The Gamer's Quarter

SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:05 pm Post subject: What moves you?

This should probably be in an Ebert/Art gaming thread, but I think it deserves its own space. Games are often criticized for not being as "moving" as movies, music, or books. Alright, I'm down with that, but what is moving? What movies, books, and/or music has moved you recently? Name a specific scene in a movie or a specific song that is emotionally compelling and, if possible, explain what it is about that moving experience that can't be replicated in an interactive environment.

I want to mention King Kong here, and possibly even compare it to SotC, but I'll hold out until the thread gets a few responses.

-Wes
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player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

The only moving experience I get in a videogame is thrill. Virtua Fighter 4 Evo, Resident Evil 4: Mercenaries, drifting in Outrun 2, that one decline in R4...

Other media is a little different. I read the The Emperor series by Conn Igulden. Caesar is inspiring, especially in that bit of historical fiction. A lot of music excites me: Lightning Bolt, Death From Above, Thunderbirds are Now! Emo used to help me, well, be emo. Especially Weezer's Pinkerton. But, well, that was kind of shallow and it's hard for me to be moved by that anymore.

Here's something else that moved me: Hotel Rwanda. It's honest tragedy. You are drawn in by the characters. You don't necessarily identify with them, but you become connected. And then... well, yeah.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:53 pm Post subject: Re: What moves you?

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

And Dead Alive?
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:57 pm Post subject:

Especially Dead Alive.

-Wes
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dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Who doesn't like dead alive?

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dhex · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 3:25 pm Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

IceTyger · . Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 10

I'm scared shitless of the unknown. I'm also afraid of the dark, but this really only really manifests in video games. Black headcrabs, weird yet fairly silent monsters, and terrorists in de_nuke all scare the piss out of me at times, which usually leads to me throwing whatever ordinance I've got in every which direction, followed by my imminent demise.

But all that really only affects survival horror and first-person shooters. In shooting games (horizontal or vertical, either or), I tend to play until I get into some sort of zone, where the bullets don't matter and I'm actually able to do something besides die stupidly. Most of the time I just get a huge headache and suck.

DDR tends to move me. Or maybe it's the other way around.
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SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:14 pm Post subject:

I think you're missing the point of this thread Shaper. I never implied taking things out of their contexts, I only implied that by searching for a common denominator between the things that move us we can maybe discover something that video games could possibly do to give us similar experiences.

-Wes
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dhex · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:25 pm Post subject:

so, basically, my half life 2 piece?
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dessgeega · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:31 pm Post subject:

the relentless churning of the all-consuming engine of capitalism terrifies me.

also, paranoia for the pc-engine fills me with fear. i've never even actually encountered a monster in that game; just wandering the mazelike corridors, knowing a monster MIGHT POP OUT became too stressful, and i turned the game off. i think had i actually encountered a monster the game would have become much less scary to me.
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seryogin · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:40 pm Post subject:

Smash the four olds! Cut of the head of the seventh snake! All reactionary forces are paper tigers!

Anyway, can't the question of this thread, essentially, be answered by reading any random issue of the Gamer's Quarter?

dhex · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 5:12 pm Post subject:

SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:59 pm Post subject:

seryogin · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 7:09 pm Post subject:

My mistake.

I didn't read the beginning of the thread. I got distracted by dhex talking about those kwazy kommies and Shaper talking about Jews or dinosaurs or something like that.

I thought the question was:

dhex · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:54 pm Post subject:

jewish dinosaurs let me ride
let me ride

anyway, yeah, i thought that was the question.
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GSL · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:22 pm Post subject: Re: What moves you?

xvs07 · . Joined: 22 Sep 2005 Posts: 160

Building on previous experience seems to be the running theme so far. Whether it's empathy with an entirely in-game entity or tying in to poignant memories and feelings from one's own past, my reaction to a media-type stimulus depends greatly on the depth of my point of reference.

However, I hesitate to lump non-empathic stimuli under the same heading. The bits of my brain that do fear, anger, triumph and the like aren't the parts that cried over Big Fish and Spiderman 2. Those more primal responses are generally much easier to evoke than emotive reactions, at least if we're to judge by what's available on the market these days. I wish I were more qualified to talk shop about neurological wiring, 'cause I have a feeling it would answer some of these questions straight out.

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:45 pm Post subject:

buses.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

Simpsons roasting on an open fire:

Homer expects to get a Xmas bonus, but Mr. Burns cancels it. Marge spends all their saved money on removing a I heart Mother tattoo from Bart's arm. Homer can't tell the family that he won't get a bonus (manly pride) and because he doesn't want them to have a bad Xmas. Homer takes a crappy job to try and get some money.. it doesn't work out though... etc.

I look forward to seeing this kind of thing in games, but it wouldn't work because the essential element here is that of feelings, Homer loves his family, it wouldn't be the same with the gamer in the driving seat.

B coma · . Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Posts: 279

I'm probably getting ahead of myself here since I have only watched it be played for an hour or so, but do you think that something like the aforementioned Simpsons episode could be incorporated into a Fable-esque environment? In the sense that a similiar scenario could be scripted in to the game, but also totally avoidable should the player choose not to respond as a caring family member.

Mister Toups · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:07 pm Post subject:

dhex · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:22 pm Post subject:

during the transit strike, no less.
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