When we think of games, there's all kinds of things. Maybe you're ticked off, or maybe, you're looking forward to a new game. You've been up too late playing a game. All these things happen to me. But when we think about games, a lot of times we think about stuff like this: first-person shooters, or the big, what we would call AAA games, or maybe you're a Facebook game player. This is one my partner and I worked on. Maybe you play Facebook games, and that's what we're making right now. This is a lighter form of game. Maybe you think about the tragically boring board games that hold us hostage in Thanksgiving situations. This would be one of the tragically boring board games that you can figure out. Or maybe you're in your living room, playing with the Wii with the kids, and there's this whole range of games, and that's very much what I think about. I make my living from games, I've been lucky enough to do this since I was 15, which also qualifies as I've never really had a real job.
對於遊戲,每個人的感受都不同 你可能興趣缺缺,也可能期待玩新遊戲 或者你為了玩遊戲而熬夜太久 這些經驗我都有過 但是一說到遊戲,大家常想到的就是 第一人稱射擊或是大受歡迎 又稱為 AAA 的熱門遊戲 或者你玩的是 Facebook 遊戲 這就是我和我的夥伴以前做的一款遊戲 如果你玩的是 Facebook 遊戲,我們現在 正在製作這個規模較小的遊戲 你也許想到無聊斃了的桌遊 那些感恩節時不得不玩的遊戲 這可能就是窮極無聊的桌遊之一 你可能已經想到了 或者你在客廳裡 跟小孩玩 Wii 或類似的遊戲 現在你知道遊戲的種類極多 而這些就是我每天在想的東西 因為遊戲是我的職業 我有幸在 15 歲那年就踏進這個產業
But we think about games as fun, and that's completely reasonable,
也就是說我至今沒做過一份真正的工作
but let's just think about this. So this one here, this is the 1980 Olympics. Now I don't know where you guys were, but I was in my living room. It was practically a religious event. And this is when the Americans beat the Russians, and this was -- yes, it was technically a game. Hockey is a game. But really, was this a game? I mean, people cried. I've never seen my mother cry like that at the end of Monopoly.
遊戲在我們眼中就是好玩,這完全可以理解 不過,我們來想想這些狀況 這個是 1980 年奧運 我不知道你們當年怎樣 但我可是以宗教般的狂熱在客廳裡鎖定電視 這是當年美國打敗俄羅斯的瞬間 真是難以言喻 對,運動也是一種遊戲 冰上曲棍球也是種遊戲 但這真的只是一場遊戲嗎? 我是說,觀眾都哭了耶 我從沒看過我媽 在玩完大富翁時哭
(Laughter) And so this was an amazing experience.
所以這真的是很震撼的體驗
Or, if anybody here is from Boston -- So when the Boston Red Sox won the World Series after I believe, 351 years --
或者要是這裡有人來自波士頓 在波士頓紅襪隊贏得世錦賽 終結我想是長達 351 年的飲恨紀錄時
(Laughter)
他們贏得世錦賽的那一刻,極為美妙
when they won the World Series, it was amazing. I happened to be living in Springfield at the time, and the best part of it was, you would close the women's door in the bathroom, and I remember seeing "Go Sox," and I thought, really? Or the houses, you'd come out, because every game, well, I think almost every game, went into overtime, right? So we'd be outside, and all the other lights are on in the whole block. And kids -- the attendance was down in school, kids weren't going to school, but it's OK, it's the Red Sox, right? I mean, there's education, and then there's the Red Sox, and we know where they're stacked. So this was an amazing experience, and again, yes, it was a game, but they didn't write newspaper articles, people didn't say, "You know, really, I can die now, because the Red Sox won." And many people did.
當時我剛好住在 Springfield 記得最棒的就是 在女廁關上門 我記得都能看到「紅襪隊加油!」 我想不會吧?這也太誇張了! 連家裡都沒人在,因為每場比賽 嗯,我想幾乎每場比賽都打到延長賽,對吧? 所以我們都在外面,整條街的燈都亮著 學校出席率也下降,連小孩也不例外 因為孩子們不去上學 但都沒關係,因為這是紅襪隊耶,對嗎? 一邊是上學一邊是紅襪隊 在我們心中地位高下立判 所以這是很美好的經驗,而這也是 一場遊戲,即便報紙上沒報導 當時人們說「我現在死而無憾」 「因為紅襪隊終於贏了」,許多人真是這樣想
So games, it means something more to us. It absolutely means something more.
