While more exciting than the financial services industry, the game design industry in South Africa has yet to take off. The virtual gaming world, however, is bursting at the seams. According to the South African iolSciTech (an independent online publication), “people disappear into virtual worlds” because of several reasons: one of which is the immersive intensity of online worlds, which in turn leads to an addiction to virtual gaming.
Two of the most popular virtual games in South Africa today are World of Warcraft (WoW) and Second Life. Gamers have become pathological game potatoes because of the feeling of being in control of their virtual worlds.
WoW, which is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), has an endless adventure replete with rewards and challenges which can turn a person inward and forget about the real world. There are an estimated 12 million gamers around the world and they can connect with each other through the virtual arena. For many, it is a digital trading culture and something real where everyone has the potential to be a hero despite starting from an even playing field. However, it has been described as the virtual apartheid world because of the discrimination that goes on between factions.
Compared to WoW, Second Life is less fantasy and players actually spend real money to buy virtual items in the game. However, one can earn virtual money which still promotes consumerism. This is the main “fault” of the Second Life game according to critics and has taken the game to a virtual gaming level that is dangerous especially to young children. According to critics, it propagates the need to spend in order to enjoy oneself. For virtual gaming enthusiasts, it’s just a game.
For many South Africans who escape to the virtual world, the problem in the country is the bandwidth contracts which are limited. Since South African ISPs get their bandwidth from Telkom, there is a cap on their bandwidth. This means that playing Second Life can suddenly get cut as personal usage is taken up in a day. A personal cap of 10GB meant for one month’s use can be used up in a day especially with high speed internet. This means virtual gaming has some form of control in the sense that it’s become expensive to play. If a gamer wants to go over his monthly limit, he will have to fork out more money for additional bandwidth. Creators of virtual games like WoW and Second Life have always recommended unlimited bandwidth among in order to play the game properly.
Another issue that some South Africans have with Second Life is that the default skin colour of the avatars is white. On the upside, Second Life is being used to encourage South Africans to consider a career in animation even if the bandwidth issues have yet to be resolved.