Ramblings Volume 3

Ramblings Volume 3, 6th November 2009, 21:09
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On modern technology, particularly the Xbox, and how it's killing us off
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So, my Xbox 360 broke. It's died, moved on to the big trash heap in the sky. Or, rather, I've sent it off to Microsoft.

So basically the same thing.

Anyway, it's got the Red Ring of Death, and I'm stuck without a gaming console for a couple o' weeks. And I ain't enjoying it, I can tell you that.

It's not that it's the console itself that's gone - I love the fact that I can sit in my room now and think without hearing an incessant *whiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* of the mighty box itself, in all it's thunderous glory, proclaiming its presence to the heavens - but the fact that I can't play my games. I know, it's sad, it's pathetic, I could go on all day about what is and isn't being a 'GameFreak', but for now let's just push that to one side.

You see, I don't particularly miss it as such, but it's rather the fact that I miss the comfort of being able to lose myself in another life. That's what's so great about computer gaming, and it's also what's so terrible, kind of like a black forest gateau with extra topping stuffed with rat poison. I miss being able to simply get away from it all and go and live in peace on Oblivion, and be able to maim some zombies on Half-Life 2. Let's rule out the fact that I have a PC for now, I'll cometo that later. It's just that for me, gaming has become an art form, and it has for many others too.

They are no longer 'Bobby Thompson' or 'Billy Jones', they have become Gordon Freeman or Master Chief - gaming doesn't just provide an opportunity to extract yourself and inject the very essence of you into another life, as soon as you find yourself enjoying a game the game actually becomes a part of you. Soon enough you find that the real world simply isn't interesting, that books aren't exciting enough because you have to think up the explosions, and the little beam of hope in our grey, dull minds that is the imagination is extinguished for good. We gradually lose the ability to respond to anything other than visual stimuli when we're playing, and our conscience doesn't seem to function properly when we're not. We can't just go back to being a normal person - we'll always be a gamer, deep down, and we'll always crave that 'one more level' that we so often beg for.

When I say we, I'm referring to gamers. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Essentially, the PC doesn't provide as much immersion as the consoles, and that's a good thing. For example, with a desktop PC, you're always going to be sat upright, and with a laptop you're always going to feel the weight of it, or have to awkwardly position yourself to see the screen properly. It's this extra barrier of protection that everybody needs, but that simply isn't there for consoles. The Xbox controller, for example, only has a relatively small 11 buttons and two joysticks (not counting the d-pad, because nobody ever uses that any more) but the keyboard? I can't be bothered counting, is the short answer, a google search is the long - but you catch my drift.

So catch this drift, Skippy.

I don't miss the Xbox at all. "Ooo, hypocricy" you say, "Ooo what a dirty liar" you say, but say what you will. I don't in effect miss the Xbox, but it's the fact that it's gone that makes me crave it even more. It's like when somebody puts up a sign saying do not step on the grass, and you feel compelled to step on it out of curiosity (or if you're just a prick); it's like when somebody tells you to tell a joke and you can't think of anything - hell, you may have John Cleese's entire repetoir crammed in the old noggin, but when put under pressure it'll fly out the window like a racing pidgeon on crack.

Man, I've really got to see that one day.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes. Reverse the last statement and you have me, right now. Craving something because I can't have it. Wanting to play because I know I can't. Thinking of all the games I could be playing without even once considering the life I'm living here. It's a subconscious thing, you can't avoid it.

So basically...

If you've ever so much as touched a controller and played even a fraction of a minute of any game and enjoyed it then you're stuck. Forever. You can go outside. You can play football, stave off the hunger; you can watch TV, fight back the boredom - but you know now.

You're one of us.