They want the video game equivalent of someone nodding along and saying “Mm, wow. They don’t care about replay value and they don’t care about getting the sex scene for the character they like, they just want the sensation that they are being listened to. This is what people really want a lot of the time when they ask for non-linearity. We describe these sorts of problems as control issues, which I suppose says as much about us as it does about them. A game’s controls are the language we use to speak to it: Frustration ensues when a game misunderstands what we are trying to communicate, or when it doesn’t allow us to communicate the thing that we desperately want to. Because real artificial intelligence is a very long way away still, our methods of communication are usually greatly restrained in games to enable them to react in a satisfying way. a game lives or dies on its ability to react to us, to listen to what we are trying to say. Still, unsatisfactory answers are not necessarily too different from what we’ve come to expect from genuine human social contact either.Ī lot of what we want from games is for them to just respond to what we say to them. Most of us have a machine in our pocket who will answer our questions as best as it is able, and will listen and respond to anything we say no matter how inane – though, perhaps, not in a very satisfactory way. Now, in 2017, there are lots of ways to be listened to by machines. “What are you thinking of?” “How did that make you feel?” “Why do you say that?” Despite being created with an almost parodic intent, to show the superficiality of human-machine communication, people felt a genuine connection with ELIZA, and sometimes even a degree of therapeutic benefit. ELIZA is a simple chatbot made to emulate a psychotherapist, one who answers every question with a question. Having someone listen to you, even passively, can be hugely rewarding, emotionally and even intellectually, as you feel connected with the world.īefore most games, we had ELIZA. Among the many social and emotional needs we have as human beings is our desire to be heard – even more than to say anything specific, we just yearn to be able to jam a flag into the dirt for people to see. They didn’t like the colors it seems.Among other ways to think about games, one that I rarely hear spoken of is their capacity as attention engines. I was unsure of what, but I wasn’t about to stop the money train now.Īhem… Figure of a Red Eye Crying plastered on a tall bucket resting on a bed of blue splotches, laying on a note, written in green ink, ALL on a gradient of black, purple and light blue.Īnyways, this sold, but not to my intended audience. WOOH! BIG BUCKS! This mishmash of complexity and colors was a hit with the punks! They loved something about it! Every color on the palette was used at least once in this piece. The most common criticism I was getting from the punks was that they didn’t like the colors… Something kind of clicked but I was still unsure of something. The idea that climbing upward would lead to good things was lost on the alley dwellers. On the other hand, everyone despised this one.ĭespite its hopeful meaning in its message. Somehow, I managed to capture the attention of the punks with this.
Since the sad picture sold well to the bearded guys, I thought I might My emotions of having a close friend turn on me are reflected in this picture.Įventually one of the bearded fellows bought it, but Ben’s words left a hole in my metaphorical heart. I wondered what this meant for our future together.īen began to chastise me for just being a simple painter. I stared in shock at this message, then at Benjamin. Lot of warm colors in this one.Īfter Ben purchased this, a notification popped up that the hipsters decided I was too popular to be appreciated by them.
Used it to make a bit of a bloody comic-y fight pic.īen bought it, and I thought to myself, Hey, let’s see where this goes! What endings can good ol’ Benjamin provide?ĭrew a shot of Red. It… I’m getting bored of explaining… It’s another drawing. Stars with their own planets, their own worlds, cut off from us with light year upon light year of empty space. The dots are stars: white dwarves, red supergiants, blue hypergiants. This beautiful picture shows how isolated the earth, us, is from the cosmos. (I was getting in character)Īnyways, this one also struck out with those punks, but not with Benjamin who was beginning to be a bit of my #1 fan. (art = heat in this case)Īs an artist, this hits close to home. It shows that even though those alone can seem stranded away from the rest of civilization, they still have heat to offer. The fire on the island represents the warmth of isolation.
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