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Back when PONG was in it’s prime, when the arcade version of PACMAN was the latest technologically advanced craze, when pinball machines were in competition with their digital counterpart, gaming was just a bit of mindlessly repetitive fun. Seeing a shapeless digital ball bouncing from one side of the screen to the other was an enjoyable way to spend an hour or two with a friend. Yet when you’d let the ball pass you a few too many times, you could switch off the machine and sleep easy. Square and unrealistic, it was only a game.
‘Squall stands in the eerily-lit arena surrounded by his friends…the friends that had been with him since the beginning, fighting by his side and looking to him to lead them into victory and safety. The Sorceress Ultimecia rises before them, the final battle; her face nothing more than a glow of light as she decides the fate of each member of the party. Squall can feel the sweat trickling from his forehead, he grips his gunblade menacingly, he must stop Ultimecia before time compression is complete, the fate of the known world lies within his palms…’
In FINAL FANTASY 8, we are actually with Squall as he makes his stand in the final emotional battle of the game. We feel for what he’s been through, the challenges he has overcome to be here, the way he has learnt and grown with the help of his friends. We’ve seen him grow into a warrior, lead people into battle and wrestle with his inner-demons. It was all leading up to this, the final battle…and we’re there with him, our fingers twitching over the controls as the Sorceress speaks.
Can you imagine an early game like PONG inducing this passion in the player? Even the older games with characters and a story-line failed to psychologically attach the player to the events on the screen. Would you be able to switch off the console and walk away from FF8 thinking, “it’s only a game”? The game has been so involving, such an emotional whirlwind that you can’t walk away, you can’t even blink. Games have always been engrossing; there’s always been a sense of determination to reach the end. But in the last few years, games have become more emotionally involving, being able to connect your psyche to that of the character and allow you to actually feel like you ARE that person, you Do have that mission and if you fail, the world IS doomed. It’s amazing enough that a film has the ability to induce this in the viewer, make them laugh, make them cry, make them empathetic with a character, but it’s easy to empathise with another human, even if they are only acting. How then, can you empathise with an occasionally unrealistic dribble of polygons on your screen? Faces that only look mildly convincing with a story-line that is completely out of this world.
SILENT HILL can make us physically wretch at the genius of it’s graphics, the blood and dirt stained walls and the hideously mutated creatures that advance on the player. But what is more ingenious, is the fact that we are filled with pure and utter dread as we turn each corner, the fact that we’re fearing for the life of the character we’re controlling. And once we switch off our lights at night, we’ll be listening for the smallest noise, a tap, a bang, a footstep…
The power of gaming is advancing to a new and brighter level. No longer will you desire to complete the game just to see what the ending was like, or just to say that you’d finished it. You’ll want to beat the game so that the story is complete in your mind, so that you know what happens to the characters, so that you can feel that sense of relief when the danger is gone from them and so that you can feel proud that you were part of removing the danger and beating the evil. Such is the power of modern games; such is the grip that they can have on your mind. This power of games is increasing fast and if it continues our emotional attachment to games will soar. Maybe one day, the pixels flickering on your computer screen will become more authentic than real life…
‘Squall stands in the eerily-lit arena surrounded by his friends…the friends that had been with him since the beginning, fighting by his side and looking to him to lead them into victory and safety. The Sorceress Ultimecia rises before them, the final battle; her face nothing more than a glow of light as she decides the fate of each member of the party. Squall can feel the sweat trickling from his forehead, he grips his gunblade menacingly, he must stop Ultimecia before time compression is complete, the fate of the known world lies within his palms…’
In FINAL FANTASY 8, we are actually with Squall as he makes his stand in the final emotional battle of the game. We feel for what he’s been through, the challenges he has overcome to be here, the way he has learnt and grown with the help of his friends. We’ve seen him grow into a warrior, lead people into battle and wrestle with his inner-demons. It was all leading up to this, the final battle…and we’re there with him, our fingers twitching over the controls as the Sorceress speaks.
Can you imagine an early game like PONG inducing this passion in the player? Even the older games with characters and a story-line failed to psychologically attach the player to the events on the screen. Would you be able to switch off the console and walk away from FF8 thinking, “it’s only a game”? The game has been so involving, such an emotional whirlwind that you can’t walk away, you can’t even blink. Games have always been engrossing; there’s always been a sense of determination to reach the end. But in the last few years, games have become more emotionally involving, being able to connect your psyche to that of the character and allow you to actually feel like you ARE that person, you Do have that mission and if you fail, the world IS doomed. It’s amazing enough that a film has the ability to induce this in the viewer, make them laugh, make them cry, make them empathetic with a character, but it’s easy to empathise with another human, even if they are only acting. How then, can you empathise with an occasionally unrealistic dribble of polygons on your screen? Faces that only look mildly convincing with a story-line that is completely out of this world.
