The Game Boy: Mind Games

Posted 09/11/2009 at 10:00am | by Nathan Grayson

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Videogames have taken us everywhere. Space, the Wild West, the Oregon Trail, the future, heaven, hell, purgatory (Ever played Big Rigs? Yeah), World War II, the apocalypse, the post-apocalypse, and World War II again. You name it, and gamers have probably been there, done that, and gone to Hot Topic to pick up the T-shirt.  So, what’s left? Where are we to boldly go without even a walkthrough to guide us? Well, if you’re I’m asking me, I’d say we should forget the rest of our well-trod universe and try picking our own brains. Yep, it’s time for a bit of good old-fashioned psychology.

At this point, I imagine many of you are remembering simpler times, when tales of Rorschach inkblot tests, salivating dogs, and men who loved their mothers lulled you to sleep in your public educational institution of choice. And a few of you might be thinking of Psychonauts – to which I say “good!” We’ll get to that in a little while.

Anyway, games obviously aren’t the domain of stuffy old guys with fancy degrees and fancier couches. However, that doesn’t mean some of the more universal psychological themes can’t find their way into videogames. Case in point: Batman: Arkham Asylum.

While Arkham may be known foremost as the only Gotham prison less effective than a wet paper bag, it is – in actuality – more of a correctional institution than anything else. The game, then, portrays Arkham’s staff members as hard-working ladies and gents who are trying their darndest to crack classic nutcases like the Joker, the Riddler, Scarecrow, and Killer Croc. The player, as Batman, stumbles upon evidence of these correctional interactions in the form of taped interviews focusing on different villains.

That’s not the whole of it, though. As you comb Arkham’s corridors, the facility’s PA system advertises its world-class treatment programs, and practically begs you to visit its website. This cynical, money motivated attitude, coupled with Arkham’s clear focus on treating Gotham’s nastiest villains, would seem to cast a negative light on both people with psychological disorders and the practice of psychology as a whole. Honestly, though, I don’t think that’s the case.

Sure, the game’s not full of posters declaring that “Psychology is the best science ever” and “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is totally rad!” or anything, but really, it’s an asylum for the craziest crooks in all of comic-dom. Arkham Asylum is incredibly constrained in that respect, if only because its treatments have to fail in order to keep the Batman franchise’s villains interesting. “The Joker Opens a Legitimate Business,” unfortunately, doesn’t make for compelling reading.
 
Beyond that, though, I think the main problem with Arkham Asylum’s portrayal of psychology is all in its approach. It’s set in a madhouse. Cool, but that’s the full extent of it. Games, in my opinion, can do better. And some of them have. Where Batman gets a nice participation ribbon for setting its events in an asylum, games like Psychonauts, Killer 7, and Flipside take things a few significant steps further.