I currently live in a house with three other dudes. They're all very cool, and even let me be openly gamer about my lifestyle. In that: they will let me play video games in the living room. Which is a lot better than my last living situation where I restricted myself to my room and became a cave troll of sorts. My roommates also like to play video games themselves. It's a really good feeling to be among friends and people who accept me for who I am. This past week, though, I've been trying to get one of them to play video games. I wasn't trying to conduct some kind of experiment or test with them, it was just an urge to play some good old fashioned splitscreen with them. However, every time that I asked I got turned down. Which is fine, life happens. So, I went to my room where I had my Xbox hooked up to the internet to play some online multiplayer.
I've noticed that I've been doing this a lot, lately. For as sacred as I hold same room multiplayer, I really enjoy the online realm. I'm the only person in my circle of friends that plays video games on a regular basis. As a result, I've become quite good at them, and therefore can pretty much beat the pants off of all of my friends. Online, however, is a different story. In the online universe, I have met my match on more than a few occasions. In fact I have absolutely decimated. When I play online multiplayer, I do it because it's a good way to fill time. Players are unpredictable and provide a challenge that AI cannot. I like playing against other people. Truth be told, there isn't much of a socialable about the games that I play. It isn't very likely that I'll be able to hold a conversation with someone after I have just shot them in the face. Though people have gotten married through competitive multiplayer games. I myself have never held a friendship online for longer than a few matches in Halo, but that's just me. I think that I might have to give MMORPGs a go.
I've tried out a trial of World of Warcraft and met some very nice people there. However, the trial ended in two weeks, and I was restricted to level 20. The MMO is a foreign thing that I could never get into because of the fact that a majority of the game is just grinding levels to get stronger to get better loot. That is only the game end of it, however. Forming friendships and meeting people is more likely the core of these experiences. As it is with WoW, the gameplay is pretty simple stuff. There are complexities, to be sure, but this is all standard fair for the MMO. Strong friendships have been formed over MMO games, and again, even the marriage thing has happened. Yet, there is still something about playing with someone in the same room that is special.
I grew up playing the Nintendo 64. My family game nights were sometimes just playing the N64 with my family. I've made many good memories playing games with friends playing on the same console, and have had a lot of fun doing so. People may say that games like Mario Kart is a friendship destroyer, but I've never had a moment where I wasn't talking to someone because they managed to snipe me with a blue shell right before the finish line and take first place. It is upsetting, however, to see that splitscreen multiplayer is going away. Very few games these days have it as a feature.
Borderlands and Halo maintain the ability to play on the same console. The same with Diablo III for the PS3. Mulitplayer has its time and place, but were it not for a shot in the dark made by the team behind 007 Goldeneye, we would not be here. There truly is something special about playing games with people in the same room. It forms stronger relationships with those that are around you. But, people can't always be around to play with you.
That's why there is online multiplayer, for those times when you want to play against someone and tell them that they have no life because they are much better than you at the game.
Seriously though, online multiplayer is a great innovation of the modern gaming era. It has provided us with very innovative titles and allowed us to connect with people that we may never meet in person. Games bring us together, even though we might get sniped by a blue shell right before the finish line.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Monday, December 1, 2014
Feelings.....
This past week was Thanksgiving. It was a treat to be able top see family and friends whom I have not seen in a long while. My job keeps me super busy with 6 day work weeks, so getting out of town is kind of a rarity. There was good times and good food to be had around the table, and afterwards in a food induced coma. Taking the time off from work and getting to go see my family (and eat copious amounts of food) certainly did the body and soul good. I wonder if video game characters get a chance to do anything like this?
I know, I know, I know. They're just video game characters and don't need things like food or air, but video game characters are digital representations of human beings. Despite these characters being heroes, legends, and doing the impossible on a daily basis, they're still human... ish. Part of that disconnect that players experience with video game characters, is that there isn't really anything to relate to. There's always the assumption that there is some kind of human emotion that drives the characters towards their goals, but it's lost in the poor writing or even the gameplay.
What drives Mario to save Peach? Love? What drives Link to save Hyrule? Destiny? What drives Nathan Drake to save the world? Responsibility? I know that when undertaking anything, there is more than just one emotion that goes through our heads. Emotions are weird and complicated things, and I can't claim to fully understand them, but we as humans are emotional beings. We think, we feel, we want, we need. This is part of what makes us human, and to see video game characters lack the basic human trait of emotion creates a divide between them and their controller.
