Viewing Thread:
"Playing games with 'YOUR' mind"

Everyone remembers things. It’s probably the most important and useful function of the brain. Memory helps us pass for GCSE’s, remember relative’s birthdays (sometimes) and even stores the data on how to breathe. So basically without it we would be dead. But sometimes there are some things that seem to stick in our head like a pencil that someone’s just rammed up their nose before smashing their head on the table. Things like your first kiss, or the time when you seriously injured yourself, they’re just a few of the things that cannot escape your memory for as long as you live. No one can ever really explain why people remember certain things, not even top psychologists. So how is it then that games producers such as Hideo Kojima can produce gaming experiences you will never forget.

So is it just accidental or do these people really know how to mess your brain up? Sometimes I would genuinely say ‘yes, they do’, because at times I have honestly felt ‘disturbed’ or at least effected in some ways by the events I have seen in video games. I’m not saying that Hideo Kojima is a mutant from Mars that wants to mangle your sanity up, but he does genuinely have an art for creating something you wont forget in a long while. And in my mind, I feel that this is definitely the sign of a good gaming experience.

So what sort of things is it that producers deploy in order to take up a couple more cells in that massive brain of yours? Is it character design? Certain events? Or just hilarious puns? What ever it is, it has to have some sort of impact to be really successful. For example, lets take a look at character creation. If I said to you now, ‘The Gift’, I bet hardly anyone would have a picture of a red alien in their head. Most likely you would be thinking about Christmas! So how is it then that when I say ‘Bandicoot’ practically everyone will have a picture of Crash Bandicoot firmly stapled in their head. I’m sure some of you can even tell me his shoes are red. So why can you remember him, but not the dude out of ‘The Gift’? Well some may say it’s down to the success of the games, but the character still has to have some sort of special effect in order for you to remember them pixel for pixel. And I base this down to good design. Crash is simple, loveable, and above all, memorable. And that goes for characters such as Sonic, Mario, and Lara Croft. Because of what they are, people remember them, and this is why such characters have become mascots of their consoles.

Many people also have a great skill in making up jokes or puns that lots of people can remember. It was only earlier today that I was reading a post on these forums. Several people were having a discussion about a certain T.V. character. They obviously enjoyed watching or listening to this character so much that they could remember an exact scene in the programme. I thought this was incredible that such thing could have been remembered. But maybe if I had seen the programme then I would too remember the scene. It had obviously had an effect on these people. This, I can relate to some of my gaming experiences. Often while playing games I sometimes pick up what some characters say. In ‘Broken Sword 2’ you meet a Jamaican boy who says ‘What you got there?’ and for some reason since hearing this I often cant help my self saying this phrase out load and chuckling to myself. It was several years ago now and I’m not sure if I will ever forget it. I’m sure the producer didn’t want this particular phrase to be imprisoned in my head, but it was. And I can’t explain it! Some phrases are deliberate though. These are greatly portrayed on the ‘UK Gold’ adverts where a particular phrase is repeated over 3 times. I, and many others I’m sure, can remember seeing these phrases when they were first aired. And 20 odd years on I can still remember them exact. Ingenious.

So what about these so-called brain effecting events? Well most people can easily remember events such as Keanu Reeves’s back braking, bullet-time scene in The Matrix. It’s one key moment that everyone who has seen the film can instantly relate to. However when ‘Max Payne’ from Rockstar tried to recreate the same kind of dramatics, it didn’t quite have as much effect as the scene from The Matrix. This was mainly down to originality. People had already seen bullet-time in The Matrix and when people saw it in Max Payne it didn’t quite ‘wow’ people so much. So if a games programmer can come up with an original event that will stick in people’s minds then they are bound to have something special under their sleeves. Take the Psycho Mantis scene in the original Metal Gear Solid. Everyone was talking for days after, about how great this was. The fake injection, the ‘ah, I see you also play ISS’ bit, and much more, was packed into one scene, a scene I will remember for a long time. And, put a whole load of these scenes together and you have one hell of a great experience. This was one of the strong points of MGS2 and the Final Fantasy series. Throughout they never managed to disappoint and the gamer was emerged in a fantastical world of their own, and I’ll say it again, ‘one they will never forget.’

