Psychonauts: Fighting a war for mental freedom… and losing

  I’ve never been a natural gamer. During my childhood I rarely ever played video games and if so, my choices consisted of Harvest Moon, Nintendogs, and those Imagine Chef and Babysitter games. I wasn’t interested in too much of a challenge, but more the interactive aspect of petting a puppy by tapping a stylus or learning how to create a five-course meal by dicing and sautéing virtual meats and vegetables at my leisure. I found my experience with the video game binge to be much different. I chose the game Psychonauts, about a young psychic character named Razputin

who must undergo a series of obstacles. The setting of the game is in a really creepy camp, and campers interact with Raz occasionally, which I found disturbing. The picture shows two of the campers who continuously yelled, “punch” while Raz must punch down a number of wooden targets with limited time. It took me approximately 17 times to complete the challenge, and once completed, I had to turn the sound off for the rest of the game.

I chose this game for it’s obscure graphics, and I must say it exceeded my expectations with originality. Some of the characters reminded me of cartoons from my childhood, which lured me in more than I think a first person shooter game like Call of Duty would. However, constantly getting stuck in ditches and having to repeat tasks 3 to 4 times frustrated me, and has kept me from playing the game since. I think the ideal audience for this game targets younger teens (12-16), for the dialogue felt very juvenile along with highly repetitive obstacles. 

            For the video game binge I definitely think group binging has been the most helpful. When I would get stuck, I could ask my group and immediately someone would be able to help or provide some advice. In my experience, group binging encouraged my hermeneutic momentum. By binging in the morning, I gained more confidence in my playing, and became more invested in the show. I think I would have been less inclined to play had we first binged individually, and met later on in the evenings. This is important to notice, for it goes beyond playing video games. In the future, I intend on studying more in groups, as I’m finding this sense of community can have a great influence on one’s motivational abilities, and can further induce individual work.