SILENT HILL can make us physically wretch at the genius of it’s graphics, the blood and dirt stained walls and the hideously mutated creatures that advance on the player. But what is more ingenious, is the fact that we are filled with pure and utter dread as we turn each corner, the fact that we’re fearing for the life of the character we’re controlling. And once we switch off our lights at night, we’ll be listening for the smallest noise, a tap, a bang, a footstep…
The power of gaming is advancing to a new and brighter level. No longer will you desire to complete the game just to see what the ending was like, or just to say that you’d finished it. You’ll want to beat the game so that the story is complete in your mind, so that you know what happens to the characters, so that you can feel that sense of relief when the danger is gone from them and so that you can feel proud that you were part of removing the danger and beating the evil. Such is the power of modern games; such is the grip that they can have on your mind. This power of games is increasing fast and if it continues our emotional attachment to games will soar. Maybe one day, the pixels flickering on your computer screen will become more authentic than real life…
You're right, it's Sony a game...
Good post - well done.
Good post - well done.
That is bloody impressive. One post, one win.
Ahhh, the joys of FF8.
*FM dashes out to his local shop for local gamers and grabs the nearest second hand PSX and FF8 copy that he can get his hands on, cya in a couple of months...*
It does go to show though how much a vivid imagination has a part to play in gaming.
Even with Pong you could sit there and pretend you were Bjorn Borg on one side and that your mate was John McEnroe on the other and shout "The ball was out!" frequently. But if you didn't have imagination, you just saw two bars floating up and down the left and right hand side of your TV screen and heard the odd 'blip' every now and then as the ball hit them.
I'm one of the lucky gamers as I suspect most of us here are, where I can flick on any game and 'get into' it. Because of the control element, I find it much more entertaining getting into a game than say a film or a book, where the narrative is played out for you. With a game you can direct the plot yourself to some extent, which is why gaming makes my blood flow faster than most other forms of recreation.
*FM dashes out to his local shop for local gamers and grabs the nearest second hand PSX and FF8 copy that he can get his hands on, cya in a couple of months...*
It does go to show though how much a vivid imagination has a part to play in gaming.
Even with Pong you could sit there and pretend you were Bjorn Borg on one side and that your mate was John McEnroe on the other and shout "The ball was out!" frequently. But if you didn't have imagination, you just saw two bars floating up and down the left and right hand side of your TV screen and heard the odd 'blip' every now and then as the ball hit them.
I'm one of the lucky gamers as I suspect most of us here are, where I can flick on any game and 'get into' it. Because of the control element, I find it much more entertaining getting into a game than say a film or a book, where the narrative is played out for you. With a game you can direct the plot yourself to some extent, which is why gaming makes my blood flow faster than most other forms of recreation.
Back when PONG was in it’s prime, when the arcade version of PACMAN was the latest technologically advanced craze, when pinball machines were in competition with their digital counterpart, gaming was just a bit of mindlessly repetitive fun. Seeing a shapeless digital ball bouncing from one side of the screen to the other was an enjoyable way to spend an hour or two with a friend. Yet when you’d let the ball pass you a few too many times, you could switch off the machine and sleep easy. Square and unrealistic, it was only a game.
‘Squall stands in the eerily-lit arena surrounded by his friends…the friends that had been with him since the beginning, fighting by his side and looking to him to lead them into victory and safety. The Sorceress Ultimecia rises before them, the final battle; her face nothing more than a glow of light as she decides the fate of each member of the party. Squall can feel the sweat trickling from his forehead, he grips his gunblade menacingly, he must stop Ultimecia before time compression is complete, the fate of the known world lies within his palms…’
In FINAL FANTASY 8, we are actually with Squall as he makes his stand in the final emotional battle of the game. We feel for what he’s been through, the challenges he has overcome to be here, the way he has learnt and grown with the help of his friends. We’ve seen him grow into a warrior, lead people into battle and wrestle with his inner-demons. It was all leading up to this, the final battle…and we’re there with him, our fingers twitching over the controls as the Sorceress speaks.
