Thursday, October 13, 2011

Too Close For Comfort

I am not usually surprised by a video game. Truthfully I haven't been totally entertained by a game for a little over a year. This past week I was blown away by a game. I was blown away by a game that I have already played. This may sound ridiculous to some but it is the god honest truth. The game was Call of Duty: Black Ops. To some, this game is one of the best shooters of all time. To me, it was a pretty good game with a interesting premise. I liked the multiplayer but only in spurts. I don't know how some guys (and girls) can play the game online for hours at a time; it's just too much for me.
You may be asking: What was so amazing about a game that has been out for over a year? I got to play the game in high definition with 5.1 surround sound and to top it all off, it was in 3D. I have never come closer to virtual reality than that. It couldn't have been in a better location. My friend and I were in his barely lit basement. It was perfect game immersion.
After about twenty minutes and about two online deathmatches, I couldn't take it anymore. Neither could my friend. I couldn't see how staying in that kind of environment could be adjusted to. The bullets zipped by our heads. The bombs blew up in our faces. We died at least ten times. Yet, we were still hanging around in the basement. It felt like we were just on a battlefield of some sort and now we could sit back in a recliner. It just didn't feel right.
It soon became apparent that the feeling I was having was shared by my friend. We looked at each other a moment. I said to him, "This is frigging nuts."
He responded with, "Yeah man, this is crazy. It's a little too crazy. You wanna get something to eat?"
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Over a lovely gourmet meal at a royal burger chain, we discussed the strange feelings that we had just experienced. How it was weird to go from ducking simulated bullets to having a burger. How it was all just too much to deal with after such a short time. And especially how bad of a headache it was giving us. My friend said that it was too close to being in a life or death situation. "You wouldn't want to play a game that makes you feel like crap. That's not the point of playing video games. You want to play a game that makes you feel like a badass."
We also talked about how if that is like warfare, what is actual battle like? How much worse can it get? I guess the real difference is you don't respawn in reality.
I asked him if he would ever play that game in the basement ever again. His response says it all: "Oh yeah man, I'd play it again. Just not in 3D."

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