tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post5454034571846696017..comments2024-03-28T07:16:05.720-07:00Comments on Experience Points: The Sensationalist: The Aging of Old SnakeJorge Alborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-73691366314267904182009-03-22T11:53:00.000-07:002009-03-22T11:53:00.000-07:00For an interesting "videogame" that deals heavily ...For an interesting "videogame" that deals heavily with aging and death, you might want to try "The Graveyard". It only takes a few minutes to play through the whole thing and it can be freely downloaded here:<BR/><BR/>http://tale-of-tales.com/TheGraveyard/index.html#download<BR/><BR/>I think you should try it before reading my next paragraph because it is best left as something to just experience, but my thoughts on the game follow....<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>The Graveyard is an art concept piece where you walk an old woman through a graveyard and sit her down on a bench to reflect on death. Her slow, hobbled movements force you as the player to slow down, pay attention to the little details, and reflect on what you are seeing and feeling. With the stark black and white imagery of tombstones and heavy clouds cutting out the sunlight overhead, you are drawn into thoughts of death and our limited youth. It's not terribly fun to play, but it is emotionally evocative. After walking the old woman to the bench and back out I actually felt compassion for her at the end of the journey and I felt like I understood her in some way, even though she never speaks. It doesn't work as an entire videogame unto itself in my opinion, but if it were a scene in the context of a larger storyline in a game, I think I would love it.JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16467964766151573064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-2491778629557550432009-03-21T15:23:00.000-07:002009-03-21T15:23:00.000-07:00@JTGood point about the connection between the ste...@JT<BR/><BR/>Good point about the connection between the stealth and fear.<BR/><BR/>I didn't get to talk about this in the post, but MGS 4 also implements a "psyche" gauge that begins to deplete if Snake enters stressful situations. Getting caught or running from enemies depletes his psyche, which leads to poor accuracy and responsiveness.<BR/><BR/>They psyche gauge also takes hit when someone gives Snake bad news or criticizes his him. Despite the somewhat trite way of displaying his emotional state, the thing actually made me feel more connected to the character. Weird what a little bar can accomplish, eh?Scott Justerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11775296635863850847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-65498231234537677322009-03-21T11:25:00.000-07:002009-03-21T11:25:00.000-07:00It seems appropriate that the Metal Gear series wo...It seems appropriate that the Metal Gear series would be one of the first games to deal seriously with aging because this is the main series that helped create the stealth/espionage genre of games that put you in contact with your own mortality by using a game design that would not allow you to just blow everyone up with ease. If you get caught by a group of soldiers with guns in a metal gear game, you likely will die if you don't figure out how to sneak around or ambush them. Many videogame heroes can take on the world with guns blazing, but Snake always had to play it safe because he dies when he is outnumbered, which made his death seem all the more frighteningly imminent as a player. Because of the nature of the game design, the stealth genre lends itself more readily to dealing with our fears of death, mortality, and even aging.JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16467964766151573064noreply@blogger.com