Games "Everything written here was actually said by these kids. Really. The only change we made was to remove the more gratuitous usages of the word 'gay'." I read a story the other day about how a bunch of eight year olds turned up a signing for a Doctor Who merchandising whatnot and there were a couple of Daleks in attendence. Apparently the once scurges of the universe were harranged by the kids for five minutes, the nicest of comments being: "You're rubbish." This is of course the saddest thing in the world.

Or it was because this article is sadder. Electronic Gaming Monthly asked a group of teenies to experience the awe and mystery of a series of classic computer games in their original format to see if they still had that magical effect they had on all of us growing up. Here is Tim's review of Space Invaders:
"This is nothing compared to Grand Theft Auto III, because you can't steal a taxi cab, pick up somebody, then drive into the ocean with him."
Which is true of course. And, well, yes, technology has moved on. But pardon me for being a gaming luddite but I tend to find the vast majority of new games deeply unsatisfying for the simple reason that they tend to be so massively complicated. In trying to replicate a so-called real world situation or feeling they seem to lack that sense of achievement when you've actually beaten something.

Actually, this article is somewhat skewed because they've thrown in some games which are possibly genuinely 'gay'. Suspect movie license ET on the Atari 2600 is in there. And I never really understood the Pong attraction. I suspect the reaction was based on a similar emotional level to the audience who ran out of that cinema when they were shown a short silent movie of a train coming towards them, but ran back in again to see it over and over. It was something interactive, on a tv screen people could play together.

I think the last comment says more about how kids don't fully appreciate the passage of time, and is also a commentary of how technology has moved on. Kirk says, "I'm sure
everyone who made this game is dead by now." [via B3ta]

No comments:

Post a Comment