When I think about games that I have most enjoyed, I immediately recall those that are a bit frenzied -- quick paced with quick thinking and reaction. This theme remains true for me no matter if the game is full body, like water polo, or sedentary, like the card game, speed. The games I prefer are very focused, and though many senses may be involved, the thrill, the motivation for returning to the game, is from the "mental kinesthetics", a brain sprint that can feel almost primal as adrenaline and instinct begin to dictate strategic choices.
Amping up time constraints could recreate this wired emotionality in a computer game. When the clock is running, the pressure is on -- true in the real world; true in the virtual world. The cyber arena, however, has monstrously monstrous visual capabilities (in this post pong era) that could create that sense of urgency as well, overloading the senses to overwhelm the mind. With monstrously monstrous monsters in fast pursuit one could definitely get his "fight or flight" feeling flowing. The so-called addiction to games, I suspect, comes from this animalistic, in the moment mode of operation. All else falls away. Multi-tasking ceases. (Can't wash the dishes and get your game on at the same time.) It is almost the flip-side to yoga, finely tuned and directed awareness as opposed to undirected awareness. Perhaps the best gamers are those that relax into that more undirected state?
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