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November 08, 2005
Can a Game Make You Cry?
Unfortunately the only games I ever play are Silent Hill and Metal Gear. Silent Hill and Metal Gear are more likely to put me in a total state of mind fcuk than make me cry. Has a game ever made any of you cry?
"...ranked at the top. But halfway down the list, the emotional tenor became much more unpredictable, and much more interesting. A sense of "honor," "loyalty" and "integrity" got a quite high score of 3.5.."
I know that by the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 I didn't want to kill the boss. I felt sorry for her. It felt almost wrong to defeat her because of her place in the plot's twisted story line (however, that didn't stop me from punching her in the head until she fell down and blasting her with a shotgun-off topic question: How come that would kill six little minions but I have to do that about 20 times for a boss. That's not very life-like, is it?). I really have to question which side my character should really be on by the end of the game. The plots for these games are becoming more and more twisted I fear I'll have to study basic war tactics and principals before I even begin to play the next installment.
As for Silent Hill, that requires all kinds of psychological balance before you should even start, especially the second one. With all the twists and turns and alternate states of consciousness and realities my jaw was nearly permanently dropped with each new revelation. There's a big undertone of the euthanasia moral dilemma that will leave you contemplative and confused for days after you're done with the game, but afraid to play it again for fear of even more confusion (like trying to watch Memento a second time).
Remember back in the day when Zelda was on a never-ending question to save his girlfriend? Sometimes I miss those plots. Am I just babbling or what? Do video games make you cry? Should they?
Posted by Whitney Worden at November 8, 2005 02:20 PM
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Comments
I'll admit that I know very little about video games and probably shouldn't even be commenting on this, but it does not surprise me that video games can make a person cry. The people and places in these games look so real. I'll never forget a time I was visiting my aunt and uncle. Their son (my cousin) would not come out to talk because he was so interested in a video game. So, I went to his room to talk to him. I can't remember the game he was playing, but it looked just like a movie. The buildings and even people looked real. The most real and shocking part, however, was when my cousin (with his remote control) pulled his car over to the curb and a prostitute jumped in, and the car started rocking!! These games encourage the players to connect to the characters and build relationships with them as if they were real people. Although I don't know that much about video games, I've seen enough of them being played to know that they are so life-like that it does not surprise me that someone would cry when killing/losing a character/friend. In fictional books or movies, when the audience connects to a character and that character dies, some people cry. The same is true for video games. They're so much like real life, they evoke real-life emotion.
Posted by: Ashley Lauro at November 8, 2005 05:14 PM
I've personally never cried out of sadness while I was playing a video game. There have been the occassional outbursts when I hadn't saved in a while and the disk decides it's dirty and wants to crash on me. Or I'm at a very hard part in a Super Nintendo game and I just can't get past it no matter how many times I try. I cry out of frsutration.
There were moments in Fable when the graphics were so good, the story line was so thick, and the narrorator so good and voice acting that I nearly cried. Characters died and were lost. Whole villages were completely wiped out. I was extremely sad.
My boyfreind, however, has cried. In one of the Final Fantasy games, a character he loved, Ares, had to die in order for the plot of the story to continue. He confessed to me that nearly every time he plays it, he cries. (I don't know if I should be putting that on here or not, but it's too late now, haha.) I can totally see where playing a game for over 100 hours, you can become completely engrossed in what the characters are doing and who they are. I've done it. If I ever find a game where I literally cry out of sadness, it means the game was very well done.
Posted by: Heather Cobb at November 8, 2005 06:24 PM
I am familiar with all of the games mentioned and I can say that I have become emotionally engaged to several games (specifically the final fantasy games). Final Fantasy 7 is honesty as good as any film I have ever seen. I grew up playing video games and believe that they have helped to sharpen my reading skills...this may seem strange but many of the games that I played growing up (the classic final fantasy games and many other RPG's for Super Nintendo) required massive amounts of reading on a quick level, requiring much synthesis in a short time. I however, had a solid mix of this sort of activity and the usual childhood outdoor fun....and I turned out alright....right?
Posted by: Tedd Buffa at December 13, 2005 07:11 PM