… when such an historic, worldly significant day like this

…just makes you think, immediately, of this…

Originally posted here

~

[I will probably get in trouble if certain people read this blog. But here it is anyway]

A bit of context, just to get it out of the way early on: I tend to take my gaming addictions a bit far sometimes, and I absolutely love open world games. GTA III had me hooked like a junkie as I enjoyed the exploration and sightseeing within Liberty City; taking my time doing missions in order to fully appreciate it all, the wonderful digital city: soaking it in, the geography, the design, the personality. These virtual escapes then followed with Vice City, San Andreas, and of course, GTA IV. Oh the time and sick days spent on that one.

None of that intense training could prepare me for Fallout 3, however. Nope. Bethesda have well and truly destroyed me.

Doing all-nighters. Taking days off work. Cancelling dinners and movie outings. I really did all these things. I just needed a few more hours to scour the world for those 30 Nuka-Cola Quantums, finding that leaf blower to make my custom weapon, to get some ant pheromones for the chick in Rivet City, to grab all the loot from vanquished Talon Company Mercs and to repair and compress my inventory space, to travel through subway tunnels in DC looking for those Super Mutant behemoths…on and on it went. And with a game as vast and as open as this one, there’s never a shortage of things to do – there just aren’t enough hours in a day to be able to do them all.

Upon reaching the maximum of Level 20 (a bit of a disappointment to be honest, albeit a life-saving one) it dawned on me. It was as if my body had been detached from my mind; the former reduced to conduit slave status whose sole purpose was to punch buttons and serve the latter which was, and had been for a while, floating in its own virtual space within the DC Ruins of the game. It was 5 am. I had played all night. Then, a voice. My voice. I was glad to hear it.

“Man, you’re not taking very good care of yourself. If there was no maximum level, you’d be just like one of those World of Warcraft freaks who plays all day every day within those game cafes eating instant noodles, the only difference being that you’re too tight to pay the monthly subscription fee which is probably in itself fair enough given that I don’t agree with regular payments for MMOs either (despite the fact that I AM your mind and it’d be contradictory for me NOT to agree, but lets not go there). Look at what GTA IV did to you. You lined up unnecessarily for the midnight launch just to play in the early hours of the morning, having to drag yourself off to work with little to no sleep even though the game was hardly in short supply and you could have easily picked it up the next afternoon. And, going back further, look at what San Andreas did during your uni years: skipping class to stay home and deck yourself out with green bandanas and ammo for your AK47 as you took over gang territory in the name of the Grove Street Families. Ah, memories”.

Then my alarm rang and the voice of reason was gone. 7:40 am. Another choice presented itself to me, and even though I was (kind of) back in real life, I could still see the dialogue window from the game, complete with response options:

“Your alarm has gone off, alerting you to the fact that you need to get dressed and go to work. However your eyes are bloodshot and their lids extremely heavy given that you’ve played the game non-stop, overnight, with only a carton of orange juice as sustenance. You decide to…”:

• Abide by the laws of society and get dressed and go to work, trying not to collapse, dead, on public transport along the way
• Take a nap for a few hours, then go to work. After all, being late is better than not being there at all!
• [SPEECH 100%] Take a sicky

Option 3. Success!

Once the decision was made though, away went any remnants of my fatigue, seemingly magically and almost immediately. So guess what I did? Yep. I salvaged ammo from the dead Super Mutants, went back to where I told Dogmeat to stay, and fast-travelled around to look for more locations to fill up the empty spaces of my map, inevitably finding yet more new places and distractions to keep occupied. Fallout 3 isn’t without its flaws; the character animations are often stiff, there are clipping issues and a ton of glitches and bugs, the AI of NPCs is often questionable at best, and given the combination of the game’s scope plus an unreliable Local Map, it is incredibly easy to get lost within internal environments – particularly the other Vaults. But everything else about the game? Bloody hell. Fallout 3 is one of the best games I have ever played, and is definitely my favourite game of 2008 even amongst such distinguished company this year. The world, the characters, the story, the dark humour: you could say that I’ve been ‘immersed’ in it.

So today, amazingly, I’m back at work and typing all this down. I know! Crazy isn’t it! I’ve seen the sun, and it is beautiful. Let’s see then, doo do doo do doo, what will my options be for tonight? Take a wild guess.

I’ve heard all the advice before, too. “Just go to sleep, moron. It’s not hard”. “Be more mature about it and control yourself, you overgrown child,” etc etc. But I’m telling you, completely honestly, the open world video game is my vice, my Kryptonite. It gets me EVERY time. I am an addict, and I admit it with much shame and self-loathing. Maybe it’s to do with wanting to escape from one’s own reality, finding salvation in a world that follows different rules with alternate social underpinnings. There must be something deep down inside, a hidden reason behind this type of addiction; something Freudian perhaps. One thing is for sure though after this whole saga: even if I do absolutely love savouring these digital worlds and all the little details they offer, taking my time to free-roam to my heart’s content (if not the rest of the body), I really cannot wait until Fallout 3 is truly over and I’ve seen all that there is to see – if only just to escape my own personal Vault 101.

