Illusion of Gaia and my cousin David
March 29, 2005 7:24 PM   Subscribe

Illusion of Gaia and my cousin David
posted by Tlogmer (20 comments total)
 
I remember this story from a long time ago. Still a great bitter sweet story though. Who says video games densensitize kids?
posted by clockworkjoe at 7:38 PM on March 29, 2005 [1 favorite]


Beautiful.

And I'd better not hear anything about "New Game Journalism."
posted by hughbot at 7:58 PM on March 29, 2005


This New Game Journalism is top notch!

but how strangely touching -- seriously. The heart strings popped out of my chest, like starving noodles.
posted by undule at 8:05 PM on March 29, 2005


thanks.
posted by pointilist at 8:16 PM on March 29, 2005


Progressiveboink.com strangely doesn't link to their front page from their articles, so here it is, for convenience. Here's everything by the author of that piece. (I like Oregon Trail.)
posted by Tlogmer at 9:06 PM on March 29, 2005


i was looking for this one. thanks.
posted by nautone at 9:29 PM on March 29, 2005


Ok.
so this is so good that I have been lurking for 3 years and now I have to actually come out and say that I love this.
My somewhat estranged sister and I used to play this game and she would sit there and scream turn into Freedan and I would always try to kick ass with the damn purple flute.
posted by citizngkar at 11:31 PM on March 29, 2005


what a sad story...

thanks.
posted by schyler523 at 12:23 AM on March 30, 2005


A++ WOULD LINK AGAIN
posted by mwhybark at 12:54 AM on March 30, 2005


Reminds me of the one I read where the black guy beats the klan member in Jedi Knight II. That was good, but a little too racially charged. I'm gonna write some of this too - I (and I presume you guys too) have so many things associated with these games and some of them have to be as affecting as this one.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:41 AM on March 30, 2005


Superb piece.
posted by chrid at 2:39 AM on March 30, 2005


that was a truly excellent read.
posted by blacklite at 4:19 AM on March 30, 2005


[This is good]
posted by Bugbread at 4:20 AM on March 30, 2005


My younger brother and I would do this for the entire Final Fantasy series. I was the pilot and he was the navigator who would usually sit back and watch. When leveling up or doing mundane tasks (like most RPGs had) we'd switch off, and when we were stuck somewhere, one would play while the other tried to figure it all out.

For a brother who usually fought with me, it was probably the closest we got. Looking back on it, it was the foundation of our current sibling relationship.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 4:36 AM on March 30, 2005


Hey, I remember the first time I caught the damn blimp in Jim Nitchals' "Beer Run." Changed my life, man.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:37 AM on March 30, 2005


very good piece--thanks.
posted by amberglow at 5:43 AM on March 30, 2005


I remember this game. I've played an absurd number of video games in my life (hundreds -- man, that's depressing), and this was one of them. I remember not being too impressed with it, and actively hating it in places.

But in a way, that just makes the story slightly better.

As the game guru on my rural Georgian street, I had something of a reputation as a go-to guy if someone had problems with a game. People who I had only spoken to a handful of times otherwise seeked me out for advice on getting past Red Falcon, or solving a damnable Adventures of Lolo puzzle, or offing Bowser.

Let's just say that some of them could easily have turned into David. My own nothing-like-me brother had a trying experience with the original Legend of Zelda, which was surprisingly difficult in places, and later also fathered an illegitimate child. He didn't kill himself, though his life hasn't gone too well either, and he has no idea where the mother or his daughter are now.

I can't help but wonder what David's family's reaction to the illegitimate child was. I can imagine a really bad scene going down between them, in private.

Anyway, no real point here. Just musing.
posted by JHarris at 6:37 AM on March 30, 2005


I liked that game. Sad that many of my best memories are of videogames.
posted by andendau at 2:32 PM on March 30, 2005


great essay. a lot of times i read something like this and want to play the game, but when i load it up on an emulator i realize i liked reading about playing the game better than actually playing it.
posted by jcruelty at 3:03 PM on March 30, 2005


An excellent peice of literature that I otherwise would not have seen nor read. Metafilter? Mission Accomplished.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:10 PM on March 30, 2005


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