Videogame taps into China’s disaffected urban youth
無論你身處哪個國家，“回不去的鄉村，待不下的城市”似乎已經成為現代社會的通病。在一款剛剛發佈官方中文版的美國獨立遊戲《Stardew Valley》（星露穀物語／像素谷）中，中國玩家看到了這一主題在虛擬美國的呈現：主人公遠離了都市的喧囂，過上了“面朝大海，春暖花開”的田園生活。而這個美國版“逃離北上廣”的遊戲敘事也毫無障礙地嵌入了中國都市年輕人的現實。 As ever increasing numbers of us move to cities, people today seem to have nostalgia for villages that no longer exist. Stardew Valley, an American indie farming game that was recently released in Chinese, shows that sentiment expressed in computerised form. In this virtual setting the protagonist quits the bustle of the city for a simple life on a farm. It’s an idea that strikes a chord with young people in China’s metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
虛擬世界的反城鎮化
Urban focus
細究過往的遊戲文本，遊戲作為一類新興文化體裁，總體說來對鄉村的處理是比較輕蔑的。以鄉村為主題的遊戲本不多見，即便零星有之，鄉村也不過一副乾癟的背景圖，被掏空了文化意涵。As a form of media, video games have tended to overlook rural life. There are few that are set in villages and when they are featured it is usually as a flimsy backdrop, with any cultural significance hollowed out.
與之相反，城市語言才是遊戲（史）的標準文法，城市的佈景、職業體系、市儈人情、生活方式等一直是遊戲敘事的中心。在城與鄉的關係上，城市絕對地控制著鄉村，鄉村或被忽略，或淪為戰場／廢墟，或成為城市的功能延伸。城市被渲染為繁榮、安全、充滿希望的主體；鄉村則是客體，被玩家賦予次等、不安全、必須離開的心理暗示。換句話說，遊戲史醒目地刻著“城市中心主義”的符印，鄉村並沒有展現出它應有的可能性。 The language of games is urban. The stories they tell are set in cities and are based around the jobs, relationships and lifestyles of people living in them. Villages are seen as subordinate and either ignored altogether or made into battlefields, ruins or extensions of the city.
《Stardew Valley》的問世，某種意義上是對遊戲史的反叛與超越。城市（生活）不再被設定為“進步”的代言者，反而變成“否定”結構的字符串，它剝削人、異化人，使人感覺壓抑；與之相對，鄉村（生活）則由“肯定”結構的代碼構成，它充滿人性溫暖，療愈每一位玩家。從城市逃離的主角在農場裡刨地掘土，撒下種子，收穫幸福。 Villages then are seen as unimportant, unsafe and as places to flee, whereas cities are flourishing hubs that offer safety and hope. Stardew Valley manages to rebel against this city-centricity of the video game industry. Set on a dilapidated farm once owned by the player’s grandfather, it challenges the assumption that urban life means “progress” and rejects it for its association with exploitation, alienation, and oppression. Meanwhile village life is affirmed as humane, warm, and nurturing of the individual. The downshifting protagonist tills his fields, plants seeds, and harvests happiness.
在遊戲的開場白裡，你是一個典型的都市上班族，生命處於特權階級的監控之中，並分化為工作／休息兩種形態。作為龐大社會生產中的一顆螺絲釘，你醒悟到現代都市工作、生活的本質，它正在對你實施雙重“異化”的操作。終於有一天，你受到祖父遺信的鼓勵，決心拒絕這種不幸，尋找生活的詩意。 The game’s opening portrays you, the player, as an average urban worker, monitored by the powerful and spending your time either in a state of work or rest. As one small cog in a huge machine you come to realise the true nature of urban living and working, which is characterised by alienation. But one day you inherit your grandfather’s farm and decide to end your suffering and go in search of joy.
你逃離了都市，在海邊小村有一所房子，自由地耕作、伐木、採礦、養殖、捕魚、經營副業，按照需要合理分配一天的勞動。與此同時，你還收穫了久違的溫情。鄉鄰們與你友善來往，協助你適應新生活，還不時寄送自產的小禮物。這份溫馨逐漸平復了你不安的心靈，於是你選擇在這裡落地生根、娶妻生子，過上幸福的鄉土生活。 You quit the city for a small home by the sea, where you farm, fell wood, mine, fish, raise livestock and trade, allocating your labour as you see necessary. And as you do so, you discover the warmth you lacked for so long. Your neighbours are friendly and help you settle into your new life and occasionally present you with gifts of their own produce. Over time your soul heals and you decide to settle, start a family and enjoy a happy rural life.
祖父的遺信表露了《Stardew Valley》的思想主旨：當你感到為現代生活所掩埋時，返回鄉土去尋找人生的真諦吧！這也是遊戲提出的第二種可能性，即用浪漫的筆觸刻畫鄉村生活，書寫鄉土生活的溫馨。 A letter from your grandfather explains the Stardew Valley philosophy: when modern life is suffocating you, find the real meaning of life in the village. This is the alterative mode of living that the game presents, painting a warm, romantic portrait of rural life.
