December 27, 2007

• Maturity?  I dunno'!

  I was trying to think of a good title, but I'm unsure if that's it.  I like a lot of gaming console games and computer games.  I may take some of them too seriously.  You see, I like them when they are really realistic.  For example, if you're playing a driving game, the vehicle should act like a vehicle.  You can't be going 100mph and make a quick left turn without something happening in real life, but you can in a lot of games.  And if it's a war game, you get killed, spawn, and jump into the action again.  I don't want anyone to die because they're playing a game, but come on, if you can just run around crazy, get killed, and then run amok some more, then ..... well, then I should realize that it's not a reality type game. 

  I used to be on a Delta Force team, and we started playing Delta Force on the computer.  In the game, it took about 10 seconds before you spawned after getting killed.  This didn't slow down the ones with the S.A.W.s that would run amok in the game spraying bullets everywhere until killed, then spawn, and do it again, respawn, and repeat.  Where's the realism?  Was the game made for realism?  I don't know. 

  So I set up a server for the game.  On this server, when you got killed, you didn't spawn until the game was over and then you could play in the next game.  Many of the players got mad and wouldn't play on this server.  However, there was a following that would play on this.  It seemed that most of them had had real life experience like this, or they were older.  This is my limited experience.  Do you think lack of maturity makes people not like realism in games?

  Another example of this is when I was playing several younger guys the other day in Halo 3.  Since I didn't run amok, and I stayed kinda' in the background and "killed" them as opportunities arose, several got floor-slapping mad.  Then when I ran out like they did and just started swinging the hammer and was winning, they really got mad.  So here's this old guy that has fought a lot in his real life that is kicking their virtual butts, and they got mad.  I let them kill me after that just to resume peace (that was a funny statement).  Generally speaking, I'm not that great when it comes to amok-ism and I can be beat really bad when everything is crazy.

  The Racing Game

  I must admit that the racing game that I got with the PS3 is very realistic in the play.  When you wreck, you do get to start over in the same race, and that part lacks realism.  But games are made to sell, and tooooo realistic wouldn't do that, now would it?  This game is only 1 player, unless you're online, so we were taking turns playing.

  If you've had experience with driving, like steering into skids, slingshotting out of curves, driving on slick surfaces, etc., then you have something going for you when you play this game.  It uses real life when it comes to racing.  One player hasn't driven yet, one has limited experience, and I would be afraid to tell you about 40 years of driving experience that includes starting when I was only 10.  We get to playing and I'm the only one winning races.  When asked how I was doing it, I told them it was very realistic and tried to explain how to steer in a skid.  No one wanted the explanation and soon most everyone was coming in 9th or 10th place out of 15 while I was coming in 1st place. 

  Maybe it's not the lack of maturity, but the lack of real life experience that makes some players get mad at a game, or even another player, when they're not winning.  Could it be the lack of experience that makes people not like realism in games?

  Okay, so I'm kicking butt in this racing game, not only because I got a head start of playing, but probably because I have more driving experience.

  That Cheating Game!

  A long time ago when my sons were little, they couldn't understand why they couldn't beat a game the first time they played it.  I tried to explain that they wouldn't really like the game if they could beat it the first time.  That sufficed.  However, with the creation of AI in more modern games that adapt to the way you play and make it harder, my sons started saying that the game was cheating.  It became a joke later on as we all not exclaim when we're losing, "That cheating game!"

  I guess game play is what you make it.  But I think we should mostly remember, it's only a game.

  The FogWalker goes back to contemplating the meaning of real life, in games....and maybe back to the recliner for some more racing...

  • 12:18 pm
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