Part 3: Counterexamples
The idea of player agency can vary in its application across the various genres and subtypes of games. From the aforementioned choice of "shoot the men in the head or load a checkpoint" commonly seen in the first person shooter genre (the most popular genre, market-wise). Others, like RPGs and similar subtypes (i.e. CRPG, JRPG, FPSRPG) will have player choice influence the progression of the narrative, with the quality of the RPG experience commonly being equated with the freedom given in that narrative leeway. One of the most critically lauded RPGs in recent memory in particular, Fallout: New Vegas, allowed the player to finish its narrative supporting one of three different factions, each with a different philosophical ideal, or make a personal bid for power to the exclusion of the other three groups. It was possible to finish the game without ever killing anyone using diplomacy and stealth- considered a high accolade in RPG communities.
However, children broadly will not be interested in games that directly reference Hegelian dialectics and the unending cycle of violence endemic to mankind. It's hard to find the numbers to back it up, but walk into any elementary school and ask the students what games they play, and nine in ten of them will tell you, "Minecraft". Minecraft is a game set in a theoretically infinite world where your goal is whatever you want it to be. Your primary means of interacting with this world is by, shockingly enough, mining and crafting- as well as building, killing, and eating. It is a truly freeform experience, offering next to no narrative whatsoever, with the player limited only by food and inventory space.
In many ways this would seem to be the perfect counterexample to the idea of false dichotomies in games intellectually preparing us for false dichotomies in real life, and in many ways you would be correct. In a game with no narrative, the illusion of choice can hardly be said to exist on the storytelling level- and with gameplay that seems to be the equivalent of throwing a toybox at you, it's hard to call that inaccurate as well.
However, children broadly will not be interested in games that directly reference Hegelian dialectics and the unending cycle of violence endemic to mankind. It's hard to find the numbers to back it up, but walk into any elementary school and ask the students what games they play, and nine in ten of them will tell you, "Minecraft". Minecraft is a game set in a theoretically infinite world where your goal is whatever you want it to be. Your primary means of interacting with this world is by, shockingly enough, mining and crafting- as well as building, killing, and eating. It is a truly freeform experience, offering next to no narrative whatsoever, with the player limited only by food and inventory space.
In many ways this would seem to be the perfect counterexample to the idea of false dichotomies in games intellectually preparing us for false dichotomies in real life, and in many ways you would be correct. In a game with no narrative, the illusion of choice can hardly be said to exist on the storytelling level- and with gameplay that seems to be the equivalent of throwing a toybox at you, it's hard to call that inaccurate as well.
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