Entering the magic circle and adopting a lusary attitude

The inner life of a videogame and how it works is tied up with the inner life of the player (Poole 2000, p.11). Bernard Suits wrote a chapter in Salen and Zimmerman (2004). He describes what is unique about game playing, unifying the elements of game playing into one giving the necessary and sufficient conditions for any activity to be called a game. One of these elements is the lusory attitude (taken from Latin, ludus=game) “the acceptance of constitutive rules just so the activity made possible by such acceptance can occur” (Suits in Salen and Zimmerman 2004, p.190). When we play games we are trying to overcome unnecessary obstacles and we do this voluntarily and the question is why. In real life it would be seen as irrational to go through obstacles in order to achieve goals. It is always thought better to take the easy option however, without the cheats to a game it is impossible to take a short cut. To be successful in the game you must follow its rules no matter how irrational. From personal experience playing the game Tomb Raider III, in order to progress through the game successfully moving from level to level you must prove that you are worthy by being able to kill a certain thing, get to an enemy in a particular way or obtain a certain artefact without being killed. Usually when you do this you will be rewarded by progressing to the next world or obtaining another health pack, etc. But why go through all this when there is an even easier way. Being able to obtain cheats for the game I was able to skip certain missions, open a gate without the key or obtain a health pack without diving deep to get it. However, with other games such as San Andreas I do not know the cheats for this game and so whilst playing I adopt a lusory attitude by following the rules and playing the missions properly in order to earn money and respect. Salen and Zimmerman (2004) also discuss Johan Huizinga’s ideas about the magic circle. According to Huizinga if you trespass against the rules of the game then you are a “spoil-sport”. A person that cheats in a game pretends to play the game but still acknowledges the magic circle which creates a “spatial separation from ordinary life” (Salen and Zimmerman 2004, p.113). The magic circle may be physical e.g. a pitch or tennis court or it may be psychological such as a game of eye spy between friends. When inside of the magic circle there is no concern for what others outside of it are doing. As Salen and Zimmerman (2004) say the formation of social groups is promoted as friends get together to play the game. Sometimes when playing Tomb Raider III my friends and I get together we discuss cheats, what level we have managed to get to and we try and help each other out. Those outside of the magic circle whom may have never played Tomb Raider III do not know what we are talking about as they have never entered into the boundaries of the game.