...In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, when you are in a plane bombing tiny targets below and hearing the chatter of the radio. And you think what fun. And yet are faintly appalled at yourself in the same moment...
...In Peggle, when you are close to hitting the last ball, the game suddenly slows, a drumroll breaks out, then the game explodes in a shower of fireworks and Beethoven's ninth symphony...
...When you reach the burning level in Portal...
...When you hit area 5 in Rez...
...When you realise that you really really want Sephiroth dead...
...When you're driving along in Grand Theft Auto 3 and have to pull over to listen to Lazlow and laugh your ass off...
You may have called this 'drama' in the past, thought it was story or story-like. Right sentiment, wrong framework. Games are magical on their own terms.
These and many more are thaumatic moments. When a game manages to break through the action-reaction barrier of gameplay and give you a glimpse of depth that you hadn't suspected possible, that's thauma.
Thaumaturgy is wonder working. It is the moment of crossing over, when you're not simply impressed or immersed. You connect. You believe. That's thauma.
And it is unique to games. It's what games are.
In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, when I'm in a Chopper Gunner, I'm humming Ride of the Valkyrie :)
Posted by: JamsAlx | 06 December 2010 at 11:50 AM