04/07/2022
#從電子遊戲看香港
《從電子遊戲看香港 – Part VI》
《Hong Kong In Video Games – Part VI》
【Can Video Games become the cultural vehicle for Hong Kongers? - 電子遊戲可以成為香港人的文化載體嗎?】
Games can represent Hong Kong’s culture through visuals, soundtracks, characters, stories and language. The spacetime in games is free from the limitation of reality; game developers can use their imagination and creativity to create a whole new virtual world for players to explore. Then why would game developers choose Hong Kong as the blueprint of their games? Aesthetically and culturally, Hong Kong is a city full of oxymorons.
“The city’s dramatically constricted space brings its contradictions into sharp relief. East and West; technology and tradition; poverty and wealth; Cantonese, Mandarin and English; past, future, and present; all exist together in curious harmony. This assault of sound, light, and colour—of compressed architecture drenched in neon and rain—evokes an emotional pressure cooker. They underscore that the differences in Hong Kong are greater than the similarities; the city’s enduring identity is its lack of any singular identity. They portray the simultaneous sense of beauty and estrangement this brings.” - Dr Hugh Davies.
It gave Hong Kong its unique and distinct aesthetics, or in other words, how Hong Kong attracts others. By looking at games made in other countries that reference Hong Kong aesthetics or cultures, we can examine what constitutes Hong Kong aesthetically and culture and what defines and expresses Hong Kong’s identity from others' perspectives.
電子遊戲可以經視覺、音樂、人物角色、故事內容和語言重新演繹香港文化。正因遊戲裡面的時空脫離現實所限， 可以讓創作者利用創意和想像，創造全新的虛擬世界供玩家探索。 那為何許多遊戲開發商仍選擇以現實中的香港作為遊戲藍本呢？ 可能因為香港是一個在美學和文化上充滿矛盾的城市。
「香港極為狹窄的空間，清楚映照出重重矛盾：東方與西方，科技和傳統，貧窮與富有，粵語、普通話和英語，過去、未來和現在，有趣地並存着而毫無違和感。霓虹招牌漫照、風雨刷洗的擁擠建築物，帶來聲、光和色彩的衝擊，叫人情緒翻騰激盪。凡此種種都告訴我們，存在於香港之內的差異，遠比相似為多，而一直以來這個城市的特點就是擁有多重身分，給人既美麗而又有所隔閡的感覺。」 - Dr Hugh Davies
香港獨特的美學， 正是香港吸引之處。 香港人可以從觀察世界各地遊戲開發商以香港美學和文化為背景的遊戲，了解在他人眼中香港的美學和文化，從而反思我們應如何定義和表達香港（人）的身分。
As we can see, games can mean much more than their entertainment value. They form communities, change how we think and speak, and shape our entertainment industries; Like our language, they are a powerful cultural vehicle (文化載體). A cultural vehicle is the art forms, languages and ideologies that carry our exclusive and local distinctive characteristics, which can display our ideas, hobbies, identities, aesthetics etc. and transmit them to other cultures. But unlike a language, games are much more accessible and popular. It can be influential to an enormous amount of people, especially teenagers. Just like the upsurge of arcade games in the 1970s, when we could identify and develop our culture and identity alongside games, if Hong Kong can create more games about ourselves, these games will be inherited with our norms, values, identities and languages.
Like dropping a stone into water, the resonation of ripples stayed way longer than the rock itself. Games could be the most powerful way to preserve and promote our communities, culture, ideas, vision for the future, and lessons to future generations. But just like with any power tools, games could be exploited; they could become the battlefront between conflicting ideologies and cultures. Therefore, I argue that Hong Kongers should emphasise our uniqueness and identity: Hong Kongers should not be faceless people with no persona. Dismissing our unique essence to seek to accommodate and appeal to others will only make Hong Kong(ers) unrecognisable.
遊戲的意義比它們表面娛樂價值更為深遠。 它們可以組成社群， 影響我們的思想，語言和文化； 正如語言一樣， 遊戲是一個非常強大的文化載體。 文化載體是所有可以展示我們的想法、 興趣、 身份等的藝術形式， 語言和媒介。 遊戲作為文化載體展現了香港在世界中獨一無二的特色， 並將其文化，價值觀和美學傳播到世界各地。 玩遊戲比學語言門檻更低， 更容易影響更多受眾， 特別是年輕人。 就像上世紀七十年代街機熱潮般， 年輕人圍繞著遊戲建立他們的文化和身分認同；若香港可以開發更多有關香港文化的遊戲， 這些遊戲就能把香港的風土人情、 價值觀、 身分、美學和語言傳承下去。
如一塊石頭掉進水池， 泛起的漣漪會比石頭本身留在表面的時間更長久。 遊戲可能是保存和宣傳香港社群、 文化、 想法、 對未來的期許、 歷史教訓等最強而有力的媒介。 但正如所有強大的工具一樣， 遊戲亦可以被惡意利用；遊戲可能成為不同意識形態衝突和文化之間攻擊的戰場。 因此， 筆者認為應由香港人經遊戲強調香港（人）的獨特性和身分。 香港（人）不應是毫無個性的無面人。筆者認為若香港人對自身獨特性不屑一顧，最終香港（人）只會變得面目全非。
Food for thought: if you have the chance to make a game to represent Hong Kong, what kind of game will you make? Where will it take place? What is the game’s worldview/ “universe”? What language will characters be using? Will the game reflect a reality, an idea, a story, or a dream? What kind of “Hong Kong” will players experience?
反思： 如果讀者有機會製作一隻代表香港的遊戲， 你會選擇做什麼類型的遊戲？ 遊戲背景會在哪個地方？ 遊戲的世界觀又會是怎樣？ 遊戲中的角色會以什麼語言溝通？ 遊戲會否反映現實、 一個想法、 一個故事或是一個夢想？ 你的遊戲會呈現一個怎樣的香港？
Recommended read:
推薦閱讀：
吳偉明(2015). 日本流行文化與香港：歷史、在地消費、文化想像與互動.
Davies, Hugh (2018) Why is Hong Kong Such a Popular Video Game Location? 電玩中的城市：香港魅力何在？
Davies, Hugh (2018) Re: Presenting Hong Kong in Videogame Spaces
Fraser, A. and Li, E. (2017). The second life of Kowloon Walled City: Crime, media and cultural memory. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 13(2), pp.217-234.
Li, L. (2011) Presence of absence: Memory of the Kowloon Walled City
Previously: How do local games developers represent Hong Kong?
上集：本地遊戲開發商如何呈現香港？
Sources: internet, GHOSTPIE Studio, Scaffold Studio
圖片來源：網絡
The End of All Chapters (6/6)
完 (6/6)
作者：柯士甸道屙屎癲佬
校正：渺滄海之一粟
Author: Austin Road
Editor: Vienna
#街機 #遊戲 #回憶 #故事 #相片
