The Spectacle, the all encompassing world of media and advertisements that surround us, is rather hard to get away from according to “Piercing the Spectacle”. I actually agree with most of what the writer says, but disagree with some of the writers views on using games to replace real world action. “Through fantasies of agency we are entrained to satiate our needs for personal power in a realm where we can create no real disturbance to the web of control that enfolds us.” This is true only because we feel we have no power in the real world. In games we have all the power. No “games are not a rehearsal for life”, as the writer says, but can help train us in difficult situations when to assert ourselves. The real world has consequences that cannot viably be tested without generally dire consequences, for example loss of job, housing, imprisonment, and these are for basic things, for instance standing up for what you believe in. Games allow us to explore these things and vent frustrations without any repercussions.
As for gaming being addicted, I think most people can say that yes it is, but no more addictive than most other forms of media and entertainment. The spectacle is all about getting people hooked on their products be it a game, a TV show, a movie, a retail store, or a brand of clothing. The writer says that mobile gaming is a distraction for you brain and on that I agree but it’s a distraction from the spectacle that surrounds us everyday. Playing games is along the same lines as reading books are the train. The mind does need distraction sometime especially when it receives tons of information of a daily basis, why wouldn’t you want to distract it for a little mindless fun, when you are otherwise doing another mindless activity anyway. While it is true that the spectacle does exist to distract us or get us hooked, it does not necessarily follow that we will be hooked or distracted by the spectacle. To put it bluntly, I do feel that because of the spectacle that we are less likely to do anything against the people running the spectacle because they hold the power, usually in the form of money, and for the most part we do not.