Saturday, March 17, 2012

Of social commentary and the love of the game.

I have just finished the 3rd installment in the Mass Effect series of action-RPGs. For the non-gaming folk among you, it would not really give any cause for celebration, reflection or concern. It is, after all, merely a videogame, no? Where you control non-real things on a screen with non-real emotions, and non-real settings, in a non-real universe.

Be surprised then, at the following revelation : I find my perceptions and ethical leanings, have been irrevocably, if subtly, altered.

I have always felt that in order to fully understand what is required to gain enough critical mass for pan-human salvation, there are certain sacrifices that need to be made, and that not everyone could, or should, be carried forward through to the perceived utopia that we aim to create in the next level of our continued existence. It is erroneous of me, to even conceive of this notion. Why? Because if we do not attempt to save everyone, regardless of their own inclinations, then we cut out the very core of enlightened humanism. That is the shift in a nutshell. Empirically, it seems to not be much. Lest that sort of deviation be underplayed, to illustrate its importance you can draw a parallel with planetary orbits. Shift the Earth's direction by just half a degree, and we'd all be dead in decades. I have indeed set upon a new path.

It is startling, most of all to me, that such alterations of my core thought processes can occur due to a videogame, after all. Even one which I have more emotional investment in than any other game I have ever had the privilege of experiencing. Whilst I have been at the forefront of the school of thought that prescribes to the idea of gaming being as legitimate an artform as film or music, even I find the scale of the shift in my moral code breathtakingly invigorating.

I must admit, the twin thrusts of attempting to explain just how much has changed within my head, and the impact that the game itself has had on my heart, is probably too much for one post to cover. There will be more in the future, that shall spill forth across these pages. Or not.

After all, it's only a videogame.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

And.. I'm back.

After another hiatus which can only be explained by a combination of lethargy, work stress and the crippling lack of time that plagues those of us with questionable motivational powers, I am indeed back.

Sort of. Maybe.

Stick around, if you feel so inclined :)