But then there’s the option of playing through again as someone evil. Jesus. Christ.

Back in the day before Xbox 360 Achievements (and now PS3 Trophies), completing certain tasks in gaming were only done to attain a level of accomplisment and pride that existed at the very core of video games. After all, why else would we even bother playing anything in the first place if there was no sense of success or closure in what we did, especially given that memory cards weren’t around a while back and if you died it meant starting all over again from the very beginning and you had to challenge those deformed freaks in Rock Paper Scissors in Alex Kidd again (and lose, repeatedly) until your child self wept?

Those core incentives of reaching gaming perfection could be from, say, finishing Sonic the Hedgehog and finding all the Chaos Emeralds (something I never managed and am still bitter about to this day – I only had one left and I could see it but couldn’t get to it) or trying to get the highest score possible in the original Mario and writing it down on ripped-out exercise book pages in between crude drawings of Street Fighter’s Zangief and “pee pee” figures and comparing it (the pee pees) with school buddies who wouldn’t believe you anyway. Oh the bygone era where the internet and online stat tracking were yet to be realised, how did we even survive? These days I find myself comparing gamerscores with iceblast21, ignipotentbrendan, and of course, zumafire, of whose lofty statuses I can only dream of reaching as I stalk their profiles in a non-Facebook setting.

Mr T sure was really popular back then

All those reasons for gaming valour, the honesty and purity of the challenge, started to become altered when 360 achievements came along…enter the “Achievement Whore”, i.e. those who play games just for the points. This isn’t a criticism of anybody as I myself often find that I’m guilty of playing through titles for the points, too. But man, I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to hire Avatar for the free thousand points, that just seems…excessive. Case in point: as much as I enjoyed Call of Duty 4, I have never experienced as harsh an exercise in ridiculous futility as when playing through the whole game on Veteran difficulty. There were so many times, corresponding to the number of my deaths in-game, that I just wondered “Why am I doing this? For a few hundred virtual points?” Ultimately I soldiered on until the game became annoying and the inconsistent spawning of checkpoints was clearly not synchronised with the ridiculous numbers of enemies who never stopped flooding towards you with perfect aim. I eventually finished it but have not done the epilogue plane mission on Veteran because NO! Just, no.

An example of downright bad achievements would be for Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 where a host of them were dedicated to online play and yet the online lag rendered matches so unplayably bad that getting those points was more an exercise in blind luck and frustration rather than what surely should have been a focus on good competition. Another required you to commit one foul or less in ten straight games, which was just unfair given how whistle-happy the referees are in the game and the only way to get that achievement is to play in an unfeasibly unattractive keep-ball way that opposed the very principles of the sport. All that for 25 points too when buying FIFA 08 would have been the better option.

There are also times when achievements get in the way of gameplay, particularly in sandbox titles where the chances are that you will end up getting them naturally over time anyway, and at your own pace, but because it’s there on the list you may go out of your way JUST to attain them. I found that when I was playing through Bully Scholarship Edition, GTA IV and Saint’s Row, I would definitely become a bit too achievements-focused and it had a negative impact on the way I usually approached these games: performing so many wedgies in quick succession and storing a crazy amount of cars in my garage that, as soon as they were done, all the fun was gone in doing them again. I mean, why bother?

These type of achievements tend to kill the fun a bit when you’ve reached the goal and its as if gamers are being held to ransom by them. I’ve got to say though, as conflicted as I may feel about achievement points, it has in some cases enhanced the gaming experience. For instance, I was so very close to trading in Assassin’s Creed after I heard the words “I only wish my sons were as brave as you” for the thousandth time but hung on and finished the game just to score some points before trading it in. Ultimately, my opinion of the title had improved: it wasn’t utterly atrocious but at the same time certainly not very good, resulting in a game that was just barely worth keeping.

I liked the stealth-method too

Currently I’m busy on Rainbow Six Vegas 2’s achievements, which have been beneficial in terms of improving my level of skill: having to kill 100 online opponents with a pistol was definitely a long haul but I do think I’m a better player because of it. Although as soon as that was achieved I went straight back to my preferred weapon – I cannot stress how relieved I was to get that one over and done with, and again, now that the achievement has been reached I doubt I’ll be handgunning it again anytime soon for the fun of it. As for the dodgy achievement which requires you to own an Xbox Live Camera to put yourself in the game, there is no way I’m buying one of those just for the sake of 20G unless there is a bona fide reason to get one. Personally I do prefer it if game achievements rewarded you in different and original ways: you will always get them for finishing the game of course, but it helps when they encourage you to ‘discover’ things as well.

