Mental Meanderings

Video Games vs. Reality

I’m tired and I was going to put off doing this tonight but I’ll be busy in the morning and might not have time. It feels silly to come so far to risk losing it in the final days. Now I just have to come up with 825 words.

I had a pretty good day today. I was tired all day long but not as low as I was yesterday. Still, I didn’t get very much accomplished. After walking my daughter to school I walked over to my mother’s house and had breakfast. We were invited to a Party Plan so after having a chat together we went to that and enjoyed checking out all the lovely label kids clothes. We ordered a few items for the kids for Christmas and had a nice chat with the other ladies.

When I got home I was looking forward to the mail arriving. The game I’ve been waiting for arrived with it today and I’ve been playing that all afternoon. Caesar IV is very much like version three. The major difference is the graphic advancements and in a way I’m not sure if that’s a benefit to the game or not. It’s certainly harder to move around the screen and to plan the placement of buildings. Buildings seem bigger on some angles then others and roads can go in all directions which leads to more city design chaos. I guess that also makes it more realistic.

I’m so used to building linear cities that I’m finding this game harder. There is a slight learning curve from one version to this. I’m not sure what the range on various services is in this version and I also don’t know if they have affected routes like in version three. I do know that some of the services are now reversed. Where the market used to be home delivered via a route, households now go to the market to get their supplies. This actually makes it easier to place housing.

What I have noticed is that things seem bigger. Housing starts in bigger segments instead of growing into them. Of course the buildings are bigger but in the scenario I just completed the map was smaller. So I had less area to make the city and it’s difficult to place things so that everything works as effectively as possible. Especially since I’m still working through the tutorial scenarios so there were other things that needed to be added well into game play.

Still, while the game is intriguing it’s a bit of a let down after waiting a whole year for it. I heard about the creation in September last year and have held out while they finished making it. It’s only just been released and I put my order in last week so have been waiting eagerly for a week. I’ve enjoyed playing it but so far nothing seems spectacular or unique about it. Even the graphics aren’t really innovative since the same quality can be found in other games already available.

It’s the kind of game I enjoy however. A simulation of building a city and having it work day in and day out. Focusing on making it prosperous and keeping the citizens happy with everything they need. I know with some more game time I’ll get better at placement and learn how to make things work most efficiently and that will enhance my enjoyment. At this stage I struggle to keep liquid assets since debt makes Caesar very displeased. I don’t like building up a monumental city only to have Rome’s armies come and obliterate it because I displeased our ruler.

It’s challenging which is a huge benefit but for some reason computer games haven’t held me in thrall recently as they were apt to do in the past. Perhaps it’s because I come to realise that while playing them I’m not growing or furthering my dreams and desires. They’re a great way to procrastinate and a good way to distract my mind in the short term but ultimately after hours of playing I’m right back where I was before I started.

Tonight on TV there was an rather coincidental episode of a cop show. It was based on a murder investigation and trial of three teenage kids who ran over and then kicked to death a woman. The twisting point and their defence was that they were re-enacting a game as if they were still playing. That ultimately the computer game warped their mind so completely that they could no longer tell reality from virtuality.

Obviously they lose, jury declaring them guilty. I’ve played various video games for years and while playing you can lose yourself in the game and get wrapped up with it. But when you step away from the screen reality comes blaring back at you. I don’t know how anyone could contrive the instance that either could become enmeshed, it’s simply not feasible.