How to Do Things with Videogames

20. Drill

20 Drill When considering the unique powers of videogames, we may cite their ability to engage us in thorny challenges, to envelop our attention and commitment, to overwhelm our senses and intellects as we strive to master physical trials of a battle or work out the optimal strategy for an economy. Usually we’re right when we think this, no matter the subject or purpose of the game. Indeed, one benefit of games over media like print, image, and film is how effectively they occupy our attention, forcing us to become practitioners of their problems rather than casual observers. From algebra to zombies, good games captivate us with sophistication of thought and action. If we imagine that this sophistication is the gain on an amplifier , we might realize that some problems don’t need the levels cranked up to eleven. And not just because they’re casual games or games meant to relax us or to facilitate our interaction with friends. No, some games just don’t take on topics that interesting . They’re regimens more than experiences. Tools more than art. Drills more than challenges. The International Civil Aviation Organization requires that flight crews provide passengers with explanations of the safety and emergency features of a commercial aircraft before takeoff. If you’re a frequent flyer, you’ve heard such demonstrations enough that you probably ignore them. Air travel is very safe, after all, far safer than driving. According to statistics aggregated by the science news source LiveScience, the odds of dying in an airplane crash in the United States are 1 in 20,000, compared with 1 in 246 for falling down, 1 in 100 for motorvehicleaccidents, and 1 in 5 for drIll heartdisease.1 Statistically, the flightsafetydemonstrationwould be more productively used to dissuade passengers from eating at the fast-food restaurants in the terminal on arrival. Despite the low risk, who can’t spare five minutes? Why not figure out where the nearest exits are and remind yourself how the oxygen masks work? The best reason is not the most obvious: theairlines’ demonstration practices haveactually made it harder to do so. Things didn’t used to be this way. As late as the midcentury, commercial air travel was downright dangerous. When boarding the luxurious Boeing B377 Stratocruiser in 1950, a Pan American passenger might have been well advised to study the safety card, given that thirteen of the fifty-six Stratocruisers built suffered hull-loss accidents between 1951 and 1970. But today, aswe jockey foroverhead spaceand attempt tosettle into the uncomfortable crush of economy class, air travel is too ordinaryto meritcuriosity, letalonefear. Therearetoo manypassengers and too little time to personalize. Thus the safety demonstration plays right into the weary ennui of contemporary air travel. After September 11, flight attendants won a long-fought battle to be recognized as safety workers. The results have been helpful from a labor perspective, but they haven’t done much for overall passenger safety. As Drew Whitelegg describes in his book about flight attendants, Working the Skies, airlines don’t draw any more attention to matters of safety than they absolutely must, lest they turn off rather than attract customers.2 In some cases, like Southwest Airlines’ famous safety rap, individual flight attendants have taken it on themselves to liven up thecabin, to make theannouncements more fun (and probably to make their jobs more tolerable). More recently, the airlines have adopted a similar approach as an official corporate strategy. For example, my hometown airline Delta introduced a new safety video in 2008, featuring ashapelystrawberry-blonde flightattendant as its narrator. The video included numerous cuts to closecrops of her face, accentuating her high cheekbones and full lips. drIll At one point, she playfully wags a finger in front of the camera, rejoining: “Smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight.” Her name is Katherine Lee, and she’s actually a Delta flight attendant, not just a spokesmodel. The Internet dubbed her “Deltalina” thanks to her resemblance to sexpot actress Angelina Jolie (she’ssinceadopted the nameand becomea minorcelebrity). The YouTube video of her security shtick has been viewed over two million times.3 She’s appeared on television talk shows and on CNN. Wired.com called her “Delta’s Sexy Safety Starlet.”4 In a weird historical inversion, this very much is your father’s Pan Am. In a similar, yet weirder maneuver, Air New Zealand ran an in-flight safety video...