因此遊戲,對我們的意義更深 在我們心裡的意義比想像中複雜
So now, this is an abrupt transition here. There was three years where I actually did have a real job, sort of. I was the head of a college department teaching games, so, again, it was sort of a real job, and now I got to talk about making them as opposed to making them. Part of the job of it, when you're a chair of a department, is to eat, and I did that very well -- and so I'm out at a dinner with this guy called Zig Jackson. So this is Zig in this photograph, this is also one of Zig's photographs. He's a photographer. And he goes all around the country taking pictures of himself, and you can see here he's got Zig's Indian Reservation. And this particular shot -- this is one of the more traditional shots. This is a rain dancer.
現在讓我作個有點突兀的轉折 我曾經擁有一份認真的職位三年 我擔任某大學的系主任 教作遊戲,所以勉強算是認真的工作 只是我作有關遊戲的演講,而不是製作遊戲 有天我出席一個晚宴 吃飯常是系主任的工作內容,我也超在行的 我正和一個叫 Zig Jackson 的人吃飯 這是 Zig,這也是 Zig 照的相片 他是位攝影家 他走片全國到處攝影 在這張圖中是 Zig 的印地安部落 而這一張照片,算是比較傳統的構圖 這是一位祈雨舞者 這是我最喜愛的照片之一
And this is one of my favorite shots here. So you can look at this, and maybe you've even seen things like this. This is an expression of culture, right? And this is actually from his Degradation series. And what was most fascinating to me about this series is just, look at that little boy there, can you imagine? We can see that's a traditional Native American. Now I just want to change that guy's race. Just imagine if that's a black guy. So, "Honey, come here, let's get you a picture with the black guy." Right? Like, seriously, nobody would do this. It baffles the mind. And so Zig, being Indian, likewise it baffles his mind. His favorite photograph -- my favorite photograph of his, which I don't have in here -- is Indian taking picture of white people taking pictures of Indians.
你也許看過類似的照片 這是文化的表現,不是嗎? 但這其實出自他的「羞辱」系列作品 這系列作品讓我感興趣的昰 看看那位小男孩 想像一下,現在他是位美國印地安人 現在我要更改他的種族 想像他是位黑人 「親愛的,來和這位黑人照相」 沒有任何人會這麼做 如此行為令人不解 所以Zig,身為印地安人 一樣無法了解這種行為 他最喜歡的一張相片 也是我最愛的相片,我沒放在這裡 是一位印第安人拍攝白人拍攝印地安人 的照片 (笑聲)
(Laughter)
所以我剛好和這位攝影師吃飯
So I happen to be at dinner with this photographer, and he was talking with another photographer about a shooting that had occurred, and it was on an Indian Reservation. He'd taken his camera up there to photograph it, but when he got there, he discovered he couldn't do it. He just couldn't capture the picture. And so they were talking back and forth about this question. Do you take the picture or not? And that was fascinating to me as a game designer, because it never occurs to me, should I make the game about this difficult topic or not? Because we just make things that are fun or will make you feel fear, that visceral excitement. But every other medium does it.
而他正和另一位攝影師談話 討論最近完成的攝影工作 工作地點是在印第安保留區 他帶了相機準備拍攝,但當他抵達時 他發現他做不到,他沒辦法按下快門 所以他們倆來回地討論這個問題 到底該不該照相? 身為遊戲設計師,我對這話題極感興趣 因為我從來沒想過 我該不該創作有關敏感議題的遊戲? 因為我們只是這做些好玩的東西而已 或是讓人感到害怕、打從骨裡地興奮 但任何其它媒介都面臨這個難題
So this is my kid. This is Maezza, and when she was seven years old, she came home from school one day, and like I do every single day, I asked her, "What did you do today?" So she said, "We talked about the Middle Passage."
這是我女兒,她叫 Maezza 她七歲那年,有一天從學校回來 我一如過往地問 : 妳今天在學校做了些什麼啊? 她說 : 「今天老師教中間航道」 譯註: 中間航道 (Middle Passage) 奴隸貿易航線
Now, this was a big moment. Maezza's dad is black, and I knew this day was coming. I wasn't expecting it at seven, I don't know why, but I wasn't.
這一刻意義非凡,因為 Maezza 的爸爸是黑人 我早知這一刻會到來,但沒想到她七歲就接觸到了 我不知道為什麼,我覺得太早
Anyways, so I asked her, "How do you feel about that?" So she proceeded to tell me, and so any of you who are parents will recognize the bingo buzzwords here. "The ships start in England, they come down from England, they go to Africa, they go across the ocean -- that's the Middle Passage part -- they come to America, where the slaves are sold," she's telling me. But Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and then he passed the Emancipation Proclamation, and now they're free.
