And All Shall Bow Before the Grilled Cheese Overlords

            I was thinking about the Sims this week.  I reminisced about all the good times I had playing the game.  AND how frustrating the simulated life is portrayed.  It’s like they wanted to draw real world parallels from the game and actual life.  Maybe it’s in the title.  Or maybe, just maybe it is in all of us… or I have no idea.  I just wanted to talk about the Sims.  (Don’t judge me.)

            The Sims games have such an interesting premise.  You create a character and they interact with a home that you build for them.  And after hard work and perseverance, they will rise up in the world and become The President… something like that anyway. 

            But what I like most about the Sims is that first day.  Everything feels so new.  Your Sim is dropped into a world of wonder.  They are finally on their own.  They can do whatever they want to.  The simulated world is their tomato, made to order however they like.  It is akin to an actual person moving in on their own.  And seeing this wondrous new world laid out for them, like a new pair of pants.  This is the feeling most people get when they first begin to exist without the help of their parents.  The tingling your body feels right before the soul crushing moment when you realize financial independence isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. 

            Your Sim doesn’t know those feelings however.  They only know that they want to watch T.V. on the new set, sit on the new couch, and maybe after a little while make themselves a grilled cheese sandwich.  So, your Sim goes to the kitchen and begins to prepare a grilled cheese sandwich.  They prep that bad boy/girl and get it ready to heat it up.  Your Sim turns on the brand new stove; not the really expensive one you wanted, but the one that would get the job done.  Makin’ that grilled cheese.  Because your Sim is brand new to this world, they do not know how to cook.  In fact, they have no discernible skill set at all.  They are much like an infant Sim in an adult Sim’s body.  It begs the question of what they have been doing for the past few Sim years when they were at Sim University, or Sim Community College.  (Probably a lot of Sim Beer Pong and the minimum amount of Sim studying.) 

            The game has a weird way of portraying your Sim not knowing how to cook.  It basically increases the chances of starting a fire by like 100%.  If the Sim even looks over at the kitchen I think there is like a 46% chance of the character just bursting into flames.  May have to fact check that one.  So, back to the grilled cheese your Sim desperately wanted.  The little dickens turns that stove on and the grilled cheese sizzles to life.  Then, the life it sizzles to transforms into a wild fire.  At first just the stove catches fire.  The countertop follows soon after that.  Your fridge becomes engulfed next.  And you loved that fridge.  It was so reasonably priced.  As your kitchen is set ablaze, you wonder how things could have been different.  If you had known that putting a fire alarm over the stove would call the Sim Fire Department, you may have done that.  But how could you know?  You’re as new to this simulated life as the character you created.  An infant god sent to control the life of a being with no sense of self preservation.  Instead of going to the phone to call for help, your Sim will start off the by dancing and screaming at the fire.  As though they could shout it out.  Realistically, it looks like a person praising the rise of their grilled cheese sandwich overlord.  The Overlord has finally come to save the world from the plight of the Sims.  (The only way of course being a baptism by fire.) 

            As your small minded character dances next to the fire and screams, helpless to stop the growing threat, they begin to catch fire as well.  And in that first day, you finally became an adult.  You lived a real life situation.  You also died… for a grilled cheese sandwich.  I know, so much like real life.  In fact, I’m dying for a grilled cheese right now.  That is beside the point. 

            However frustrating the Sims can be, it mostly makes me feel bad about myself.  Because, no matter how stupid your Sim starts out, they can master entire skill sets and career tracks in a matter of weeks.  It kind of makes you wonder what you might be able to accomplish in a week.  (Instead of playing The Sims.)  You could be a rock star, a master chef, the President, or even a grand wizard.  (Well, the first three are a little iffy, but the wizard thingy… go with that!) 

            Such is the simulated life.  I could probably master the guitar if I could speed through the practice process like they can.  All of that aside, the game really does make you wonder what you’re doing wrong sometimes.  Then you remember that you haven’t created anyone else, so he is playing to an audience of no one in his/her rock shows.  Giving the State of the Simunion address to an entire coliseum of emptiness.  Of a country that elected a man who couldn’t make a grilled cheese sandwich two weeks ago.  Now I don’t feel as bad.  I think the main lesson learned from the Sims is… anyone can be President if everyone else dies making grilled cheese sandwiches.

