Video games are often criticized for leading to alienation and violence, but a new Swedish game focuses on... dealing with depression.
In a small Swedish town outside Stockholm, Simon Carlson is developing a new computer game. This is not a video game like any other. It is based on a different story that has to do with depression. More specifically, the plot concerns the members of a family who are struggling to overcome the psychological trauma left by a tragic accident. The father negligently hit his son with his car, fatally injuring him.
"I suffered from depression myself, so I was advised to try to find a way to deal with the boredom and sadness I was feeling on my own," says Simon Carlsson, continuing: "That's how I started working on the game, trying to decode the psychological issues that arise after a traumatic experience. It's a theme inspired by everyday life that we don't often encounter in video games.".
A game about struggling with sadness
"A Song for Viggo" is the name of the game. The player has the ability to choose the hero he wants to play as and freely shape his personality. "My goal is to make a game about depression, sadness, mourning. I want to show that conditions like depression are not cured at once but are a constant struggle," says the Swedish creator of the game.
The idea for the special video game is not unique. It is part of an independent, evolving market for games based on social issues. Another creator of similar games, Dutchman Mata Haggis, explains that the goal of this new market is not to compete with "classic" action and violent video games.
He believes that the buying public has associated video games with "guns, violence, spaceships." According to the Dutch manufacturer, "there is interest in games that deal with stories based on real experiences or stories with a dramatic character. To a large extent, this is due to the technology itself, since it now offers many possibilities for creating a wide range of games.".
The myth of violence
There is no doubt that video games have become synonymous with violence. Popular games such as “Call of Duty” and “Medal of Honor” have been criticized for corrupting young people by introducing them to a virtual world of violence. “There is a moral panic about video games,” says Mike Langlois, an author and psychotherapist at Harvard Medical School.
But he does not share the view that “violent video games create violent people.” He considers it an unfair generalization. Langlois even says that he uses video games for psychotherapy with young people. Games with a psychotherapeutic nature, such as “Song for Vigo,” could, according to the American expert, help some people manage traumatic experiences. “I believe that many people who experience intense feelings of sadness would evaluate them positively,” says Langlois.
Currently, independent video games like "Song for Viggo" are gaining more fans and the trust of parents who are experiencing the loss of a loved one with their children. "Song for Viggo" is expected to be released in 2015 for PC, Android and iOS.
Source: skai.gr
