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The Game Boy: Your Goodie Two-Shoes Jedi is Kind of a Jerk

Posted 05/13/09 at 01:30:53 PM  by Nathan Grayson

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When they strap me to the chair, I won’t fight it.

The man was frail and frightened. All he could do was drop to the floor and beg for a quick death from his much more physically imposing enemy. And I gladly obliged. His name, when highlighted by my cursor, was red, after all. He was one of the bad guys, right? Right?

The above scenario occurred while I was playing through Fallout 3’s Broken Steel DLC, and would’ve been just another day in the Wasteland if not for a few key factors. First up, according to my Pip Boy, I’m Wasteland Jesus, doer of all things selfless and just, hands sparkly clean and free of innocent blood. Second, my enemy – a scientist – wasn’t the violent type. He ran without giving me any sort of trouble, yet I gave chase. I was the schoolyard bully, and he the undeserving nerd. Sure, his red name tag told me that perforating his fancy future lab coat wouldn’t yield any karmatic consequences, but I had no way of knowing if he was actually evil. But I still killed him and, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t the least bit sorry.

Really, what does such a scenario even say about the habits videogames foster in us? Sensationalists would, of course, say that this is just another example of the big, mean gaming industry’s trivialization of death, regarded by many as the de facto Serious Topic. To which I respectfully reply: You’re dumb.

If you take a few moments to sift through gaming’s ever-expanding walk of fame, you’ll quickly notice that many of our hobby’s biggest, most memorable stars and starlets are, well, dead. SPOILERS. Aeris (or Aerith, or whatever Square’s calling her these days) from Final Fantasy VII. The dog from Fable II. The baby metroid from Super Metroid. And my personal, though lesser known favorite: the random helicopter pilot from Resident Evil 4. In the cases of many of these deaths, players mourned for these characters, and even tried to – for the most part, unsuccessfully – bring them back to life. Gamers still experience death like everyone else. Game designers know that, and use it to make their games more emotionally affecting.

So why, then, are we still capable of callously capping “enemies” that can’t or won’t fight back? My guess? It’s that darn good vs. evil meter doodad so many new-fangled games present us with these days.

In today’s games, morality systems work like this: you do something that the game considers “good” or “evil,” and then the game tells you exactly how good or evil your action was. Whether you’re following in the footsteps of Gandhi or Steve Jobs, the game will give you an update every step of the way. As a result, the action you’re performing is deemphasized, while pleasing the whims of the almighty meter becomes your main goal. And really, that’s just disappointing, because games could be pulling this off so much better.

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COMMENTS:7
TAGS: gaming, Software, columns, fallout 3, The Game Boy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
COMMENTS
avatarLong Winded

Submitted by Black Lable 69 on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 12:07pm

Its quit simple really, making &
playing games can teach us a lot about ourselves by putting us in
situations that were unlikely to be in ever in our lifetime. Or in
other terms, one persons "Peoples" villain is another's
hero. Would I receive any positive stimulation by choosing to blow
out the brains of hellbent Extraterrestrial species siblings?
Probably........would another human "Joe" enjoy doing the
said thing to a human child? I hope not but the answer is.....Yes. As
far as Nathans "Long Winded" approach, there are people out
there that consider the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of
Rights "Long Winded". I'm sure if "Joe" paid
extra sums at a local late night strip club the term "Long
Winded" would be greatly appreciated.

 

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avatarI love playing Fallout 3 and

Submitted by Denis63 on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 8:51am

I love playing Fallout 3 and roaming around killing anything and everything evil. Wasteland Jesus, thats priceless. In Fallout 3, (im not too sure if this works if you're evil..) if your character is really good people around megaton randomly give you things and say thanks and how great you are. It's kinda funny, but getting mildly expensive Stimpacks for free is a sweet deal       -Denis

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avatarFallout 3's Enclave Scientists

Submitted by devin3627 on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 4:02am

In Goldeneye 64, you fall the mission for killing scientists..... they kind of gotoff track i think.

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avatarI've been saying this for

Submitted by Cache on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 5:07pm

I've been saying this for years--but in relation to FPS games.  See, every FPS assumes that you, the glorified hero of your team will do all to fight for your side and win at all costs.  True, it makes for a lot of fun in the evenings, and I'd be bored to tears without it.  However, where are the traitors?  Where are the backroom deals?  Where is the money changing hands so that one side gets an edge the other one lacks?  Every Revolutionary War has a Benedict Arnold who reveals key locations of his own troops, his commander, the current strategy, etc. 

But no.  If you play, it has to be totally honest and corruption-free, because we're all supposed to be heroes.  It is this distinct lack of backstabbing, of begging for one's life, of doing anything to save your own skin that the modern game really lacks.  After all, we can always respawn, right?  It takes away from the danger, the drama of life when you can simply have a mulligan on your character, as if your stupidity for walking boldly into a hail of gunfire should be rewarded with the grace of life.  That's the problem with gaming, right there.  It's not edgy enough to mean you'll lose anything, because you'll come back fully loaded with ammo in 15 seconds.

 

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avatarin my experience evil

Submitted by nekollx on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:47pm

in my experience evil scientists if you let them get away sick Sharks with Friken' lasers on their head after you, i say good riddence

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avatarYou must be really bored

Submitted by rob41 on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 11:59am

You must be really bored Nathan.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!

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avatarSo... do you have a major

Submitted by Cache on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 5:46pm

So... do you have a major hate boner for him or something? 

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