                                                                                                LAZY Rhino (CEO)

                                                                                                            Andrew

 

(If you like my blogs follow me on Twitter @ANDCauthen.  Also feel free to talk about your favorite Sim moments in the comments section.  The Sim moments will now be known as Simoments.  Love that word fusion.  Now roll that beautiful bean footage.)

The Complexity of Morality (or How to be Dick to Your Friends)

                Hello again Blog readers!  I’ve made it pretty clear where I sit on the video games as a hobby and as generally one of the activities I enjoy a great deal more than other activities. (Work for instance.)  But I also look at video games as an art form.  Today, I’m specifically talking about the art of storytelling and how the creators of said stories use morality. 

            For those of you with no moral compass (or who don’t have a dictionary); morality is a doctrine or system of moral conduct or conformity to ideals of right human conduct.  I like that games have been putting a growing amount of morality issues into games.  From the traditional Good V.S. Evil to the less traditional question of what is Right and Wrong.  And through interactive gameplay, we as the gamer get to experience these questions in a less formal and more captivating medium.  Where books and lessons can tell you a great deal about history, games have the ability to allow you to play both sides of the coin of moral conduct.

            Where to begin…  Well, the easiest place to start is the questions of good and evil.  Many games run on a system where you know you’re good.  How do you know?  You’re the hero.  (The Marios and the Links and the Samuses of the gaming world)  You are the person who makes it from point A to point B to stop the villain.  How do you know the person you’re trying to stop is the villain?  Because they often wear black?  Because they often capture people and hold them hostage?  Because they often try to destroy the world?  Yeah.  On a basic level, that is the only way for you to tell.  You as a character journey to stop them.  The villain wants to do bad things.  But, sometimes YOU are the villain (The Bowsers and Robotniks of the digital domain).  And it is made just as clear as starting a game to be the hero.  All the same questions are asked, but in reverse.  You do all the bad things, and it is fun to see the other side of the track.  To stop the Marios of the world from saving the princes/princesses.  I will not say I don’t enjoy games like these.  I really do.  They are the foundation of my gaming youth.  They lack creativity however, and are not always focused on the story as much as they are focusing on enjoyable gameplay.  Where the storyline is just a side factor.

            What if you don’t know if you’re the good guy?  Humor me for a bit.  What if you actually think you’re the good guy?  The very critically acclaimed game, Braid, asked that very same question of us, as the gamer.  Spoilers:  you go the entire game believing that you are the hero come to save the princess.  By the end of the game you discover that she has been running from you.  You aren’t the hero.  But because your character is in love, they believe themselves to be the hero.  WTF?!  This game’s ending really begins to make you question the possibilities in games and their storytelling capabilities.  Heck, the ending of Braid makes you question if you are the “good” guy in every other game where you chase after another person who has been “kidnapped”. 

            Good and Evil is sometimes used as a choice system in the game.  Your character can be either/or.  The main objective of the game doesn’t change, because your character decides how they will get the job done.  Sometimes it is actually the difference between being good or evil.  Like in the Fable series.  Though it doesn’t change the major aspects of the game, it does add a flavor to the story.  And it changes the way you perceive the story at hand.  Bioware does the light side/dark side play in many (if not all) of their RPGs.  Like Mass Effect, where you aren’t specifically good or evil, but a Paragon or a Renegade.  Your choices split between what the right thing to do is, and whatever it takes to achieve your ultimate goal.  Some games do the choice between the two very well, like Fable 3.  Once you’re the King/Queen in Fable 3, you are asked to keep promises you made to your friends in the rebellion.  On the other hand, if you go around only doing the right thing, the good thing, you will not be able to afford to pay the soldiers to fight off the darkness that is coming to destroy the world.  You may survive, but if you don’t say no to handouts to the people every now and then, everyone else dies.  Some games do the choice between the two very poorly… like Mass Effect!

