Letters to the Editor

What Were the Odds?

SCMRPG proves that games are, as a whole, currently in an adolescent phase. The subject of the game immediately causes debate. This is a necessary step. Something has to push things along, be it this game or another controversial title. When people say, "it's a game that has such-and-such a subject matter, and that isn't right" it is clear that the medium is not getting respect. The wrongdoing is being attributed to the game first and the subject matter second.

If video games are to be viewed as an important medium they must also comment on important events; they must instill emotion in the player for partaking in these events. Developers must prove that games are capable of revealing something of value to the audience. I think the controversy, causing emotional uproar from all sorts of people that haven't even downloaded the game, is proof that games can, and will, be an important part of society and social commentary.

We need more games pushing the envelope.

- Blaxton

In response to "Buzz Games" from The Escapist Forum: I disagree that such a market might defeat itself. Instead there will be a competing investments; one predicting some "terror event," and another predicting that this event will be stopped before it can succeed. If the market is open for all to see, this allows the possibility that a terrorist seeing a heavy investment against an event might call off the plan entirely.

- EastwoodDC

In response to "You Will Never be a Princess" from The Escapist Daily: I find it interesting that the people who can best distinguish fantasy and reality are those that experience both worlds. People who have no fantasy life believe that inside a fantasy, you believe that what is happening is real. People who have no real life (and I have met a few: I even spent time AS one) believe that the fantasy is real. It is only those of us that live both in our fantasy world of choice and in the real world that can see that fantasies are fantasies and reality is reality.

Please, do not ridicule those who do not realize that Fantasy!=Reality. Simply pity them: they do not realize what they are missing. And when you can, teach them: show them that fantasy worlds are not real. And do it without making them feel inferior.

- ZacQuickSilver

[a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/8.38522"]In response to "Reward Card 2" from The Escapist Daily[/A]: I'd have to agree that I'm finding the same problems myself. I've tried to get through Zelda, but I'm stuck at around the 25 hour mark because I realize that every time I sit down to play it, its gonna take at least half an hour to remember what I was up to and where everything is in the world and then another couple of hours to make any progress. So I tend to have a quick game of Wii tennis or Guitar Hero instead. I'd like to see myself picking up Okami and God of War 2 and perhaps a 360 with Gears and Oblivion in the coming months, but I'm more likely to get Warioware and whatever the next buzz (the quiz game) turns out to be, because I know I will play them more.

And it's not like I don't have the time to play games either. In the last few months I've managed to watch the first 7 seasons of Stargate from start to finish, its just that my spare time comes in small chunks around work and cooking and sport and a 42 minute Stargate episode fits in those chunks much easier than a couple hours of Zelda does.

- Goofonian