I spent the past summer testing games. I met a lot of interesting people there, including one guy who happily pointed out to me that I look constipated while concentrating on a game. Apparently I don’t look weird the whole time I play; it’s just when I have to think really hard.

This reminds me of a Kotaku post about Milla Jovovich. Blogger Brian Ashcraft wonders if even models can’t look good when they’re genuinely concentrating on a game.

Now, I have seen my fair share of funny faces in my time. Some people look incredibly sad when playing games and others look possessed. So is it games or just concentration in general?

I’d like to think that people look strange when they’re concentrating on other things. I have witnessed many band students scrunching up their faces to stare at tiny notes on a page, but these unattractive faces usually last for just a passing moment. Even other immersive forms of entertainment, such as books, film, and television, tend to give people a more serene expression. Facial reactions to these mediums are often very brief (such as a grimace at a gory sight). Games seem to be unique in their ability to get people to make faces.

What is it about games that changes faces? Games can be incredibly immersive and require more thought than more passive forms of entertainment, such as books and movies. The also allow players to remove themselves from their physical body, since, in the game, their identity is usually embodied in some form of avatar. Whether it’s a custom character or a well-known hero, games are interactive experiences designed to make players feel as if they are making choices. In essence, players become the character and are much more concerned with how their character looks while playing the game.

When players separate themselves from their physical form and become more concerned with the digital avatar on the screen, it seems that they lose a sense of themselves. While people in the surrounding environment would often make people self-conscious, many people play games alone. When people are not alone, they tend to become very immersed in games, as they are often very engaging and require most of a player’s attention. Even if someone is home alone, they may be so immersed in the game that they forget to be conscious of their appearance.

While people may continue to tease each other about the faces they make when gaming, I don’t see it as a real problem. It’s amusing to watch children in restaurants with DSs, as you can read their faces and get and idea of their experiences. I think this face-making issue will really only get worse in the future, as virtual reality will likely develop and take us completely out of our bodies. The only real reason to be concerned is if you choose to play games with a webcam, but why would anyone want to do that? It seems that it is more fun to escape into another world, because forgetting yourself for a while is half the fun.