Game Theory out

 

We are in a time of great renewal, just as the seasons pass with the turning of the sun- shedding life and be born anew- does life move in seasons of growth, thriving, death and rebirth. Within the world of online internet content generation- lacking the precedent of other life paths- no one could know what a full cycle looked like, but now we can pretty safely nail it down to about 15 years. 15 years encompasses a full and successful career doing little else put creative pushing oneself to try and make consistently engaging content before they just can't do it anymore, either they drop off to low stakes hobbyists permanently or for large periods, or give up before ever reaching that point. Thus is the volatility of creative pursuits. And all this was initiated by the departure of a true legend of video internet creation who dared to look askew at the world of video games and see something rare- a genuinely non-condescending avenue for edutainment.

Many factors went into the creation 'Game Theory', many of which are largely beside the point for this blog, but most relevant today was the desire to drag opportunities to teach out of the video games that we play. Personally I've always found the idea of learning whilst gaming to be fun- which is part of the reason why I'm always down to try out the next Assassin's Creed game whenever they drop, regardless of the plateau of quality they bashed their head against years ago, simply for the hazy familiarity the instil on the time periods they cover. I can honestly say that Assassin's Creed introduced me to the basic concept of what the renaissance was far better than anyone else had at that point in my life. (Teachers really struggle coherently explaining that time period to children for some reason.) As such the very thesis of Game Theory really did connect with me on even a subconscious level- even back before I was engaged enough to really comprehend what they were going for.

Through topics as simple as ascertaining the approximate speed of Sonic the Hedgehog by measuring the real-life scale of in-game objects and using mathematical formulas to generate a hypothesis, to the absolute insanity of pixel measurements in pursuit of discovering Mario's height which both blew my mind and destroyed the benefit of the doubt in video game design philosophy from thereon in. (Do you think video game artists really scale everything perfectly to the pixel? They just wanna make things look cool man, you can't hold that to surgical precision!) Matpat introduced the scientific process to the creation of a theory to a whole generation without them even realising it. And considering the amount of people who recycle the phrase "That's just a theory" in reference to unsubstantiated hypothesis'- I suspect they still don't know that he did that. But hey, at least he tried!

Another important aspect of what Game Theory stood for was media interpretation- which I think holds such a significant place in the toolset of media consumption that it should probably be taught in schools! (Actually, I was taught this in school- but only to a primary school level; we really need more advanced classes to better instil this idea in us.) Matpat wasn't just like some out there who seek to discover the truth behind a narrative, reaching the creator's intent, he would also introduce us to the idea of glancing beyond that and developing independent ideas from evidence to conjure ideas far beyond what the creator intended. 'Mario is Evil', 'Mario is communist', (unrelated videos) 'Peach is dead'. Looking at and intelligently interpreting media like this are important steps to Media Literacy and honestly- I think there needs to be more a space for it in today's world.

The ability to watch and actually acknowledge the media that you're consuming is frighteningly rare in the modern day as the complacency of being spoon-fed information becomes more appealing to a the coming generation. Look no further than the recent Hazbin Hotel series, a emotionally intelligent jaunt into the concepts of redemption and confrontational morality under the guise of Demons trying to get accepted into hell. And a certain class of people out there just couldn't understand it. The amount of people utterly perplexed at the fact that Adam, the first man and head of the Angel exterminators, is an arsehole without grasping the rather obvious commentary that is on grandfathered prosperity and binary judgement just isn't paying attention. And I feel it is the good work of people like Matpat, who encouraged the exploration of media, that taught that valuable skill to a generation of snot-nosed Ipad kids like myself. (Minus the Ipad- couldn't afford one of those.)  

Of course, with sheer machine-gun volume of content being produced by The Game Theory team they couldn't be experts on every topic they chose. I remember personally being deeply disgruntled by his one 'debate' themed show during which a conversation on the quality of Dark Souls' game design was spurred on by the argument that Dark Soul's design philosophy was too obscure to be considered good on the grounds of a mandatory key for the main quest which could only be earned by crouching in a bird's nest for 5 minutes in order to be flown back to the starting game area in order to grind through a remixed iteration of the Undead Asylum- an unreasonably complex and not-at-all sign posted route that one could only really discover from reading a guide. Which would be a fair point- were that key at all mandatory. Which it isn't. That entire area is a hidden optional. I personally never knew it existed for my first three complete playthroughs of the game. Which kind of rendered the entire crux of that side of the debate moot.

But even then, that wasn't really the point of the video- it was to inspire critical thinking and to that end- it was a successful video. It got me critically thinking about how wrong the accusing side was on a fundamental level! The same could be said for some of the more modern Game Theory videos headed by the replacement staff which are similarly broached on topics the video writer clearly is not versed in and thus common details get messed up- such as Grand Theft Auto. When you get stuck in the nitty gritty of exact details- you miss the forest for the tree and lose the point. And Game Theory has always been a concept of positivity for video games, the way we see video games, and the way that video games can interact with the world and learning. And, of course, Matpat raised an obscene amount for charity along the way too.

And yes, I did say 'replacements'; because in typical 'retirement' fashion, Matpat is handing off his many channels to the next generation of Game Theory. Several people who he has worked with over the years and honed into representatives of the various niches of the brand, Style, Food, Films and Gaming- to create a sustainable flow of content for the foreseeable future. It will no doubt be a stretch, getting the audience to be totally on board with no longer seeing the classic host- but it's a risk worth taking a stretch more interesting than closing up shop with him as he moves into a state of semi-retirement. (I think he intends to still work on videos behind the scenes- the passing of the torch is largely symbolic for the moment.) Were it that we could have such a legacy to rest our heads on and pass towards the next generation. Good for Game Theory and all they've achieved, I hope they can keep up some sliver of that acclaim in the tough years to come.