A MAN PLAYING IN THE AGE OF VIRTUAL REALITY

Abstract

The paper considers the phenomenon of play activity in the virtual reality, where a new format of a computer game with a number of peculiarities has replaced a traditional game. A computer game is a hybrid of art and technology in the frame of which not only real objects, game appliances and other means of playing activity but also the players become simulacra. Taking into account R. Caillois’s game classification based on instincts, conscious and unconscious human needs, the authors try find out how a contemporary’s play behavior deviates in virtual reality of different game practices. Due to virtual communication, the agon games (competitions) are perceived not as a possibility of mere participating but as a kind of entertainment, a way to win on sweepstakes. The alea games (gambling) attract gamers with their confidentiality, possibility to play instantly and the unique reward system, even when they lose. Thanks to computer games, gaming practices mimicry (imitative) acquire a simulation character, where the contemporaries strategically work out various models of self-presentation through the role-playing behavior of computer characters. In a game simulation, he satisfies his vital anthropological needs, such as freedom, creativity, communication, finding meaning in his own being, the possibility of self-realization. The games ilinx (dizziness) virtually satisfy, above all, the basic fear factor, causing exaggerated feelings of an emotional drive from the simulation of all-accessibility and permissiveness. The anthropological significance of modern virtual games is ambiguous, and needs close scientific attention. Virtual games are massive and create habits, form the image, lifestyle and value orientations of a contemporary. In our opinion, they create a new type of modern person Homo Mobiludens [5], which is characterized by a new type of communication and new personality traits, in the formation of which an important role belongs to computer games.