Let me choose my fate
First, I should say that I have been a video game addict since they were first invented, so I've seen their full development from inception to today. I'm enthralled with the gains in technology, physics, appearance, sound, realism, ...but video games have still limited themselves by, ...well, ...by being games.(Hey idiot, they are games!)
I know, I know, ...but they can be so much more. We all know the thrill of sinking yourself so deeply into a complex action game that you start to blur the line between your daily life and the game. We all know how we've put days of our lives on hold just so we can finish a game because we know we will not rest (and get no work done) until the mission is complete.
Here's the problem ...in real life, choices have consequences. In some way, they last forever. Sometimes the consequences are small, sometimes they are big. In video games, the future is too managed. We're just all trying to find the right combination to essentially unlock the final sequence. Newer games give you more freedom in this regard, ...allowing you one or two different combinations to achieve the same result, but the game would be more fun if you could, ...well, ...fail. Or, better yet, you could achieve a variety of endings based on your choices in the game.
The problem is, currently all the moral choices are made for you. You cannot, in GTA3, place your loyalties with the Yakusa or the Italian mob in order to get your revenge. The game forces you to backstab everyone. In Mafia, your character actually has moral choices to make, and those choices actually affect the outcome of the game, ...but those choices are made for you. You do not have a choice whether or not to wack the crying hooker or execute Frank at the airport. The game decides.
I'd love to see a video game where the more murders you committed, the more the cops are after you, but the more respect you get from other crooks. The goal, I guess, would be to strike a balance where you could most easily navigate the scenarios the game puts you in. In this way, we could personalize our characters by making choices as we would make them ourselves.
Well, I'm off to maybe buy Splinter Cell for the PC, thus killing any desire to get anything done this (3 day, hooray) weekend.
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