所以我問她 : 「那妳認為呢?」 她就跟我說,你們若也是家長 一定會認出那些像賓果般的用詞 她說: 那些船從英國起駛,往下走 到了非洲,再橫越海洋 那就是中間航道的意思,然後抵達美國 然後奴隸在美國被賣掉 但是林肯選上總統後 他通過解放奴隸宣言,然後他們就自由了 她頓了大概十秒
Pause for about 10 seconds.
「媽咪,我可以去玩遊戲了嗎?」
"Can I play a game, Mommy?"
我心想,就這樣?
And I thought, that's it? And so, you know, this is the Middle Passage, this is an incredibly significant event, and she's treating it like, basically some black people went on a cruise, this is more or less how it sounds to her.
這是中間航道,一個歷史意義重大的事件 而她卻把它想成 像是一群黑人
(Laughter)
坐遊輪到處玩一般 (笑聲)
And so, to me, I wanted more value in this, so when she asked if she could play a game, I said, "Yes."
對我而言,我希望這能更具意義 所以當她問我可不可以玩遊戲時,我說
(Laughter)
「可以」(笑聲)
And so I happened to have all of these little pieces. I'm a game designer, so I have this stuff sitting around my house. I said, "Yeah, you can play a game," and I give her a bunch of these, and I tell her to paint them in different families. These are pictures of Maezza when she was -- God, it still chokes me up seeing these. So she's painting her little families. So then I grab a bunch of them and I put them on a boat. This was the boat, it was made quickly, obviously. And so the basic gist of it is, I grabbed a bunch of families, and she's like, "Mommy, but you forgot the pink baby and you forgot the blue daddy and you forgot all these other things." And she says, "They want to go." And I said, "Honey, no, they don't want to go. This is the Middle Passage, Nobody wants to go on the Middle Passage." So she gave me a look that only a daughter of a game designer would give a mother, and as we're going across the ocean, following these rules, she realizes that she's rolling pretty high, and she says to me, "We're not going to make it."
我剛好有一些小零件 我是遊戲設計師,所以家裡一堆這類東西 我說:「我們來玩個遊戲」 我把零件給她,並讓她上色作為不同家庭 這是 Maezza 當時的照片 天啊,我現在看到依然哽咽 所以她做好了這些小家庭 我拿了一些並把他們放在船上 這就是船,看得出是趕工出來的 (笑聲) 所以基本上,我隨便抓一把不同家庭 她說 : 「媽咪,你忘了粉紅色的寶寶 和藍色的爸爸」 「你忘了其他的人」 「他們也想上船」 我回答:「甜心,他們不會想走。這是中間航道」 「沒人想渡過中間航道」 於是她瞪了我一眼 只有遊戲設計師的女兒會給媽媽這種臉色 於是我們依照遊戲規則,慢慢橫越海洋 她意識到她的花費太大 她跟我說:「我們到不了終點」
And she realizes, we don't have enough food, and so she asks what to do, and I say -- remember, she's seven -- "We can either put some people in the water or we can hope that they don't get sick and we make it to the other side." Just the look on her face came over -- now mind you this is after a month of -- this is Black History Month, right? After a month, she says to me, "Did this really happen?" And I said, "Yes." And so she said -- this is her brother and sister -- "If I came out of the woods, Avalon and Donovan might be gone." "Yes." "But I'd get to see them in America." "No." "But what if I saw them? Couldn't we stay together?" "So Daddy could be gone." "Yes." She was fascinated by this, and she started to cry, I started to cry, her father started to cry, and now we're all crying. He didn't expect to come home from work to the Middle Passage, but there it goes.
她意識到船上的食物不夠吃了 她問我該怎麼辦,我說: 記得,她才七歲 「我們可以把一些人丟到水裡 或是我們可以寄望他們不會生病 並勉強活的到彼岸。」 而她,她的臉整個垮了下來 她說, - - 記得,這是經過一整個月 一個月的「黑人歷史月」教育 她竟問我: 「這些事是真的嗎?」 我說是。於是她說: 「如果我活的抵達, Avalon 和 Donovan 」 - -她的弟弟妹妹- -「他們可能會不見?」「是啊」 「但是我在美國就會看到他們了」「不會」 「我如果找到他們,我們可以在一起嗎?」「不行」 「所以爸爸有可能會不見」「是啊」 她入戯很深,開始哭了 然後我也跟著哭,她爸爸也哭了 我們一家人哭成一團 他完全沒想到下班回家會遇上中間航道 但事經如此 (笑聲)
And so, we made this game, and she got it. She got it because she spent time with these people. It wasn't abstract stuff in a brochure or in a movie.
