Games as escapes, games as reminders

While dealing with the idea of people creating 'alternate universes' by immersing themselves within either games or MOOs, I was reminded of the game Passage.

The game itself is very simple in nature, its graphics herald back to the original Nintendo, as is the gameplay. The objective of the game is to walk along a passage, finding treasure chests which increase your score, this seems like a standard diversion, an easy thoughtless game that allows people to take some time out of "RL" and mindlessly collect treasure. However, the game reveals its true meaning as time goes on. Although I didnt notice at first, my character was slowly aging the entire time, as was the female sprite who i took to be my wife when i accidentally bumped into her, creating a love heart.

I was so wrapped up in trying to find treasure that it took me a while to recognize the changes, as they are incredibly minute, but eventually it became clear that my tiny pixelated sprite was balding, and my virtual bride appeared to be getting fatter. Undettered, I kept looking for more treasure, and sadly my wife eventually turned into a headstone and left me as a decrepit old man walking slowly around a virtual world. Then I turned into a headstone too and it was all over.

The game's author stated that he created it as a way for people to look at their own feelings and beliefs regarding their very meaning of life. Regardless of your actions in the game, it still ends the same way, with both of you dead (your points are not even displayed after your death, the logic being that your dead anyways, why do you need points?).

I thought this seemed similar to Dibbell's essay, as both use the apparently frivolous to echo real life. Although Passage does it in a very different way, I have been wondering about how much of a statement a massively multiplayer game would be able to make about the way we function as a society. Still theres no "A-ha!" moment in these communities, and people would likely continue to spend their time yelling at each other, racing to 'be the best', or focusing on sex. Then again, that could be a statement about society in itself.

You can download passage here if your interested: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=17004