"on computer games" is a gaming blog that publishes analyses, musings, and essays on the highly subjective experience of computer games; presented in a style reminiscent of "very creative writing" and covering a range of topics such as philosophy, nostalgia, and tanuki lore.
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On top of discussing any content @ oncomputer.games; the purpose of this community is to discuss anything about COMPUTER GAMES, with a slant toward the philosophical, conceptual, and creative; we do not care about your "score" for the new ____ game; we care about your unique experience while playing the new ___ game. We are also partial to sh!t posting if it is games-related.
Keep it copacetic and stay "on topic," the topic being COMPUTER GAMES.
If you link to other publications, like: "check out this interesting review for ___ game at Kotaku!" we reserve the right to delete your post and ban you; posts should be fairly original content, as much as human creation can be "original."
Issue#1 - The Dragon Takes Flight
*disclaimer: the term "computer games" in this context means literally any video game; "computer games" is what grandma says when she tells you to "stop playing those damn computer games and go outside!"
this is a thread that i found on another website i post at. it can be really really interesting. i thought it deserved a place here.
post your random thoughts for the day here, or anything else that intrigues you.
i'm thinking about how #some of you will think this is NOT COMPUTER GAME RELATED and therefore a break of section 4 of #TheRules; however, NO: this is related to COMPUTER GAMES in at least ONE WAY.
post a screenshot of your current desktop and explain (or don't)
how come this is more 'fun' than "bashing the action button"
What happens when you're SCARED?
Nerves from the brain carry impulses to glands which produce adrenaline, released into the blood. Adrenaline causes our heart rate and blood pressure to increase making us ready to run away quickly.
your body releases epinephrine, adrenalin, and that causes your heart rate to go up, causes your blood pressure to go up, causes your eyes to dilate. So these are all your body's responses to some type of threat
this is counter-intuitive in TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION, as the goal is to wait not rush and run. you know if you get caught it's all alarms all the time, and that makes you scared, you want to run from danger while you're hiding behind the boxes; you never know if the man in yellow will check the other side; you're scared, it's fight or flight but you MUST REPRESS and DO REPRESS once you've mastered TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION; this repression creates an exciting inner turmoil that releases when you finally get to break from your hiding spot and ambush the man in yellow.
simply "BASHING THE ACTION BUTTON" does not achieve this level of chemical contradiction
KILL ALL MONSTERS
in this essay & video, we discuss Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC) and tie it into animal rights; covering not only the game itself but the ethics of factory farming and eating meat (death ethics)
KEY EXCERPTS:
This is a world in which “Monster Masters” collect and battle monsters in bloodsport against other “Monster Masters” just for the sake of it; pitting creature against creature in a manner not dissimilar from dog fighting. Only, unlike dogs, these creatures can talk; they can vocalize their pain in human tongue.
Much like the Mystery Dungeon series, random occurrences are a key feature – not a bug.
... like the farmer selectively breeding chickens with the largest pectoral muscles – that succulent white breast meat so thoroughly craved by the drooling populace – each Monster Master has their own selectively bred creature to tear through their opposition’s flesh.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter would be proud to know that little Slime Jr. is eating members of his own species.
Pontificate too much and you’ll think yourself into a lobotomy.
And we’re no closer to figuring out why human lives are more important than other creatures’ lives.
We don’t want to die.
Metal Gear: The Origin an essay about METAL GEAR for MSX; this essay covers a number of topics outside of Metal Gear and draws unusual comparisons to the OJ Simpson Murder Trial of 1994
ESSAY: Metal Gear Copes Every Land
KEY EXCERPTS:
Two landmark, global events occurred in 1995. First, FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake infiltrates Outer Heaven and destroys both mobile nuclear weapon Metal Gear and Outer Heaven’s enigmatic leader, Big Boss, and secondly, Orenthal James Simpson is acquitted of murder.
I forgot about the enemy that emerges from that truck. The game has shown me this before. And, again, this death is all my fault.
All of the player’s patience is rewarded with power.
Simpson did as Cochran asked and said to all on the transceiver: If the glove doesn’t fit, one must acquit.
In the Armored Core VI mission “Eliminate V.VII” you are presented with a choice before killing the mission target (Swinburne); he grovels for his life and you (“the player”) can “ACCEPT” or “DENY” this grovelling; if you “ACCEPT” and spare his life a new opponent comes flying in, screaming “PAY THE SANZU TOLL!”
This “PAY THE SANZU TOLL” is entirely unexplained in game; as such, i was unsure if it was in-game lore or just some random-cool-sounding-phrase; but after some #OnlineSearching i found it’s actually a reference to the Japanese myth of the “Sanzu River”
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Per wikipedia,
The Sanzu-no-Kawa (三途の川, lit. “River of Three Crossings”, or the “Sanzu River”) is a mythological river in Japanese Buddhist tradition similar to the Chinese concept of Huang Quan (Yellow Springs), Hindu concept of the Vaitarani and Greek concept of the Styx.
Before reaching the afterlife, the souls of the deceased must cross the river by one of three crossing points: a bridge, a ford, or a stretch of deep, snake-infested waters. The weight of one’s offenses while alive determines which path an individual must take. It is believed that a toll of six mon must be paid before a soul can cross the river, a belief reflected in Japanese funerals when the necessary fee is placed in the casket with the dead
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The pilot who comes in guns-blazing shouting "PAY THE SANZU TOLL" is named "Rokumonsen" which translates to "six sen coins," completing the referential-circle.
What I found especially funny about this interaction -- after putting all the pieces together -- is that Rokumonsen is described in the game's arena as "well versed in long-lost classical theater, he has a particular interest in "ninjas" and "kabuki," relics of the past that he learned of from the Japanese immigrant culture which now heavily influences his eccentric style."
Basically, this pilot is a FULL-BLOWN-WEEB shouting OBSCURE-JAPANESE-REFERENCES at his opponents.
