Letters to the Editor

The Great and Powerful

In response to "From the Barrel of a Gun" from The Escapist Forum: Stab in the dark here, but you don't own any guns do you? Guns, first and foremost, are tools. There's no dark, evil backstory about their creation. And, for the millions of people that own, use, and collect them, there's nothing myth-like about them.

I think you're looking at it wrong. Videogames aren't failing at upholding the myth of the gun as a magic talisman where the mere sight of one wards off those wishing you harm. They're succeeding at destroying that myth and more accurately portraying them as a tool to be used.

- mbvmgb

Condemned: Criminal Origins did a good portrayal of gun's deadliness. Although only carrying one and not being able to reload could be interpreted as being unrealistic.

The guns were loud, powerful, often killing or incapacitating an enemy immediately, but at the same time you had to try and be conservative. A scary moment would make you accidentally fire, perhaps revealing yourself or at the least wasting scarce ammo. The machine gun was a perfect example of this, carrying the most ammo, but likely to be used the quickest due it its rapid rate of fire.

I felt more dangerous with a gun with one bullet then when wielding a fireaxe, despite the latter's long potential long term use. Because I was thinking about surviving the next fight, not the one after that.

I felt it captured a little of what a gun should feel like. In HL2 the pistol with one bullet is useless but in real life its threatening and dangerous.

- BrynThomas

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In response to "Late Braking, Fast Laps and Other Life Lessons" from The Escapist Forum: Brilliant article, and I'm glad to find somebody else to claim that racing games have helped them to drive. Gran Turismo was my first racing game. It was punishingly difficult for my ten-year-old self, especially the licence tests - to this day, I can't complete the International A licence because of the vicious oversteer from the TVR Griffith.

Not only did the Gran Turismo series improve my knowledge about cars and their real-life behaviour - indispensible information when it came to driving later on - but it also helped to reignite my younger childhood love of cars, something which had been slipping away through the years. I'm part of a motorsport family myself - we've got a painting of a Porsche 917, Gulf colours and all, hanging over our stairs - but without something to feed the passion, the interest may have slipped altogether.

Now, I'm a simulation racer, throwing Caterhams and grand tourers around Monza and Imola in GTR Evolution. You can never be too prepared for what that sort of game will throw at you, but it's the sort of challenge which has its own real-life analogue, unlike the majority of computer games. You're learning something every time you get behind the steering wheel.

- RAKtheUndead