Here’s a smart breakdown by PBS Idea Channel of the difference between controlling and ‘being’ our avatars in games — which is particularly interesting to talk about in light of, say, GTA V‘s infamous torture section.
Avatar Control
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3 responses to “Avatar Control”
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neo_kaiser
I hated that torture scene, even if it did try to show Trevor in a positive light. Glad I got Gold on my first go so that I wouldn’t have to replay it again.
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transientmind
Heh. Every time I got a bronze or a silver on story missions for not doing something I didn’t even know I was supposed to be doing I just flipped the game the bird.
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germinalconsequence
This isn’t really anything revelatory for me since I’ve always maintained that I am merely the Angel (or Devil) sitting on the character’s shoulder, guiding them towards some greater purpose. There are very few games in which I decide to truly think of myself as the character because of the reasons given in the video, there will come a time when I will have to choose between maintaining my own sense of self in the game or suspend it for the sake of fun, or progression. I’m also very boring and I don’t play games to be a boring guy doing incredible things.
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