14 DAY TRIAL // How would you feel about switching from shooters, RPGs, MMOs, fighting games and racing games to "green" games? What's that??? That's right, games that teach you to embrace environ'mental' issues. The Guardian's Keith Stuart has some thoughts on a game developer's idea that games may very well be "filled with environmentally-friendly concepts."
The main goal of such a game would be emphasizing the preservation of energy and items, while gaining knowledge about herbs and potions, which also mustn't get wasted: "Energy and item conservation are vital components of all combat games. In survival horror, no bullet is wasted, no herb squandered, while in RPGs the obsessive collection and management of weapons, potions and foodstuffs makes up a significant element of the in-game action. Plus, in most RPGs, we instinctively know never to wander into a discolored cloud - it's bound to be poison gas." How true...?
What the man is saying here is very accurate, only none of us punk-ass gamers noticed it before. Hear this: "Energy bars, limited ammo, limited lives... games are built around the eco-friendly concepts of recycling, repairing and re-using." You know, come to think of it, I do sense an amount of satisfaction every time I use less ammo to kill a foe, or when I go waaay back to the beginning of the stage to get an extra medi-pack. "When saddled with limited inventories, players often agonize over dropping valued weapons and supplies - nothing is wasted in games. Everything is there for a reason. We learn it quickly in the virtual world - quicker, let's face it, then we've ever realized it for real."
So, what do you think? Will a game based entirely on preservation and conservation work? I like the idea a lot, but I'm afraid it's too dumb of a society the idea occurred within. My guess is that it'll fail to interest gamers. They want to blow up stuff and discover secret stages where characters have sex. That's just how it is...