"If I wanted to play a game about real life, I''d go for a walk." How many times have you heard this argument? If not these words, than surely you''ve heard something similar. People play games to escape the mundacity of life. This is a well-known and well-understood phenomenon, and nobody can deny it. But what I''m wondering is, do we really play games to escape life? Or do we play games to escape our own lives? Science fiction is all good. Whether it be future or fantasy, I''m always ready to dive into a good sci-fi game, especially when it''s about action and adventure. Sometimes you just need to get away and step into a world that is everything but this one. We get off on special effects and creativity, and if the game has an excellent plot to top it off, so be it. But I have to admit, some of the best movies I''ve ever seen take place in the real world, with real people doing real things. The most exciting things in life are those to which we can relate. Here is a brief list of real world movies that I found to be very entertaining (in no particular order): 1. Seven (mystery) 2. The Whole Nine Yards (comedy) 3. American Beauty (drama) 4. Nine millimeter (mystery) 5. True Lies (action) 6. Trainspotting (drama) 7. American Pie (comedy) 8. Fight Club (best movie I''ve ever seen, if that''s a genre) None of these movies were based on the paranormal. None of them had any monsters or spaceships, or anything supernatural. Now think about what made these movies great, and try to figure out how these "great" qualities could be applied to the story of your game project. Movies and games may be completely different media, but I can''t think of a film-making technique that cannot be successfully applied to game design, even if it only shows up during cinematics. There''s nothing wrong with presenting a story in the form of movies. Any fan of Final Fantasy 7/8/9 will tell you as much. The designers of Deus Ex failed in adapting the real world to their project. Not to say that Deus Ex is a failed game, but after reading the post mortem, it seems they had to add surreal elements to make the real parts enjoyable. This means their real elements weren''t good enough. Why not? How do you make a real game that isn''t boring? Is it possible? Do you think the "dating game" genre succeeds at this level? What do you think of The Sims? Are there any other "real world" games that you enjoy? Just trolling for a discussion.

I don''t know if this is just me, but I think you play games to do what you can''t do in real life. Which basically means you can beat the shit out of people in games, so you don''t have to do it in real life. So in that sense, it doesn''t matter if its science fiction or a ''real life'' game. By the way, Fight Club is my second favorite movie, behind of course American Beauty.

*** Triality ***

I''m mostly w/ zerwit. I play games to do what I can''t do in real life (namely explore space, FTL tech included). I like games that are immersive enough to make me feel like I''m in a fascinating and fantastic world. This is why well done SF works so well for me, because it contains the possibility of SO MANY fantastic worlds.

Real life, I believe, _CAN_ work. But to do so for a game, we need to distill out all the boredom and lameness that''s a part of breathing, and present instead only the highlights. If these highlights inspire the imagination, then I think you''ve got something.

For instance, think about a game that casts you as an FBI profiler hunting down serial killers. All the stuff with crime scene analysis, lab work, timing, interviews, etc. can be made interesting because the subject itself is interesting. Contrast with being a mail delivery clerk. See what I mean? The subject matter and details you choose to include have to be "sexy" enough.

--------------------
Just waiting for the mothership...

There was a time when I would have agreed with zerwit and Wav. But then I played Shenmue.

Fact is, a good enough writer needn''t fall back on flashy stuff. Problem is, we don''t have enough good writers in the field. Shenmue gets by because it''s basically a kung fu movie, but if it were trying to be any deeper than that it would be a severe dissappointment.

I think Tom''s point is one of the best I''ve heard. We don''t play games to escape life, we play them to escape OUR lives. If we can play Ryo Hazuki on a quest to avenge his father''s murder in the real world, that''s still a hell of a lot more interesting than going to work.

Because there''s a story. And because we know there''s an end to that story. And we know that we, as the player, have the power to make that ending good or bad.

I believe in Mundanity.

This is hard, I agree with everybody. Games are always based on our best interest.

If seven was a game, It would probably be a really kick ass game. Its real life, oh cry cry, but its full of mystery and challenge. for me, when I run into a problem so hard, I scream and cuss at the game, and then end up quiting for a day or so before attemping to get past it again. YOu think its the dumbest game in the world when you hit that part, but once you get past it, you feel like you''ve achieved something; somethingthat might be larger then you beleive you could ever achieve in reality.

Of course, other things make up a game too. The plot has always found its way into number one area of interest to me, a mysterious plot. Chrono cross for playstation, its constantly changing, you never know what is happening. YOu always guess what might happen next, and your useally wrong. one second somebody is dead, and another hes yoru partner. It makes you wonder what is going on, and you keep playing until you find it out.

I know I got off topic: I play games becuase, well all the same reasons you gave. When you just got done haveing a big fight with your mom, and you feel really bad, and really pissed off, you throw in a game, and you forget about yoru problems.

Pindergust Lightheart
Tribes/starcraft: MASTER
Clan Leader: ~Young Blood~

-=you only get 1 chance, make life count=-