The Chosen Anachronism
Ah, new game smell. Kind of like new car smell, only way, way cheaper. I don't know what causes it, but every single new game I've ever had has the same smell, one which brings to mind a sense of wonder and excitement, bringing forth ancient memories of discs gone by and the promise of adventures to be had.
Plus it smells kind of nice, too.
I felt that after yesterday's post, I really needed to do something ridiculous to maintain the balance of the Force... blog. Blogforce.
Yes, the blogforce, the mystical energy that surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the blogosphere together. Or something like that. Ask Yoda, he knows.
Anyway, something else that I always notice with new video games when I flick through the instruction manual. At the back, more often than not, is a small section headed “Notes” with some blank space, maybe lined, doesn't really matter, in which players are presumably meant to fill in notes of some kind. I've never used them. I've never heard of anybody using them. I've never bought any pre-owned games where the notes section has been used. I'm not sure shops would give you full credit for having the instructions if you had written in them.
I've noticed this many times and given more thought to it than anyone probably should. The only reason that I can come up with is that it's some kind of holdover from the days of password saves and complicated RPGs which required you to recall which twisty little passage led where from a description only. It's the same basic principle as a console coming with a hard drive or cartridges having onboard memory. The game uses a particular saving method and the developer has to provide something to allow you to use it, even if you could do it just the same with a piece of paper.
It's one of those strange little things in life that everyone accepts as normal and doesn't really question but, when you do question it, it's very odd indeed, a little-understood anachronism that has somehow persisted in an age of efficiency and in an industry of rapidly evolving technology.
Plus it smells kind of nice, too.
I felt that after yesterday's post, I really needed to do something ridiculous to maintain the balance of the Force... blog. Blogforce.
Yes, the blogforce, the mystical energy that surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the blogosphere together. Or something like that. Ask Yoda, he knows.
Anyway, something else that I always notice with new video games when I flick through the instruction manual. At the back, more often than not, is a small section headed “Notes” with some blank space, maybe lined, doesn't really matter, in which players are presumably meant to fill in notes of some kind. I've never used them. I've never heard of anybody using them. I've never bought any pre-owned games where the notes section has been used. I'm not sure shops would give you full credit for having the instructions if you had written in them.
I've noticed this many times and given more thought to it than anyone probably should. The only reason that I can come up with is that it's some kind of holdover from the days of password saves and complicated RPGs which required you to recall which twisty little passage led where from a description only. It's the same basic principle as a console coming with a hard drive or cartridges having onboard memory. The game uses a particular saving method and the developer has to provide something to allow you to use it, even if you could do it just the same with a piece of paper.
It's one of those strange little things in life that everyone accepts as normal and doesn't really question but, when you do question it, it's very odd indeed, a little-understood anachronism that has somehow persisted in an age of efficiency and in an industry of rapidly evolving technology.
Labels: alasdair, musings, videogames
posted by Alasdair Corbett at
11:00 PM
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