Video Games VS the Court of Public Opinion
The Covid19 pandemic has forced most people to either work from home or not all. As a result, most people myself included have more free time on their hands. Most have resorted to reading more novels, watching Netflix, signing up for online courses or playing Video Games.
To be honest what comes to mind for a lot of people especially working class adults on the African continent and the world at large when Video Games are mentioned is, ‘a juvenile pastime’ of no societal value which no self-respecting adult would engage in (or admit to doing so to avoid social suicide). Adults and children alike are encouraged to indulge in more socially and professionally acceptable games such as Chess or Scrabble because they are perceived to be more productive.
Despite research results differing from the judgement of the court of public opinion the perception of Video Games is still negative. Let’s go down the rabbit hole and investigate how “shallow” Video Games are compared to the game of Chess. For this we will juxtapose Fighting games (a genre of video games) with Chess.
Pieces on the Board
In Chess, both sides (Black and White colour) have 16 pieces each comprised of 8 Pawns, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, 2 Bishops, 1 King and 1 Queen. These 6 unique pieces each move across the board in distinct ways, having different ranges and functions which are used as tools to get the better of opponents. In Fighting games, both sides have a character (some have up to 3) each which has upwards of 30 unique tools at their disposal.
More Tools More Problems
Unlike in Chess where each side (Black and White) have identical pieces (and or attack ranges for pieces) as tools at their disposal, In Fighting games, each Competitor will often have a choice of 16 or more different Characters (“Colours”; Black, White, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple, Orange etc) with different combinations of tools (“pieces”) at their disposal such that; while the “White” character may have 8 Pawns, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, 2 Bishops, 1 King and 1 Queen, the “Blue” character 8 Pawns,1 Rook, 1 Knight, 4 Bishops, 1 King and 1 Queen! Additionally, while the Rook of the “Green” character can traverse the length of the board, that of the “Blue” character may only go 5 spaces. These very unique differences (Archetypes) lead to very interesting and strategic battles between opponents.
Whose turn is it Anyway?
Chess Competitors take turns to move their pieces across the board one after the other (White pieces advance first at the start of the match). Fighting games are equally played in turns though there is a marked difference. Turns are not rigidly defined by arbitrary rules but are borne out of necessity and strategy. In Fighting games turns can be taken at the same time, sequentially, skipped, extended or even “stolen” depending on a competitors ability to psychologically dominate the opponent. As the name suggests Fighting games are essentially fighting simulators and are hence no different in concept from real-life professional boxing in that whoever imposes themselves dictates the pace of the match. You can essentially bully your opponent into submission till forfeit their turn.
Super Speed Chess
During the average professional Chess game, each Competitor has an average of roughly 10–15 seconds to strategize and contemplate their options before taking their turn. In Fighting games on the other hand, Competitors have literally a split second to make decisions between turns or run the risk of losing momentum and their turn as a whole. This exchange of turns goes back and forth at breakneck speed till the round is over and a winner emerges. The average competitive Fighting game match lasts for 3 minutes or less (2–3 rounds) compared to 45 minutes or more in a Professional Chess match. Consequently, Competitors have to compose themselves, strategize and adapt under intense pressure similar to what is experienced in Speed Chess. Below are some match breakdowns of Pro Players making Split-second decisions.
Brigadier General
In Professional Chess where a great deal thought can be put into strategy due to the time afforded the Competitors, Grand Masters can plan and anticipate 15 moves ahead before they take their turn. This is quite a remarkable feat. In Fighting games, however, despite a similar depth of strategic decision making a different approach has to be taken just like in real life high-pressure situations, multiple and sometimes back to back split-second decisions have to be made as Competitors do not have the luxury of time. Fighting game players would at most think 2–3 moves ahead and be forced to accept certain risks, minimise others and eliminate some (those of highest risk and likelihood) by adopting strategies which cover multiple options in order to get the most favourable outcome.
Note: Both Competitors need just 1 successful move to win the round.
Sindel: wants to take her turn but is wary that the Raiden will counter her with either of 4 options.
Raiden: doesn’t want to commit to a high-risk option so he delays getup to see what action the Sindel commits to before choosing an action.
Sindel: walks forward into Raidens attack range making 1 of 3 options very attractive then walks backwards to safety forfeiting her turn.
Raiden: commits to an action the moment he sees Sindel walk forward but misses because she walked back at the last second.
Sindel: punishes Raiden and wins the round!
The Boiler Room
Execution! Execution is something that is non-existent in Chess; it takes no skill to move a piece from b2 to f6. Whereas in Fighting games, execution adds to the distinction between a Casual Player and a Competitive Professional. You have to execute the required inputs with a degree of precision and or proper timing akin to that of a pianist for the desired “move” to materialise.
Quite often Competitors lose hard-fought close matches as a result of minor input errors. The difficulty in execution is often proportionate to the strength of the tool, for instance, the execution required to use a “pawn” level tool might be a single button press 🔼, while that required to use a “Queen” level tool would be ⬇️↙️⬅️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️⏺.So, it doesn’t matter how ingenious or complex your strategy is if you can’t physically execute it under pressure.
Without delving too deep (there are so many more layers), at this point I believe it should have become apparent that Video Games and Competitive Fighting games, in particular, are not as shallow as some people perceive them to be. They are an incredibly smart and often enjoyable medium for honing and developing skills which could easily be slapped onto your resume like; strategic planning, critical analysis, SWOT analysis, problem-solving, resource management, risk management, adaptability, resilience and the ability to work under pressure(Good luck telling your interviewers you learnt how to work under pressure while achieving Elder God Rank in Kombat League Lol).
So lets’ not be too hasty, as they say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover, see a man by his cloth, as there is often a good deal of solid worth and superior skill underneath a jacket and yaller pants”
