We Know It's Not Real, But...
Brian's been simulating a lot of video football since the new year started, for all the NFL Playoff features he's been running each week. Usually he does this at the television on his desk here in the office. The funny thing is that all the football fans in the office can't help but stop by and watch the simulated games as they're played. We obviously know it's not "real," and Brian isn't even directing any of the teams on screen. But we'll still oooh and aaah the touchdowns and big hits as though they were the real games. We'll even stop by later in the day and ask for updates on who won earlier games, who the big stars were, and more. In cases where games have stretched out into the evening hours past quitting time, some of us have actually sent instant messages to Brian from home to catch a score update on the late game.
Yes we know these aren't the real games, so why are we so transfixed with watching them, and knowing about the results? I think it just speaks volumes as to how far sports game developers have come with realism in their games, making video football look and feel like the real thing.
This Isn't Video Day Care
Sometimes, I feel sorry for the clerks who work in game shops like Electronics Boutique and GameStop. Not only do they have to put up with the usual horrors of dealing with customers of all shapes, sizes, dispositions, and mental states, but I guess they also have to put up with thoughtless and neglectful "parents" who view their stores as makeshift day-care centers. The other day, I was in the GameStop near my house making a purchase, when I overheard the clerks making rueful jokes about charging people an hourly rate for taking care of their kids. I turned around and saw a pair of young children, the older one looked to be about 7 or 8, while the younger sibling was about 5 or 6 years old. There was only one other customer in the store who clearly wasn't their father, so I can only assume the kids were left there by a lazy parent who was probably shopping in the grocery store next door.
For the few minutes I was in the store, the tykes appeared to be fairly well-behaved; they were about as quiet as you could expect kids of that age to be, and weren't making a mess of anything while amusing themselves at the Xbox kiosk. I had a feeling that these two were the exception rather than the rule when stuff like that happens. It was infuriating to me that any parent would be so stupid as to leave such young children by themselves in a game store. The people who work there obviously aren't getting paid to keep an eye on anyone's kids. But you can bet that if the children managed to hurt themselves in the store, or worse, get kidnapped, those lousy parents and some scum-of-the-earth lawyer would be suing the bejeezus out of the store and the clerks.
The incident was another reminder to me as to why I strive to be as respectful as possible with store clerks or other service people and never yell at them for petty things. They have enough crap to deal with from other idiot customers.
Spend a Little to Save a Lot
-New pet peeve: people who waste time on message boards whining that it's not worth paying money for MMO games. Guess what--no one's got a gun to your head, forcing you to play these games. You don't like it? Don't play them. You're not about to change the minds of those who are paying to play, so you're wasting bandwidth and everyone's time. And before any of you shove it in my face, I'll own up to it, I used to be one of you. World of Warcraft has turned me into a 100% hypocrite. You know what the amazing thing is, though? This game is actually saving me money.
James pointed it out to me the other day, that he's spending a lot less money on take out food because of WoW. I've noticed this as well. Instead of stopping off at a food joint on the way home to pick up dinner, each of us is scrounging food out of our pantries, freezers, and fridges because it's faster, and maximizes our available play time. It's saving me money in other areas as well. Instead of driving out somewhere with friends (gas money, bridge toll, parking) on weekend nights to drink (booze money - which for me, is rather a lot) and unwind, I spend a lot of that time online with many of those same friends running through Azeroth. Of course you can say I'm taking a hit in the area of my social life, but that's a tangential issue. For now I've rationalized it in this way: So many of my real life friends are playing WoW, grouping with them in-game is not any less social than all of us getting together "in real life" to play poker or watch a movie.
Perhaps most significantly, I'm not buying as many marginal games, looking for a few hours of amusement. I canceled my pre-order of The Punisher (and from the looks of Jeff's review, it was the right move anyway), because as fun as the preview builds looked, I knew it wasn't going to pull me off of WoW. I did buy RE4, because it looks like such an amazing game, but I haven't managed to get it out of the shrinkwrap just yet! Maybe next time there's an extended server outage.
Parting Shot
I just did a quest last night in World of Warcraft called Everything Counts in Large Amounts. If you understand the reference, congratulations--not only do you have good taste in music, but you're also getting old like me. Brad also pointed out that there's an NPC named Foreman Grills. The game is literally bursting at the seams with references to books, movies, music, and more. That's a big part of the game's appeal actually--WoW never takes itself too seriously.
It makes me wonder though--if Blizzard isn't afraid of leaving in pop culture references like these, why did they get rid of NPCs from the beta like Captain Eo (the docks at Auberdine) and Marshall Mathers (the soldier at Lakeshire who is now named Marshall Marris). Are Michael Jackson and Eminem more likely to sue than Depeche Mode and George Foreman?