However, you don’t just need to string a whole load of action packed scenes together to create a memorable experience. Take ‘Ico’. Everyone who has played this will with no doubt say that this is the most mind bending, disturbing, and engaging adventure you can ever play. It really does make you lose sleep. But how? What is it? No one can really explain. It’s mind games. In fact, Ico disturbed one gamer so much that he believed that God was using games producers to create games that portray an image of what we should expect in an afterlife. He described ‘The Third Place as being heaven’ and ‘games help us train up for what to expect in heaven’. Strange, and something I’m sure Ico’s producer Darren Yager would disagree on.

So what, why and most importantly how does this happen. What is it that captures certain things in our minds and affects us for days? Is it just pure accidental? Great imagination by developers? Or some sort of God training us up for heaven? What ever it is, whoever does it to us, no one knows. But I’m sure you will all agree it’s nice to have a personal encyclopaedia in your head of all the thrills you have experienced in your life. Computer games included.


Thanks for reading.
Nath.

Thanks for the comments.....
I agree that graphical capability is a big factor. It helps the player merge into the game. Take rez...it was a pure mix of eyecandy....although the gameplay wasn't really 'great' the mix of good graphics and sound meant that u could really get involved and was another gaming experiance that really was hard to forget.

Again we also have that factor of the limited capabilties of machines and producers. A developer needs to have the ideas like u say spike in the first place. Hideo is a great thinker. He managed to make a game which truly absorbed the player. Quite an art i'd say!

Finally a post worth reading or replying to!

I totally agree with you, MGS2 for me was a great experience in my view and it really did play with your mind sometimes and i think that its down to the creativity of the developers as well as much as anything, some games really do get you involved and some get you so into the game that you believe its real, the games play horrible tricks on our minds..watch out!


good topic!

Excellent post - GAD quality...

I think that games that have a more pyschological effect on you is gradually going to be the way forward for games. Because of graphical limitations developers have never been able to realise their ambitions, but with todays graphics developers can no longer excel in that route, but by producing the best story and most thought-provoking plot. As soeone mentioned, Ico is the first of what I think will be a new trend as the years progress.

Yer FF7 had such an effect on me...i remember hinking i actually wanted to be freinds with sephiroth (!?!?!?!?!?) so he didn't kill me! I got so involved.

i might get that...like you say, the games that leave a mark in your head are always the best sorts....they are usually very involving....Final Fantasy had this effect on me.

U shud try ico mate...it will give u endless nights ;) anyone been effected in a big way by a gam,e?

Have u got a new hobby of writin long topics?

Anyway, good points and how do u know about the memory helpin with GCSE's? U haven't done them yet :)

Good examples from different things that use ur brain. I used my brain loads while readin that, it's all scrambled up now, lol :)

Everyone remembers things. It’s probably the most important and useful function of the brain. Memory helps us pass for GCSE’s, remember relative’s birthdays (sometimes) and even stores the data on how to breathe. So basically without it we would be dead. But sometimes there are some things that seem to stick in our head like a pencil that someone’s just rammed up their nose before smashing their head on the table. Things like your first kiss, or the time when you seriously injured yourself, they’re just a few of the things that cannot escape your memory for as long as you live. No one can ever really explain why people remember certain things, not even top psychologists. So how is it then that games producers such as Hideo Kojima can produce gaming experiences you will never forget.

So is it just accidental or do these people really know how to mess your brain up? Sometimes I would genuinely say ‘yes, they do’, because at times I have honestly felt ‘disturbed’ or at least effected in some ways by the events I have seen in video games. I’m not saying that Hideo Kojima is a mutant from Mars that wants to mangle your sanity up, but he does genuinely have an art for creating something you wont forget in a long while. And in my mind, I feel that this is definitely the sign of a good gaming experience.