Crackdown is a much-cited example of coaxing the player into playing through in a different style to what they may have been accustomed to, and the Bully Scholarship Edition achievements expanded on that, particularly with ‘Over the Rainbow’, the one about kissing members of the same sex a certain number of times. Bioshock encouraged us to find all the audio diaries, and in doing so helped draw you in further to the world of Rapture. Dead Rising made you play through the story mode multiple times with different objectives and hence see more of what they had created (but on that note, playing Survival Mode and staying alive for 7 days which equated to something like 14 real life hours was just not on. Not on).

So why is that gamerscore so important to so many of us? What about the guys who have hundreds and thousands of points? Do they actually play through games for the sake of fun or just for the points? Many of my Live buddies have formidable tallies, as above; others are clearly anti-gamerscore and only have the default achievements that come practically automatically with their games. I wish I could play through titles unmarred and unaffected by the lure of virtual points, but I just cannot help myself sometimes as the whole sense of reward and accomplishment has me hooked like Pavlov manipulating his dogs. 15G might not be much, but it sure does beat going through Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the 23rd time only to be outdone by two fingers stuck up at you, followed swiftly by death.

The video game battle has raged on for over 20 years with more and more casualties announced each generation. This time round, who will win the fight?

360 Man

In his former incarnation as just plain old ‘XBox Man’, 360 Man took his time and used his big weapon: connection infrastructures, to plan the perfect moment to enter the console wars. With Master Chief at his side and guns blazing, 360 Man is the current kingpin of all the heroes.

Strengths:

Truly KILLER Apps (including a substantial advantage over PS3 Mecca with his recruitment of third parties), and with the devastating power of the MS network he can summon his many followers (in a non-cultish way of course).

Weaknesses:

Overheating (whereupon he is vulnerable to attack and online mauling) where the power ring on his chest slowly turns red and his followers may begin a mutiny and move to the other side. He also charges a fee when people ask for his services, rent-a-hero style, causing them to often resent 360 Man despite all his values.

PS3 Mecca

The third in line of his kin, PS3 Mecca learnt from one of the legends himself: Master PS2, but this time round the Sony hero faces a much tougher fight…

Strengths:

Within his chassis PS3 Mecca has an incredibly powerful source of potential, and at this point he is trying hard to maximise it through regular tutelage with the Master PS2, a harsh but all-knowing teacher (like Pai Mei in Kill Bill). Possesses a lethal bluray laser but still in training to wield it properly (like Luke Skywalker and Yoda). His killer aps are, again, still in development and a lot will ride on the aging shoulders of Solid Snake.

Weaknesses:

Often mocked and insulted by the people, PS3 Mecca has taken a real beating from his rivals as he struggles in the current gen battle. Being initially too costly for the public to enlist his services and a bit too boastful about his own abilities before a blow had even been landed, he has already lost favour with many of Master PS2’s allies from the last gen wars.

Wii Lady

The (Wii) Fittist of all our heroes, Wii Lady stands up for the rights of all the young ones, families, and the Nintendo fans still reeling after crushing past defeats to the older generation heroes the Gamecube Cube and the N64 Colossus. Speaks with a Scottish accent (“wee lady”, get it?)

Strengths:

Strong physical attacks (including nunchuk melee weapon), virtually unbeatable from a first person perspective, can summon the powers of fallen heroes from the All Conquering NES armoury, and completely rules the sewer (or “underground” as it sounds much cooler) with her right-hand man Mario.

Weaknesses:

Are Mario and a proven ability to be the life of friend/family parties enough to sustain Wii Lady’s longevity? This may not even be an issue though with her popularity with, well, pretty much everyone in the world (provided that friendship codes have already been established).

PSP Chick

Basically the Master PS2 in reincarnated female form and offering a host of media options, PSP Chick is definitely the funkiest little hero around. But is being cool enough?

Strengths:

Able to connect to her bigger brother the PS3 Mecca, PSP Chick has proven herself to be a reliable handheld device as she insists that she is an altogether different hero to the DS Boy. Possessing greater vision than her main rival, she also has the ability to throws her UMD discs at unsuspecting enemies as they gasp “what the HELL is that?!”

Weaknesses:

Some may say she is fighting an unfair fight against DS Boy, but she is still a worthy adversary in her own right despite being busted for graffiti and fake website scams.

DS Boy

The Robin to the Wii Lady’s Batman (or Batwoman), the youthful DS Boy stands his own ground and is a force to be reckoned with via his sheer playability and, well, just being a fun guy to call upon. Extremely popular worldwide, particularly in Japan – they just can’t get enough.

Strengths:

His unique abilities allow him to throw rocks with a simple swing of his stylus bat, cut into enemies with surgical precision, improve IQ scores, and object to injustices by utilising his built-in microphone. DS Boy can also link up with Wii Lady like Voltron – Wii Lady as the head and the pink, blue, black and gold versions of DS Boy completing the limbs. As to where the torso comes from, it’s the same deal with Optimus Prime’s trailer thing that always appeared/disappeared whenever it felt like it.

Weaknesses:

Tends to focus a bit too much on the ‘touching’ side of things as opposed to the traditional methods of crime fighting, as well as being guilty of only hanging out with his own friends rather than embracing the world.