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Being Scared in Games is Needed
zombieinthebackofyourcar writes "The Escapist has done an entire issue on why we love and need horror games. Jon Schnaars, an expert in psychology and mental health issues, writes about how we need to be scared to generate pleasure from the game. From the article: 'Perhaps the most important change made in the game mechanics of RE4 was fixing the camera behind Leon, providing a tight third-person shot through which the player could experience the action. Through this move, Leon has become every protagonist from every horror film ever made. He is the lone survivor; steadily trudging into the dark when all our instincts tell us it's a bad idea. And as the player, it is actually us proceeding into the dark, receiving (when we're not getting beheaded) our genre pleasure.'"
Real horror is seeing these in close proximity to each other:
L h R
H >
L
I still have nightmares about that.
Would you kindly mod me +1 insightful?
possibly cuz you're not 13 anymore
See it from their point of view. "Horrors, here comes that damn human again! Is there no end for it's thirst for blood?
Muds/mmorpgs can do this really well with custom NPC responses. Have your orc wander into Hobbiton. At first all the little tweens are curious and interested. When you start slaughtering a few, they begin running after you initiate combat. Before long, simply entering the town brings area-shouts of "Look out, it's $N, the deathbringer!"
"[...]And as the player, it is actually us proceeding into the dark, receiving (when we're not getting beheaded) our genre pleasure."
So essentially he's saying "This bitch gives good behead."
It's fear of the KNOWN dangers. Because you KNOW that whenever you enter that basement, an ugly bloody looking thing is going to follow you making screeching noises.
So you step in, and suddenly your radio begins generating static. You ran out of health drinks, and then you hear the screeching noises. You turn to the left, and it's a dead end. On the other side of the fence there's these arachnid creatures, and you only got your gun. Shoot the wrong target, and you'll get slain. Ah, isn't that beautiful... more dogs cut in half and they just started howling.
But wait, the horror's not finished. The horror only starts when you turn off the game and go to sleep, and notice how your clothes mysteriously resemble a beheaded bloody mannequin, and the noises out the street remind you of the radio static ringing. You try to sleep, read a book, and slowly you get tired.
But wait, the horror's not finished. Because you start dreaming about the game you were just playing a few hours ago...
You wake up and try to sleep again and have a heck of a stomach ache.
But wait, the horror's not finished. You remember that your mother asked you to show her your school grades, and you get them today.
Those type of scenes never scared me. What they did do was exasperate the hell out of me. "You moron! The psycopathic killer from beyond the grave is going to bash your skull with an axe as soon as you step in there."
"Don't these friggin' idiots EVER look behind them? Especially after four of their friends bought it that way."
And don't get me started on body disposal methods for supernatural psycho killers. These numbdumbs just bury Jason then act all surprised when he comes back a month or two later. HELLO!, you had to kill him ten times over just get him in the grave.
You can only heavily stun such a creature at best. Should one of non-idiot characters manage this then the correct thing to do is to bind ankles and wrists with HEAVY chain or rope then thoroughly dismember and slice and dice the creature. If intelligence was employed in the binding then the fact that the creature lives through this should pose no problem. Don't let a hack writer take your life at the last minute. The pieces should then be thoroughly burned and the ashes scattered in separate bodies of water. Any solid pieces should be encased in concrete and likewise scattered. Throughly soaking any remaining pieces in holy water is optional but can't hurt. NOTE: Do NOT put holy water on an intact Creature; it'll just wake up angry.
The case of the Liquid Metal Terminator was one of the rare cases of correct Super Creature Body Disposal. Sumbitch probably wound up in 40 different cars. RoboCop 2 had a good Creature Dismantling but they botched the job by dumping the pieces where his buddies could put him back together again. And those IDIOTS who thought running Christine through a car-crusher was sufficient, they should have checked with the Connors.
Maybe I should start one of those Evil Overlord type lists for Super Evil Creature Combat.
OK, you know you're a nethack addict when & and D scares you.
I've been there.
Run your console off of a battery only source. Then hope and pray you can get to the next save point before the battery runs out. Or worse yet, that the memory card isn't being written to when the power failure occurs.
You've been on that game for two hours straight? I just DARE you to go past the boss battle, after you defeated it, without saving.
For even more thrill, tie some catnip and a string to the memory card while it's still in the system. Set the game to autosave and then let the cat play with the string.
If you have to ask where the fear is in Super Mario Bros.... then I just can't explain it to you. :)
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
You've never felt the mereist twing of terror seeing a huge block toppling from the sky, crashing down onto a large pile of such blocks with such force that every block in the same row is instantly vapourized?
For that, my friend, is the horror that awaits you in Tetris, the most frightening game known to human kind.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Super Mario Bros. - one ordinary man's nightmarish, drug-induced journey through the mushroom kingdom.
What a coincidence! She did that with me too! ;)
For that, my friend, is the horror that awaits you in Tetris, the most frightening game known to human kind.
If, that is, you happen to be, or live in, a cube. (Looks around his cubicle and shivers.)
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
I was so scared of PKs while playing Ultima in 98 that no other game has every provided me with as many thrills.
$N? you've been playing Galactic Civ II too, huh? :P
I thought you was trying to bust some BASIC out or something.
I doubt I'm alone.
Maybe you are alone.
So terribly, frighteningly, alone.
whooOOOOoooOooooo!!!!!
This is not my sig.
Not sure about you, but the price of the PS3 scares the shit out of me. :)