Telecommunications concepts and applications

¶ … Speed (NFS), the popular racing game that has arrived, I think, at its eighth version already (without mentioning sidetracks such as Need for Speed Underground). The game is highly successful and it incorporates what we may refer to as "role-playing," although not in the meaning generally associated with another category of videogames.

First of all, Need For Speed is not about driving, but about racing, something we all must enjoy doing once in a while, because it is on the edge and, perhaps, also because it is illegal. It is still illegal in the game, with cops chasing you when you pass the legal limit, however, as the greatest advantage of any videogame, even if you are caught, nothing happens to you in real life.

So, as a first observation, NFS was created as a predictable reaction to the outside restrictive environment (we will see later on whether there are any implications from NFS). This is a characteristic generally shared by many computer games, from strategy to role playing to flight simulators: you get to be someone you are not in real life, may it be a pilot, a general or a rally driver. This is exciting, both for teenagers, who are still building their own universe and for grown ups, who have a place with different rules to retreat to.

The second thing about NFS is the cars. Not only do you get to drive, but you drive incredible cars, from Jaguar to Lotus and from Ferrari to Lamborghini. Obviously, these are the types of cars a regular person does not generally drive. Yet, NFS makes it possible.

Third of all, Need For Speed includes the necessity of performance as a criteria for success. Indeed, as you start of in the game with one car and drive around several tracks which are available, as the game progresses, you have the option to choose a larger variety of cars and several hidden tracks are revealed.

Additionally, the last versions of Need For speed have created scenarios where you gain money from the races and you can use it to improve your car, buy additional parts or simply switch it altogether. This seems important to note, as it may have some implications in real life as well.

From the description of the game so far, Need For Speed appears to be a combination between role playing (rally driving, something you do not necessarily do in real life) and economic venturing. Let's have a look into both aspects, in order to analyze any possible implications that may arise.

First of all, I have mentioned role playing. As any form of reality denial or rather temporary denial, NFS can prove a positive factor, but only to a point. Admittedly, we all feel the need to ditch real life from time to time, simply take a break from it and there are several ways to do it.

Many people turn to books, which, just as much as videogames, are a different reality in which we like to plunge. Music, the theater, forms of entertainment in general, are forms of temporary refusal of real life aspects. In many cases, just as much as in video games, forms of entertainment provide ways in which we can, at least for a strict period of time, adopt different personalities or imagine ourselves in posture less probable in real times.

As I have previously mentioned, Need For Speed achieves exactly this dimension. It is interesting to note, however, that many videogames (and NFS is no exception in this case) are not necessarily the rule-free world we may actually be looking for.

Indeed, referring strictly to Need For Speed, the car races are illegal and you may expect to be caught by the police who will most likely give you a ticket. Just as in real life, you can take your chances and play against the rules, but you have to face the consequences deriving here from.

Of course, we may be asking ourselves about the social impacts and consequences such a game may have. Are we to believe that someone who plays NFS will go out and start racing in the city? (noting, of course the fact, that many of the tracks in NFS are outside the city, although this is not a rule. Later versions of the game have brought, however, tracks from Iceland, rough areas in Canada, etc.). Is such a game similar to the impact violence in movies may have on society?

In my opinion, this is obviously not the case, since one should be able to discern between real life and the imaginary. Video games, NFS included, are similar to movies in this case and to the discussion on the subject that may derive here forth. However, I will emphasize the existence of certain rules from reality that populate NFS. One example was the police that watches the speed limit.

The second example, which I have briefly mentioned previously, refers to the economic aspect. Need For Speed is not simply about racing, about beating the imaginary opponents and about getting the best times and scores. It is not even fully about passing onto the next levels, as many of the games rely on to get the player's attention. It has an economic goal, as I have mentioned: getting to the next levels allows you to buy better parts for the car and thus improve its capabilities for the subsequent tests that come.

In this sense, it is interesting to note that the main objective of the game, driving to the highest level, has a worldly and most real motivation: economic gains.