Trapped in Realistic Games
Dieter Mueller a.k.a. orangeguru talked about a BBC interview with one of the head honchos in the gaming industry, where the head honcho predicts even more realistic games: more artificial intelligence and of course graphics. Dieter claimed lack of interest, because in his opinion reality subtracts from the fun, taking away the fantasticality (is that a word?) of the game. He mentioned how Shakespeare didn’t have George Lucas’ ILM for special effects or women with silicon tits, and how chess is without bloody effects and is still a great game. He might have a good point. I stopped playing games because I had been too busy enduring life, and everytime I played one it only added to my headache since I would have to put every brain process in order play properly. Games these days are amazing but they simply don’t let you relax much. They add to your stress and they’re replacing way too many things in life. It’s almost like work and for that reason I only play games when I’m on a long break. It would then give me some sense of importance, like I’m doing something instead of just wasting my time. But that’s exactly what I mean. When you’re playing you’re fixated to the game, nothing else matters. It’s cool for people who don’t care much about anything else. Or if you’re a balanced freak then maybe you can actually have a life and play games at the same time. But I know a lot of people who play games all their life and do nothing else. Sometimes I wonder if they ever miss life, if they knew stuff like having a girlfriend and maybe even getting a fucking job for their own sakes. But no, these people would simply react the way Piro does below. It’s pathetic but these gamers live among us. For most games and life can’t coexist, either you’re in it or you’re not. Imagine a game so real you don’t know how to tell between real life and game life anymore. It’s really up to us to save these gamers.
August 2nd, 2005 at 2:40am
Thanks for expanding my thoughts.
I agree that most games are no longer ‘just fun’ to play. Sometimes you have first to run a gazillion updates and special patches. Then every patch changes gameplay and the holy ‘balance’ of things.
Most of all online play is pure stress as well: you get constantly harassed by kiddies for being a lamer, lagger or overall fuckhead. Plus you have to learn a whole new language, so your teammates make even sense.
But it’s not only just a kiddies thing - but also many adults are getting seriously addicted to it - or let’s better say they switch from brainless TV to overkill stress in gaming.
I some way we loose many people to the matrix already. But I am wondering if they were actually ‘here’ anyway?!
August 2nd, 2005 at 10:51am
We lose people everyday, I guess we just need to get used to it. For all I care as long as I don’t lose myself and people I care I’ll be fine. But even then you still lose yourself sometimes, and it’s almost impossible not to lose everyone else. Oh well it’s just life. Whether you play computer games or not life is a massive game in itself anyway. I guess in the end only good players survive. Everyone else either die or get erased.
August 3rd, 2005 at 4:40am
I live close to the Anaheim Convention Center, right in front of DisneyLand, and it has numerous Expo’s and events related to anime and gaming. You see so many people doing nothing but reading anime and game manuals and actually playing their consoles while waiting in lines a day or two in advance, and sleeping there too, just to get into the expo the next day, which anyone can even if they come late on the day of the events.
These people actually focus on the games; games are the main focus of life, and understanding them is the purpose of life. Neither parents money nor working for money themselves keeps them away from spending time and money on games and instead spending on something else; their girl friend is the girl in the games, or if they do have a girl friend in real life, most of the time she is into games also [or she is simply experimenting with them to write a thesis for her degree titled “My close encounters with a game freak - the psychological nature of the other side of my species”].
August 3rd, 2005 at 11:10am
I like your idea about the girl writing that thesis, damn funny and it could be all true at the same time. These girls are usually really hot though, just a bit dumb is all. I don’t mind keeping a healthy load of them!