RECREATION OR OBLIGATION? By A. Mordente

Since the fluffy Anthropomorphized smash hit “Animal Crossing” for Nintendo’s GameCube asked gamers to stop in at least once a day just to decorate the house or do something as trivial as pick weeds, players have been pleased to alter their real schedules to do just that, or have they? Initially, the fun in fact was all about the real time necessity of checking in on one’s virtual life. However, after the first month, perhaps few months for the most persistent of gamers, the “fun” quickly became something resembling a chore not unlike taking out the trash or cleaning the kitty litter. The line between virtual reality and the drudgery of real life had been crossed. Those of us not yet willing to move on were reduced to changing the clocks on our respective GameCubes to “fool” the game’s internal time clock thus avoiding the inevitable run in with Mister Resetti, the in-game policeman put there to lecture gamers who thought they could manipulate the game like any other game not based in “real-time.”

Since the delightful, and admittedly innovative “Animal Crossing” came and went, Nintendo has followed up on this groundbreaking video game phenomenon with highly anticipated releases such as the ever popular and adorable “Nintendogs,” in which the player is forced to turn on their DS everyday without fail to feed, groom and play with their virtual puppies. Who doesn’t love puppies? There is of course a time that is inevitably reached when someone is simply unable or unwilling to pop in that tiny cartridge and feed, brush, and coo ad infinitum. The end result is a tiny, squishy little puppy miserable and alone left with no other recourse but to run away and “punish” its owner. “Not a problem”, Nintendo says, “simply wait a while and coddle your darling little puppy to pieces when he or she returns.” Problem solved, or is it? Mr. Nintendo, do you mean to tell me that I may only play and be successful at your game if I am willing to devote to it at least a small part of my day, everyday, indefinitely?

Have video games become a chore no different than cleaning our poopy-stained toilets or mildew-gummed showers? Do we or do we not pay decent chunks of change for the delightful distraction that video games provide? We are now paying, not just for a leisurely escape from the mundane realities of life, but also for a NEW set of mundane realities that are considered FUN because they simply exist in a virtual world. I say NO Mister Nintendo; I say that I will take out my trash for free.

To read the more articles plus see all the exclusive sets of images subscribe to eModel Magazine.Com for yearly for $15.72!