When Videogames Win

So I already did a list of what aspects of videogames are truly "awe"-some, but now I want to do a list of emotions that I feel videogames can evoke more or better than any other medium. Essentially, this is a list of emotions that videogames can evoke at awe-inspiring levels.

1. Loneliness

A screenshot from Dear Esther

I just played Dear Esther for the first time this week, and ended up going through it twice. Essentially (maybe--the game's kind of ambiguous), it's a game about a man dealing with the loss of his wife, and that sense of loneliness and longing is recreated by the game itself as you walk along an island totally alone, not even seeing your own reflection to reinforce the presence of humanity in the game's world. To make it worse, the game has 10 "ghosts" that only show up extremely briefly or when you're not looking directly at them, taking away any other human presence right as it's noticed--or even before it's noticed, as most players miss most of the ghosts entirely. No piece of media has ever made me feel so lonely. I actually found myself obsessively searching for the ghosts the second time I played because I didn't want to have to walk through the island all alone again. It's simply awesome to me that the game didn't just communicate that someone else was lonely, it made me lonely in a very real sense.

2. Triumph

This one's obvious, perhaps, but so essential to the medium. Jane McGonigal helped popularize the term "fiero" as the specific word for the feeling of triumph after you've tried something over and over and finally perfected a skill. Essentially, she argues, videogames give this feeling stronger and more reliably than any other activity on Earth. Ultimately, she argues, this trait of videogames should be incorporated into reality as much as possible.

I felt this myself recently as I played through Guacamelee!. The game itself isn't terribly difficult if you're familiar with basic conventions of action and platformer videogames like Super Mario Bros; however, to unlock an alternate ending to the game where you actually save the girl, you have to work ten times as hard to collect five orbs that come at the end of extremely difficult sequences. I spent the better part of a Sunday going through just one of these sequences to try and get it right, but when I did it the sense of relief, triumph, and accomplishment was so tangible it was awe-inspiring.

Yes, vidoegame accomplishments aren't "real," but they're so satisfying and passionate that no other medium even comes close to delivering the same experience.

Capturing Wonder: Biology and Robots

I've been thinking about the idea of wonder with regard to the life and, more particularly, the human body, so I wanted to take a minute to curate some resources that I've found on the topic. The twist, though, is that I want to look at biology through the lens of robots and other technology that have been created to mimic real life. So, without further ado, I give you a brief account of the caprices of Greg's internet browsing:

1. Robotic Ants

So, this first one blew my mind a little bit just because of how similar the behavior of the robots was to that of ants. It's maybe hard to get past the external appearance (which looks more like a die than an ant), but the movement and behavior seem so realistic. I think there is a lot more in common between computers and mankind than we maybe think (including mankind, though I hesitate somewhat in saying this).

2. Theo Jansen's Strandbeests

I think I'm still a little bit in shock over this, even though it's been years since I first saw it. I think the thing I love most about this artist is that his work, aside from being amazing and beautiful and mind blowing, also seeks a unity between life and the machine. His contraptions, though lifeless, really do take on lifelike qualities, and it's interesting to note the "evolution" that has taken place in his designs over the years. Evolution is one of the most awe-inspiring concepts I've encountered, especially as I've sought to find concord between my religious faith and my scientific background. I think we too often separate the two, though, and we miss out on the beauty and awe that we might experience in realizing that these are just pieces of a single truth.