Having considered the main types of computer games, we can make sure that the possibility of the emergence of a role in them is connected with the appearance of another person in the game. Computer modeling does not allow for the emergence of unexpected, unpredictable and unique reactions of another person, a response to illogical, “wrong” actions of the child.
Interaction with a partner, which is the essence of a traditional game, with computer characters becomes regulated and limited by the imagination of their developers.
Nevertheless, in many ways the computer game is close to the real one. A computer game, like a traditional role-playing game, is a symbolic-modeling activity. The action taking place in it is unreal, and the meanings of individual actions are unclear without understanding the rules and conventions of the game. The imaginary situation is set by the rules, the game space, and the game objects. However, in a computer game there is no need to use substitution, the game attributing new functions to real objects, because the computer space itself is a substitution of the real, within it you can create any necessary object. The computer world is always secondary, there is nothing in it that is not contained before in the real world or in the imagination of its creator, but at the same time it is not limited by physical laws, any resources are available for recreating situations, virtual implementation of the most fantastic ideas. At the same time, the creation of an imaginary situation in a computer game is problematic.
In a traditional story game a child operates with meanings detached from things, by inseparable from action with real objects In a computer game there is no detachment of meaning and no divergence of real and imaginary situations, but there is no real action, everything happens in a conventional-visual reality and can be accompanied by real experiences, as well as a substitute action in a real game. In a computer game, the decisive role of words in creating and holding a conditional situation is reduced, because the situation is not imaginary, but visual, and therefore, it loses its developmental potential for speech and mental development, there is no mediation, separation of meaning (thought about the subject) from the object itself. As already indicated, there is no need to introduce substitute objects in the computer game, because technology allows you to create almost any objects in the virtual space of the game. As a result, game actions carried out in a computer game do not become generalized and convoluted. If a child’s substitute object actions in a real game could be called a bridge between unfolded object actions and reduced and generalized mental actions, then a computer game cannot help bridge this gap. In a real game there are prerequisites for the development of imagination and the transition of mental actions to a new stage – mental actions based on speech. It is interesting that in the first computer games reliance on speech was necessary because all communication between the machine and the man was built in the form of a dialogue, and it was necessary to master special ways of constructing a phrase, terms (the first quests and RPG like an interactive book). But the development of technology made it possible to visualize the situation, the introduction of speech and music, new ways of interacting with the computer (for example, the mouse). Keeping the situation in verbal terms was no longer necessary.
The problem of creating an imaginary situation in a computer game is also that, as a rule, the player acts within it, but cannot change it.
The game situation in a computer game is external to the child, he or she does not create it, but gets into it.
When modeling social relations in a computer game, if the computer becomes a partner in the game, the child is forced to master the system of relations laid down. He or she cannot make amendments to the program or offer an unintended possibility of development of the plot (he or she will not be understood). The computer does not possess flexibility and sensitivity of the alive partner in the game, from it it is impossible to receive the unexpected action, reaction to the unforeseen turn of events. Changing the imaginary situation, which in a real game is carried out in a few moments by renaming objects, fixing new rules of the game, in a computer game is almost impossible or requires a long adjustment of the game environment (usually it happens before, not during the game). Thus, the game becomes less free, less controllable by the player, the possibilities of self-expression in the game are reduced.