            Let me first explain that I love the games. The Mass Effect series was great!  (Up until Mass Effect 3’s ending… Bleck!).   But there is a huge balance issue in the first game on the Renegade system versus the Paragon system.  A Paragon Commander Shepard finds a way to pretty much save everyone.  Always (Almost).  As long as you aren’t bad at the game, you won’t have to kill a single person who doesn’t attack you the second they see you.  Being more charming and just being a better person yields no actual sacrifice in the game, like their advertisements may lead you to believe.  There are never any moments where being a Paragon isn’t beneficial to you:  from being better to your crew and them liking you more to even earning two of the characters affection.  In fact the only time being a Paragon requires you to do any sacrificing it’s of one of the other crewmates on your team.  You may lose other teammates if you’re a dick to them however.  And trust me; that is really the ONLY difference between the Renegade choices and the Paragon choices.  Apparently Mass Effect’s definition of Renegade is a homicidal maniac that we have to rely on to save the galaxy.  You can often talk people down from situations and more good stuff happens to you if you do this (whilst playing as a Paragon).  When you’re a “Renegade” your options are kill people or threaten to kill people.  Oh yeah!  And be dick to your crew for (literally) no reason.  They will come up and tell you how happy they are, and if you want to be a real Renegade, you are just mean to them.  You slap the happy right out of their mouths.  It would make a little more sense if being a Renegade yielded some form of results (that Paragon doesn’t) at the cost that is often their life.  But, being a Paragon never has to make a tough decision.  (Except the choice between Kaiden and Ashley… ooo so hard… they both kind of suck as far as characters go).  The game’s real moral decisions are; do you want to be a good person, or do you want to shoot as many people between here and the end of the game as physically possible. 

            In truth, Bioware did a better job with Dragon Age: Origins.  Where you bolster an army of whatever races you can to fight off a coming evil.  With more complex moral choices of creating incredibly strong golems at the price of dwarven souls, or having werewolves to fight for you instead of freeing them from their curse and letting them turn back into normal people.  These choices just seem like they hold more weight, and they make you think more about what you’re willing to do to win the war.  It makes you feel truly desperate to stop the oncoming threat, because of your willingness to sacrifice the freedoms of other people to do so.  The cool part being that you don’t actually have to, but you don’t have as strong of an army if you don’t.  (Showing the actual difference between sacrifice and just bad game balancing) 

            There are so many games now that pose even deeper questions then good and evil.  Appropriately, in Beyond Good and Evil, you follow Jade who seeks truth above the all else.  You watch from the side of the inbetweeners.  Characters caught in the struggle between two sides that both see themselves as right.  It makes you ask, “What about the people who suffer while other people war on for what they want?”  Sometimes you even get your answers.

What is Good?  What is Evil?  Or is it just a difference of Perception?  Is it okay to go to extremes to save millions?  How far can you go and still look in the mirror and see a good person?  Do the ends always justify the means?  Morality and all of the complexity of it will continue to grow in the game industry.  Or you’ll just end up being a dick to your crew.  Who knows?

                                                                        LAZY Rhino “CEO”

                                                                                    Andrew

(If you like my blog follow me on Twitter @ANDCauthen.  You can also leave a comment about your own opinions of the games I mentioned.  Or about other games where you felt your moral compass spin.  Have a great day and game on!)

Ann is the Worst (A Harvest Moon 64 Recollection)

           Those of you who do not know are bound to find out eventually.  So, I guess I will spill the beans on the whole situation.  I love the Nintendo 64.  And I am pretty sure my sisters do as well.  There is one game in general that we all loved (fairly equally I think).  That game is the one and only Harvest Moon 64.  Now, OLIVIA and ELENA have become absolutely pro at the game.  Not sure any of us were that good at it back in the day (or maybe it was just me). 

            For anyone who has never played a Harvest Moon game, there is a point in the game where you can marry someone in the village.  In Harvest Moon 64 that is Maria (the Mayor’s Daughter), Elli (the Bakery Girl), Popuri (the Flower Shop Owners’ Daughter), Karen (the Daughter of the Vineyard), and… Ann (the Daughter from the Green Ranch).  There are many reasons to get married.  In real life and in the game! 

            But since I lack the ability to actively talk about real life marriage, we’ll talk about my inability to comprehend video game marriage instead!  Won’t this be fun?  You bet it will (maybe).  Now let us begin!

