Trigger Happy
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flow or anything else: cognitive scientists have shown
that practicing complex sequences of finger movements
actually rewires neuronal connections in the brain until
they become automatic. A reduction in self-
consciousness is naturally pursuant upon the
observation that my critical “self” is no longer
controlling my mechanical finger movements, so that I
feel to that extent absorbed into the music itself. And
exactly the same process operates in videogames.
So here are two important observations about
videogame pleasure. Firstly, when you are really “in the
groove” of a well-designed, fast-moving action game
such as Robotron, Gran Turismo 2000 or Time Crisis 2,
one of the reasons you feel so fluidly involved is that
your muscle memory has taken over the mechanical
business of operating buttons, joysticks, trigger or foot
pedals. This clearly has important implications for
videogame designers. A videogame with a clunky or
overcomplex control system, such as G-Police—or,
even worse, RC Stunt Copter
45
—is not as much fun to
most players precisely to the extent that
_________________
45 A good candidate for the title of most pointlessly difficult videogame of
the decade, this “simulation” of a radio-controlled helicopter boasts such
counterintuitive and oversensitive controls that even seasoned videogame
critics switched off in sheer frustration.
