Only In Videogames #2

You might have observed that games represent a world of options that are unavailable to you in real life, and you'd be right. But, you'd be missing the larger point that every option gifted to you by videogames is purchased by selling away reams of basic human capabilities.

Example, Doom gave us AWESOME 3D FPS action with unprecedented freedom and graphical quality, but in order to do this id Software made a bargain with some sort of crossroads daemon who demanded that the player not be allowed to either jump or move his head up or down.

Example #2, Resident Evil presented us with a world in which we can blast rocket-propelled grenades into the gaping maw of a tentacled monstrosity the size of a bus, sending pieces of it flying in every direction the physics system could allow, while containing us within this battlefield with what amounts to a flimsy screen door. Because you can crush a zombies head with your boot, but it would be uncouth to simply shoot-off a door-lock.

Example C: Start ANY GAME, EVER. Now, once you've got control of your character (if you've picked a Metal Gear game, you can get back to this tomorrow), and try to simply LEAVE. The easiest thing to do in a time of crisis is avoid getting involved, and it is the first thing games take away from you.

So, let me be straightforward here. This isn't a condemnation. There doesn't seem to be a way around this problem. But I do ask: What else have we lost? What was taken from us while we were distracted by the OMFG you can shoot their knives out of the air! ARESOME!