There is no challenge of any kind, and the end does not evoke the feelings of triumph we associate with winning.

If we can manage to put aside our VIDEOGAMES ARE COMBAT metaphor for a moment and look at Dear Esther with fresh eyes we may see that the style of interaction in Dear Esther is the same as interactions in first person shooter videogames.  First person shooter interactions typically consist of the following: 1. first person viewpoint (looking through the player character's eyes), 2. an inability to directly manipulate the environment, 3. inability to climb in the environment except for possibly ladders, 4. small and largely unimportant jumping, 5. narration from either disembodied recordings or nearby nonplayer characters, and of course 6. Shooting.  There are occasionally other mechanics such as taking cover or crouching, but many first person shooters do not include those.  Dear Esther contains the majority of these interactions.  I contend that Dear Esther is in fact a videogame in the tradition of first person shooters.  If we weren't so hung up on the fact that players do not shoot anything over the course of the game, more of us would see the parallels and understand that a videogame can be more than our combat metaphor suggests.