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Games....people play them. People play all kinds of games. Games that simulate, games that stimulate, and games to annoy other people... On the computer, games are in high demand. So much so actually, that game programmers are often hounded for the next game, next release, next fix. Sometimes the game publishers announce a game, and fail to bring it to market as announced. The result is an inferno of customer tongue-lashing. The response for faulty, buggy, or late software of other kinds from customers isn't anywhere near as severe. But those game players get angry right quick.
The real problem with most games though, is they're not very good anyway. They're usually confined to one mode, usually a repetitive one. They don't adapt to who is playing. They demand your attention, but require virtually no cognitive power. They have no scope, no panoramic inclusion. They're usually a cheeser production with a barely passable end result. It's the same problem with most music...
What the human race needs, is a few really good computer games. Ones that cross boundaries and make you say "Wow". We need a game or two that takes the best of all the old games, the best of what could be in games, and mixes it with the best of reality. The game needs to be, an environment. One with a purpose. The premise can be anything that the player deems important. The goal to be reached will of course be difficult. But the journey to get there will be fun, the player will learn new things, and the experience will be appealing to the senses. The game will be able to include as many other players as the player wants to play with. Many players will never want to finish the game because they might spend the time just socializing with the other players. Players can band together to help eachother attain the goal, or they can go off on their own. They can compete against one another, or compete in teams. The playing environment can be as large as the known universe. Details can be put in for realism, but things can be done that defy reality. The diversity of all humanity can be built on to the game itself. Players can create their own portions of the game, opening up possibilities of endless creativity. Fantastic voyages of conquest, excitement, and personal enrichment could be had by all. Game upon game would be linked all together, forming a complete experience that would require you to think in ways that you never have before. Fly a plane, drive a car, dive underwater, run through darkened caves for your life, take off in a space ship, chase an evil monster through a crowded marketplace, sit atop a zillion foot mountain peak trying to decode an access panel, lead a team of shrunken down laser equipped subs into a human body to fight off the viruses, buy a city, steal a yacht, search a spooky forest for the magic spell-book, visit a cafe in paris for your contact to sell you information, become a panther and hunt down your enemy, take a walk down the mean streets of LA (any city actually), shoot a cow, lick a fire-hydrant, take a formula 1 racer out on the road and see what it can do, seduce a toad-beast to get away with the golden key, sell your soul, trade in your station wagon for a sonic drill, look for clues, solve the puzzle, make it through the gate just in time... All this and anything more. The list goes on and on, but it would all be in the same game. It would let you feel like you've done things you've never been able to do, or never wanted to do in real life. The game would be smooth. The game would be clean. And the game would be fair. The computer would not cheat, and the bugs would be ironed out.
The game will take a lot of work, and require the talents of many skilled and visionary people. But it CAN be made. It's just a question of IF and WHEN it will be made.


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Created August 27, 1995