Things I've learned From Video Games... Part I

Things I've learned From Video Games... Part I
Current mood: contemplative
Cause I'm sure this won't be the last.

So I'm a nerd. We had a reception today at the hotel while I was at work. It was an old... I shoudl say acquaintence of mine... Nobody that I've ever really talked to all that much, but her family goes to our ward. Anyway, she's like younger than my little sister, and getting married. That and the fact that I will be going to church tomorrow and sitting with my family... and I will be the only one there without a spouse and either a child or one on the way. All these things caused me to pause and reflect upon my current life, Dicisions I've made in my past and where I am because of it, and what I plan to do about it. So what do I do? I look up a translation of the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega. A book that tries to explain all thing Final Fantasy VII.

Through my search I found a few various quotes from the producers and writers of the game. From them, this is what I have learned.

Quoted from the below site Tetsuya Nomura, the greatest Character Designer in the world (although Kai thinks that he puts on way to many buckles on his characater)(but I think the more the marrier.)(in fact many of my drawings have been inspired by Tetsuya Nomura, the first one that comes to my mind is Kali) Anyway so Tetsuysa Nomura, the greates Character Designer in the world and Yoshinori Kitase, the Director and Co-Scenario writer of FFVII said this concerning Aeris's death and revival:

Nomura said :"Back at the time we were designing the game, I was frustrated with the perennial cliche where the protagonist loves someone very much and so has to sacrifice himself and die in a dramatic fashion to express that love. We found this was the case in both games and movies, both eastern and western. But I wanted to say something different, something realistic. I mean, is it right to set such an example to people?"

Kitase's follow up to Nomura's comments: "In the real world, things are very different. You just need to look around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad attached to it. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling, but a feeling of emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think 'If I had known this was coming I would have done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood."

I was once told by my literary teacher that literature is the study of human behavior. Why else would you think that it would be important to study it in high school? It gives us a greater understanding of people's opinions of how one should react to different situations. Apparently Science Fiction was used as a tool to make a moral point that was best emphasized by showing characters in extreme sitiations. So why do video games not fit into that same category that literature does? A majority of today's "gamers" do not play video games only for the game experience, any more than most people don't see a movie just for the special effects. Sure, they're nice, but what really makes a movie or a video game great is the story that is behind it.

Would you believe me if I told you that I have played games that have inspired me to do and be someting more?

On that note, I just want to leave you with a quote, again from the writer of the above mentioned article wich is linked below:

"If you take anything from any of this stuff to heart, take the one ideal of
Final Fantasy that its creator sought to illustrate: Life's about experiences,
about making memories. The more you do and experience, the more you grow, and the more the world around you grows. We're all part of a big interrelated environment that's about that: Growth. Call it a web, or a ship, or a zoo if you want to, but just do it. The most important thing in life is showing up for it."

http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/final_fantasy_vii_ac_plot.txt

Well, anyway, on that note, I will take my leave as one of the biggest nerds I know...