不過，真實的鄉村並不單純。雷蒙威廉斯（Raymond Henry Williams）在《鄉村與城市》（The Country and the City in the Modern Novel）中曾指出，在文藝作品史裡，一直充斥著對田園生活的過度美化與想象。這些美妙的鄉村，無非是一種浪漫化的懷舊，揭示出新興階級成功後的極簡情緒。但現實中，遊走於城鄉的權貴資本卻是令人無法忽視的“房間裡的大象”。 But reality is not that simple. In "The Country and the City in the Modern Novel", author Raymond Henry Williams points out that literature tends to beautify pastoral life. But the picturesque villages are themselves products of romanticism and nostalgia, betraying the overly simplistic thinking of society. In reality, powerful interests and capital have always roamed at will between city and village.
遊戲作者也敏銳地意識到當下鄉村潛伏著危機，並清楚地把危機轉告給玩家：Joja公司等一眾城市權貴資本正向鄉村滲透，“資本下鄉”威脅著我們原本的生活方式。於是，遊戲中兩股生活邏輯正在角力，並要求我們作出選擇。是城市化的鄉村生活？它帶來便利，同時也汙染人心、汙染環境；還是陶淵明式的田園生活？它需要汗水，卻很愜意。 The game’s developer is acutely aware of the potential crises facing modern villages and communicates these to the player. Urban capitalists, such as the “Joja Company”, are at work in the village threatening the way of life. Two different ideologies are at war, and we must choose between them. An urbanised village means an easier life, but is also one that pollutes the environment and the locals’ souls. A bucolic farming community means back-breaking toil but also contentment.
更有意思的是，《Stardew Valley》的研發過程本身亦是對公司化、效率至上生產模式的反叛，和對手工匠人模式的踐行：這款遊戲的設計、編程、製圖、音樂均由西雅圖小夥埃裡克·巴隆（Eric Barone）一個人搞定，總共耗時4年時間，每天超負荷工作10多個小時。最終呈現在玩家面前的，也不是精美到目眩的主流高清3D視覺，而是低分辨率、帶有濃濃任天堂紅白機風格的懷舊“像素”風格。 Interestingly, Stardew Valley’s development was itself a reaction against corporate efficiency-driven methods of working in favour of artisanship. The game was designed, programmed, drawn and scored by a young Seattle man, Eric Barone, who worked on it for over ten hours a day for four years. And what appears on your screen is not dazzling 3D effects but low-resolution graphics more redolent of an 8-bit Nintendo.
不只是遊戲
More than a game
顯而易見，《Stardew Valley》的敘事帶有強烈的自我指涉（self-reference）：無疑，遊戲展現了作者真實的思考。作為一個深陷都市上班生活的程序員，遊戲的主題源於巴隆自身的反思；同樣，作為一個程序員，他行動了起來，他的行動就是設計《Stardew Valley》來啟蒙玩家。可以想見，作者把對城鄉關係的思考帶進了遊戲，試圖賦予遊戲以介入社會的功能。不僅如此，在遊戲的交互機制裡，玩家還必須作出抉擇，將作者引起的共鳴變成遊戲裡的行動。不過，如何讓我們的身體配合我們的意識，把遊戲中的行動順勢拉回現實中去，還是一個亟需解決的難題。 Stardew Valley’s narrative clearly reflects the author’s own thinking. Barone, a programmer working in the city, took his views about urban life and designed a game around these to communicate his ideas to others. We can infer that the author reflected his views on the relationship between city and country into the game as an attempt to give the game a social function. And more – during the game players must make choices, turning the developer’s hints into action. The fundamental question is how to take that understanding and turn it into a set of real-life actions.
遊戲是一種指向虛擬之物的媒介，即遊戲作為人的延伸，只需要玩家動幾下手指，就可以在一個虛擬的場景中實現目標。與此同時，真實的身體被放在了意識之外，變得難以配合意識下達的指令。所以，《Stardew Valley》帶給玩家的也許是一種想象的、不夠“真實”的鄉村體驗，它減去了現實的複雜性與真實性。這種不夠“真實”的體驗也許是極其危險的。 Games are a virtual extension of ourselves in which the player moves and achieves some goal in a virtual world. Meanwhile we are unconscious of our actual bodies, which are less under our control. Stardew Valley provides what might be an imaginary, not adequately “real” rural experience that lacks in complexity and reality. Such inadequately “real” experiences may be very dangerous.
玩遊戲不等於真的理解鄉村，不等於真的從身體層面經驗鄉土生活，它可能是在製造／強化意識與身體的不協調。Eric Barone的任務是製作遊戲，提出問題。真正的意義也許存在於遊戲之後：當玩家拔下電源，走進鄉村，接受大自然的饋贈，並真的採取行動對抗權貴資本主義對人和鄉村的異化，《Stardew Valley》的意義才會真正顯現。 Playing a game doesn’t mean you really understand the villages or have really experienced rural life – perhaps all it does is create or strengthen a lack of coordination between mind and body. Barone set out to design a game and raise issues. Perhaps the real significance comes when the game finishes: if the player turns off the power and walks into the countryside to accept what nature has to offer, and takes real action to combat capitalism’s attempts to separate us from it. Perhaps that is the real significance of Stardew Valley.