THE ILLUSION OF PLEASURE

Any pleasure derived from playing a video game is an empty illusion owned by the game designer and his intentions. Any sense of ownership over the engagement is false.

After  Stanley ignores his narration too many times, the Narrator snarkily asks for input on a game within the game.

By using sound to make the repetitive actions characteristic of gaming extremely unpleasurable, the designer shows that pleasure is just an artificial accessory to gaming, and not a provision.

"The baby crawls left, towards danger. You click the button to move him back to the right, and if he reaches the fire, you fail.
It’s  a  very  meaningful  game...

why  don’t  you  give  it  four  hours  of  play,

to  make  sure  it’s  effective?"

Narrator:

"Oh, this is useful.

You didn't like it but you didn't hate it.

You enjoyed it. It didn't cause you excruciating pain."