所以經由玩遊戲,我女兒終於明白了 她之所以了解是因為她花時間和這些人相處 而不是像電影或教材中的抽象概念
And so it was just an incredibly powerful experience. This is the game, which I've ended up calling "The New World," because I like the phrase. I don't think the New World felt too new worldly exciting to the people who were brought over on slave ships.
所以才會是個如此難忘的經驗 這個遊戲,我最後命名為「新世界」 純粹因為我喜歡這名字 我並不以為,對於那些飄洋過海的黑奴來說 這新世界有任何值得興奮之處
But when this happened, I saw the whole planet; I was so excited. I'd been making games for 20-some years, and then I decided to do it again. My history is Irish. So this is a game called "Síochán Leat." It's "peace be with you." It's the entire history of my family in a single game.
但是經由這個遊戲,我發現了一個全新世界 我好興奮。有如我雖然創作遊戲二十幾年了 現在卻可以重新來過的熱情 我祖先是愛爾蘭人 這個遊戲名為 Síochán Leat 「願和平與你常在」 這遊戲涵蓋了我整個家族歷史 (譯註: 愛爾蘭移民史)
I made another game called "Train." I was making a series of six games that covered difficult topics, and if you're going to cover a difficult topic, this is one you need to cover, and I'll let you figure out what that's about on your own.
我創作了另一個遊戲叫做「火車」 我那時正在做一系列的六個遊戲 專門探討令人難以啟齒的歷史議題 而這個議題正是急需討論的議題之一 我讓你自己猜猜看「火車」的主題是什麼
And I also made a game about the Trail of Tears. This is a game with 50,000 individual pieces. I was crazy when I decided to start it, but I'm in the middle of it now. It's the same thing. I'm hoping that I'll teach culture through these games.
我也做了一個關於「血淚之路」的遊戲 譯註: Trail of tears,印第安切羅基人受迫西遷 這是個包含五萬個元件的遊戲 我決定開始做這遊戲時一定是瘋了 但是我現在仍在製作過程中 這些遊戲都一樣 我希望能夠透過它們教導文化
And the one I'm working on right now, which is -- because I'm right in the middle of it, and these for some reason choke me up like crazy -- is a game called "Mexican Kitchen Workers." And originally, it was a math problem, more or less. Here's the economics of illegal immigration. And the more I learned about Mexican culture -- my partner is Mexican — the more I learned that, you know, for all of us, food is a basic need, and it is obviously with Mexicans, too, but it's much more than that. It's an expression of love. It's an expression of -- God, I'm totally choking up way more than I thought. I'll look away from the picture. It's an expression of beauty, it's how they say they love you. It's how they say they care, and you can't hear somebody talk about their Mexican grandmother without saying "food" in the first sentence. And so to me, this beautiful culture, this beautiful expression is something that I want to capture through games.
而另一個我現在正在製作的遊戲,它是- - 因為我正埋首其中,講一下我就會哽咽 -- 這個遊戲叫「墨西哥廚工」 一開始它比較像是個數學問題 描述非法移民的經濟問題 但是我對於墨西哥文化了解愈多 -- 我的伴侶是墨裔 -- 我愈了解到 對所有人而言,食物是基本需求 對墨西哥人來說含意更深 它是一種愛的表示,它是一種 -- 天啊,我比預期中的還要容易想哭 我不要看照片好了 它是一種美的表示,是他們說我愛你的方式 他們的民族就是如此 你無法聽一個人描述他的墨西哥祖母 而不在第一句提到「食物」二字 對我來說,這美麗的文化,美麗的表達方式 就是我想要透過遊戲所傳達的
And so games, for a change, it changes how we see topics, it changes our perceptions about those people in topics, and it changes ourselves. We change as people through games, because we're involved, and we're playing, and we're learning as we do so.
所以遊戲能夠改變我們對事物的看法 改變我們對人們和議題的觀感 並且改變我們本身 透過遊戲,我們每一個人都會蛻變 因為我們參與其中,認真玩 並同時學習。謝謝。(掌聲)
Thank you.