Can you imagine an early game like PONG inducing this passion in the player? Even the older games with characters and a story-line failed to psychologically attach the player to the events on the screen. Would you be able to switch off the console and walk away from FF8 thinking, “it’s only a game”? The game has been so involving, such an emotional whirlwind that you can’t walk away, you can’t even blink. Games have always been engrossing; there’s always been a sense of determination to reach the end. But in the last few years, games have become more emotionally involving, being able to connect your psyche to that of the character and allow you to actually feel like you ARE that person, you Do have that mission and if you fail, the world IS doomed. It’s amazing enough that a film has the ability to induce this in the viewer, make them laugh, make them cry, make them empathetic with a character, but it’s easy to empathise with another human, even if they are only acting. How then, can you empathise with an occasionally unrealistic dribble of polygons on your screen? Faces that only look mildly convincing with a story-line that is completely out of this world.
SILENT HILL can make us physically wretch at the genius of it’s graphics, the blood and dirt stained walls and the hideously mutated creatures that advance on the player. But what is more ingenious, is the fact that we are filled with pure and utter dread as we turn each corner, the fact that we’re fearing for the life of the character we’re controlling. And once we switch off our lights at night, we’ll be listening for the smallest noise, a tap, a bang, a footstep…
The power of gaming is advancing to a new and brighter level. No longer will you desire to complete the game just to see what the ending was like, or just to say that you’d finished it. You’ll want to beat the game so that the story is complete in your mind, so that you know what happens to the characters, so that you can feel that sense of relief when the danger is gone from them and so that you can feel proud that you were part of removing the danger and beating the evil. Such is the power of modern games; such is the grip that they can have on your mind. This power of games is increasing fast and if it continues our emotional attachment to games will soar. Maybe one day, the pixels flickering on your computer screen will become more authentic than real life…
‘Squall stands in the eerily-lit arena surrounded by his friends…the friends that had been with him since the beginning, fighting by his side and looking to him to lead them into victory and safety. The Sorceress Ultimecia rises before them, the final battle; her face nothing more than a glow of light as she decides the fate of each member of the party. Squall can feel the sweat trickling from his forehead, he grips his gunblade menacingly, he must stop Ultimecia before time compression is complete, the fate of the known world lies within his palms…’
In FINAL FANTASY 8, we are actually with Squall as he makes his stand in the final emotional battle of the game. We feel for what he’s been through, the challenges he has overcome to be here, the way he has learnt and grown with the help of his friends. We’ve seen him grow into a warrior, lead people into battle and wrestle with his inner-demons. It was all leading up to this, the final battle…and we’re there with him, our fingers twitching over the controls as the Sorceress speaks.
Can you imagine an early game like PONG inducing this passion in the player? Even the older games with characters and a story-line failed to psychologically attach the player to the events on the screen. Would you be able to switch off the console and walk away from FF8 thinking, “it’s only a game”? The game has been so involving, such an emotional whirlwind that you can’t walk away, you can’t even blink. Games have always been engrossing; there’s always been a sense of determination to reach the end. But in the last few years, games have become more emotionally involving, being able to connect your psyche to that of the character and allow you to actually feel like you ARE that person, you Do have that mission and if you fail, the world IS doomed. It’s amazing enough that a film has the ability to induce this in the viewer, make them laugh, make them cry, make them empathetic with a character, but it’s easy to empathise with another human, even if they are only acting. How then, can you empathise with an occasionally unrealistic dribble of polygons on your screen? Faces that only look mildly convincing with a story-line that is completely out of this world.
SILENT HILL can make us physically wretch at the genius of it’s graphics, the blood and dirt stained walls and the hideously mutated creatures that advance on the player. But what is more ingenious, is the fact that we are filled with pure and utter dread as we turn each corner, the fact that we’re fearing for the life of the character we’re controlling. And once we switch off our lights at night, we’ll be listening for the smallest noise, a tap, a bang, a footstep…
The power of gaming is advancing to a new and brighter level. No longer will you desire to complete the game just to see what the ending was like, or just to say that you’d finished it. You’ll want to beat the game so that the story is complete in your mind, so that you know what happens to the characters, so that you can feel that sense of relief when the danger is gone from them and so that you can feel proud that you were part of removing the danger and beating the evil. Such is the power of modern games; such is the grip that they can have on your mind. This power of games is increasing fast and if it continues our emotional attachment to games will soar. Maybe one day, the pixels flickering on your computer screen will become more authentic than real life…