So what sort of things is it that producers deploy in order to take up a couple more cells in that massive brain of yours? Is it character design? Certain events? Or just hilarious puns? What ever it is, it has to have some sort of impact to be really successful. For example, lets take a look at character creation. If I said to you now, ‘The Gift’, I bet hardly anyone would have a picture of a red alien in their head. Most likely you would be thinking about Christmas! So how is it then that when I say ‘Bandicoot’ practically everyone will have a picture of Crash Bandicoot firmly stapled in their head. I’m sure some of you can even tell me his shoes are red. So why can you remember him, but not the dude out of ‘The Gift’? Well some may say it’s down to the success of the games, but the character still has to have some sort of special effect in order for you to remember them pixel for pixel. And I base this down to good design. Crash is simple, loveable, and above all, memorable. And that goes for characters such as Sonic, Mario, and Lara Croft. Because of what they are, people remember them, and this is why such characters have become mascots of their consoles.

Many people also have a great skill in making up jokes or puns that lots of people can remember. It was only earlier today that I was reading a post on these forums. Several people were having a discussion about a certain T.V. character. They obviously enjoyed watching or listening to this character so much that they could remember an exact scene in the programme. I thought this was incredible that such thing could have been remembered. But maybe if I had seen the programme then I would too remember the scene. It had obviously had an effect on these people. This, I can relate to some of my gaming experiences. Often while playing games I sometimes pick up what some characters say. In ‘Broken Sword 2’ you meet a Jamaican boy who says ‘What you got there?’ and for some reason since hearing this I often cant help my self saying this phrase out load and chuckling to myself. It was several years ago now and I’m not sure if I will ever forget it. I’m sure the producer didn’t want this particular phrase to be imprisoned in my head, but it was. And I can’t explain it! Some phrases are deliberate though. These are greatly portrayed on the ‘UK Gold’ adverts where a particular phrase is repeated over 3 times. I, and many others I’m sure, can remember seeing these phrases when they were first aired. And 20 odd years on I can still remember them exact. Ingenious.

So what about these so-called brain effecting events? Well most people can easily remember events such as Keanu Reeves’s back braking, bullet-time scene in The Matrix. It’s one key moment that everyone who has seen the film can instantly relate to. However when ‘Max Payne’ from Rockstar tried to recreate the same kind of dramatics, it didn’t quite have as much effect as the scene from The Matrix. This was mainly down to originality. People had already seen bullet-time in The Matrix and when people saw it in Max Payne it didn’t quite ‘wow’ people so much. So if a games programmer can come up with an original event that will stick in people’s minds then they are bound to have something special under their sleeves. Take the Psycho Mantis scene in the original Metal Gear Solid. Everyone was talking for days after, about how great this was. The fake injection, the ‘ah, I see you also play ISS’ bit, and much more, was packed into one scene, a scene I will remember for a long time. And, put a whole load of these scenes together and you have one hell of a great experience. This was one of the strong points of MGS2 and the Final Fantasy series. Throughout they never managed to disappoint and the gamer was emerged in a fantastical world of their own, and I’ll say it again, ‘one they will never forget.’

However, you don’t just need to string a whole load of action packed scenes together to create a memorable experience. Take ‘Ico’. Everyone who has played this will with no doubt say that this is the most mind bending, disturbing, and engaging adventure you can ever play. It really does make you lose sleep. But how? What is it? No one can really explain. It’s mind games. In fact, Ico disturbed one gamer so much that he believed that God was using games producers to create games that portray an image of what we should expect in an afterlife. He described ‘The Third Place as being heaven’ and ‘games help us train up for what to expect in heaven’. Strange, and something I’m sure Ico’s producer Darren Yager would disagree on.

So what, why and most importantly how does this happen. What is it that captures certain things in our minds and affects us for days? Is it just pure accidental? Great imagination by developers? Or some sort of God training us up for heaven? What ever it is, whoever does it to us, no one knows. But I’m sure you will all agree it’s nice to have a personal encyclopaedia in your head of all the thrills you have experienced in your life. Computer games included.


Thanks for reading.
Nath.