Games are getting better. It's true. The Last of Us, The Wolf Among Us, Gone Home, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, are all games that show emotion. These games get players emotionally invested, as well getting them engaged with the gameplay. When playing The Wolf Among Us, I was conflicted and confused several times throughout the game at what decision I should make. I related to Bigby because of his emotions towards different characters. In Gone Home, I discovered the story of what had happened to my family during my time away. I related towards the characters in their day to day struggles of the mundane, and the conflict that came when something out of the ordinary entered their lives. These games are relatable, and the fact that I am the one who takes control over these character, the fact that I am the one who controls their actions, not guiding them but rather controlling them, that is what makes the difference to me. I assume the roles of these characters. I have to become them. I have to understand their world, and how they fit into it. If I stand on the outside and do what I, the player, want to do, there is a disconnect. If I become that character, and do what I think they would do, it becomes a different experience.
Of course, there are games out there that let me, as the player, take control of a character that is a complete blank slate and I am the one who makes the decisions for them. In a sense, these charactes are better, because they are a way for me, the player, to experience the world that has been created. Not only that, but to shape it as well. I'm no space marine, nor will I ever be, but Commander Shepard from Mass Effect can give me a small taste of what that is like. I'm no Jedi, I really want to be but chances are slim. Knights of The Old Republic gave me that opportunity to be a Jedi, and I did it my way.
Video game characters may just appear as a collection of polygons arranged in a way that looks human, but they really can be so much more than that. These characters can be us. We can take on the roles of these characters, and become someone else for a day. We can break free from our day to day, and do something awesome. We can save the princess, we can slay a dragon, we can fight robots, explore far off lands, distant planets, and become the hero. As Richard Peck says, "I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody; I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life; I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I'm just beginning myself, and I wouldn't mind a map;...." And I think that the same can be said for video games. To pick up a game and become invested in its story, characters, and its universe can be an experience that is most excellent. Perhaps we can even learn to be a bit more human from playing something truly extraordinary, or just laugh at how badly it's written and screw around with NPCs. Ah video games, what a strange medium you are.
I know, I know, I know. They're just video game characters and don't need things like food or air, but video game characters are digital representations of human beings. Despite these characters being heroes, legends, and doing the impossible on a daily basis, they're still human... ish. Part of that disconnect that players experience with video game characters, is that there isn't really anything to relate to. There's always the assumption that there is some kind of human emotion that drives the characters towards their goals, but it's lost in the poor writing or even the gameplay.
What drives Mario to save Peach? Love? What drives Link to save Hyrule? Destiny? What drives Nathan Drake to save the world? Responsibility? I know that when undertaking anything, there is more than just one emotion that goes through our heads. Emotions are weird and complicated things, and I can't claim to fully understand them, but we as humans are emotional beings. We think, we feel, we want, we need. This is part of what makes us human, and to see video game characters lack the basic human trait of emotion creates a divide between them and their controller.
Games are getting better. It's true. The Last of Us, The Wolf Among Us, Gone Home, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, are all games that show emotion. These games get players emotionally invested, as well getting them engaged with the gameplay. When playing The Wolf Among Us, I was conflicted and confused several times throughout the game at what decision I should make. I related to Bigby because of his emotions towards different characters. In Gone Home, I discovered the story of what had happened to my family during my time away. I related towards the characters in their day to day struggles of the mundane, and the conflict that came when something out of the ordinary entered their lives. These games are relatable, and the fact that I am the one who takes control over these character, the fact that I am the one who controls their actions, not guiding them but rather controlling them, that is what makes the difference to me. I assume the roles of these characters. I have to become them. I have to understand their world, and how they fit into it. If I stand on the outside and do what I, the player, want to do, there is a disconnect. If I become that character, and do what I think they would do, it becomes a different experience.
Of course, there are games out there that let me, as the player, take control of a character that is a complete blank slate and I am the one who makes the decisions for them. In a sense, these charactes are better, because they are a way for me, the player, to experience the world that has been created. Not only that, but to shape it as well. I'm no space marine, nor will I ever be, but Commander Shepard from Mass Effect can give me a small taste of what that is like. I'm no Jedi, I really want to be but chances are slim. Knights of The Old Republic gave me that opportunity to be a Jedi, and I did it my way.
Video game characters may just appear as a collection of polygons arranged in a way that looks human, but they really can be so much more than that. These characters can be us. We can take on the roles of these characters, and become someone else for a day. We can break free from our day to day, and do something awesome. We can save the princess, we can slay a dragon, we can fight robots, explore far off lands, distant planets, and become the hero. As Richard Peck says, "I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody; I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life; I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I'm just beginning myself, and I wouldn't mind a map;...." And I think that the same can be said for video games. To pick up a game and become invested in its story, characters, and its universe can be an experience that is most excellent. Perhaps we can even learn to be a bit more human from playing something truly extraordinary, or just laugh at how badly it's written and screw around with NPCs. Ah video games, what a strange medium you are.
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