            I will first explain that my sisters did a very good job of getting a lot of things right on their first try through the game.  There are many things that can happen during the game that are permanent events.  (I.E. Karen leaving, Cliff leaving, Kai leaving, Grandma dying, animals dying due to lack of food and medicine, and even typhoons and stuff)  I seemed to draw the short straw on having all these things happen to me first.  They were warned far in advance by my failures.  My first run through of the game was really rough… You have no idea.  I didn’t know how to make money off of things.  I had no long term financial plans.  My dog didn’t eat for years (this never seemed to bother him, as he would still just piss on my floor like it weren’t no thang).  So, with all these failures riding on me, I decided to marry Ann.  Cause, why not.

            A quick rundown of the beautiful ladies of Harvest Moon 64:  Maria, Elli, and Popuri are considered some of the easiest gals in the game to love and show affection to.  They don’t have expensive tastes in things.  Courting them is relatively simple as you shower them with cheap gifts that raise their affection towards you at a reasonable rate (affection is shown as a small heart down in the right hand corner of the conversation box when you speak to them).  Karen is pretty picky and really only like’s things you can get for her in the Fall (apparently she kind of likes tomatoes).  So she is considered to be one of the harder girls to pursue.  And Ann… oh Harvest Goddess... why did I choose Ann?  We’ll get back to her in a bit.

            The short term benefits of marriage!  Always what you should think about before getting married.  Each bachelorette does stuff for you on your farm.  Maria pulls weeds and crates eggs, Elli feeds the chickens and crates eggs, Karen crates eggs (sometimes she drops one), and Popuri waters your plants and feeds the chickens.  (Again, we’ll get to Ann in a second).  Now a warning in advance to all of you who think Popuri sounds like the most useful, she only waters your plants in the fields.  She doesn’t go in the green house… for some reason I don’t really know.  AND she only waters some of the spaces in the field.  Not really that many at all.  Not to mention the fact that she will water the space even if there is no plant in it.  So, basically she creates mud for you… if that is what you’re in to.  And at a glance, Karen may seem to be the most useless.  She even costs you money in that one broken egg.  This may be true by statistics standards.  But you have yet to hear about Ann… Ugh…

            Ann has incredibly expensive tastes and therefore is harder to woo.  Once you’ve finally (and I do mean FINALLY!) gotten a Pink Heart of Affection with her and you finally marry her, you might suspect that your hard work will pay off.  I mean she is a damn ranch hand for Harvest Goddess’s sake!  She should be the most useful wife at least!  Now, I expected her to take care of the animals for me.  Show them some love.  I don’t think I ever saw her go in the barn.  I recently discovered that she apparently every now and again will feed your chickens and crate their eggs.  It may just have been my game, but she didn’t do anything.  It was like she was just bumming around all the time!  I mean, I understand not wanting to work, believe me.  But this was too much.  And she seemed pleased as punch not to do anything, AND tell me how much she liked doing nothing on my farm!  You can imagine my distaste when I saw my sisters marrying girls who loved their characters.  Taking wives who wanted to help their farm prosper.  And I was stuck with Ann… guhhhhhhhh…

            I’ll admit it may just have been bad luck on my part as far as the game goes.  Maybe it was because I didn’t understand the rules of the game.  My tragedy did seem to be self-inflicted.  But here is the kicker, one of my animals died at random.  Just out of the blue.  I was distraught, but a country boy will survive…  But heaven forbid my wife be there for me in my time of need.  No, the next day when I spoke with her, she actually liked me less.  I didn’t think it was possible.  But her affection level was one whole point lower than what is required to marry her.  WHAT?!  So you’re telling me everything up to this point has been love?!  Son of a…

            Just so you understand why Ann is the worst; if Cliff stays in town and the two of them fall “in love,” she abuses him.  That’s right folks; she beats the nicest homeless guy in town (maybe second nicest, the Fisherman is pretty cool).  There you have it, she’s the worst.  Again, this is all just from my experience in the game.  I’m sure others have wed Ann and had great experiences.  I’m getting Harvest Moon flashbacks.  So… traumatic…

                       

                                                                                    LAZY Rhino “CEO”

                                                                                                Andrew

(If you like my blog, follow me on the Twitters @ANDCauthen.  Or not.  It’s on you.)