When Grand Theft Auto V’s gameplay trailer came out, I was floored by the myriad of mini-games available. Games within a game – Gameception as I like to call it…
When Grand Theft Auto V‘s gameplay trailer came out, I was floored by the myriad of mini-games available. Games within a game- Gameception as I like to call it. It reminded me of the past games in the series and even other titles like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim wherein more time was spent interacting with the world instead of completing the game itself. We could drown ourselves in a video game world for hours participating in mundane or ridiculous activities. And it’s not just the traditional video games that can make the most of virtual reality, the progression of gambling to gaming has also meant that many casinos now have VR rooms, and even some virtual sports betting platforms have the visuals and sounds that can make you feel like you’re really there in amongst the crowd soaking up the atmosphere of the event.
We have the luxury of recreating our ‘real’ lives to our liking or enacting a full-blown fantasy in-game.We have the luxury of reliving our ‘real’ lives or enacting a fantasy in-game. There are no limitations like death or the law to stop us from doing what we want. With Mods, we can manipulate these worlds even further. There are times when I wished for the future to come sooner so that it would be possible to experience limitless worlds like these ‘first hand.’ Sadly, I think I’ll be dead or ancient by the time society figures out a way to upload our consciousness inside a game. I can only imagine to my geeky heart’s content how that kind of technology will work.
Will we be uploaded in world where it mimics reality? What if the avatar wasn’t some code and our consciousness can be uploaded into a person or a synthetic?
Here are some of the films that explore these possibilities and the pros and cons each represent. Let us know what you would prefer or if you would consent to this to begin with.
Uploading your consciousness in a world similar to reality
Popular Examples: The Matrix series, The Thirteenth Floor, eXistenZ, Vanilla Sky, TRON series
While most of these examples aren’t specifically about video games. Every example features a virtual world where the people and objects don’t look like graphics or CGI at all.
Pros: It’s basically reality that you can manipulate. You can give yourself time bending and a myriad of fighting abilities through programming. Remember the time when you used a mod or a cheat code to make you or your car fly? Well, it’s the same principle. We’ve sort of seen this idea in the Matrix wherein they aren’t that powerful in real life, but they can enhance themselves in the virtual world.
In addition, Cypher bargained with the bad guys in the film to make his life comfortable in exchange for his betrayal to the human resistance. So aside from superhuman abilities, you can also make yourself insanely rich with gold or other in-game currency. All of these films also seem to show that we can carry over our senses. I remember jumping off the plane in San Andreas with a parachute multiple times.
My parents would never let me do this in real life at such a young age because of the fatal risks involved. Imagine feeling the thrill and rush of skydiving or the heat of a dragon’s breath in a video game.Imagine feeling the thrill and rush of skydiving or the heat of a dragon’s breath in a video game. How about tasting the meal you cooked or the potion you drank and feeling rejuvenated in your veins afterwards?
Cons: Remember those films where people started to get confused about what was real and what was fake? The Thirteenth Floor and eXistenZ are examples of that. Well, that’s certainly going to be a problem if you’re playing a game like Grand Theft Auto. I guess if you add a mod or put something ridiculous then you would know that you aren’t gaming. It’s sort of like a totem from the movie Inception. If you’re playing Dragon Age or Skyrim, then you’d obviously know what’s real or not.
Damn, that’s hot
While it’s awesome to have your senses, wouldn’t it hurt like hell if pain was factored in? Sure, you can never permanently die but it sucks if you have to feel the excruciating pain before you respawn. Perhaps, it won’t be a problem if the amount of pain you feel in-game is dialed down. A lot of people would give up if that wasn’t the case. Some people just like to charge instead of patiently waiting with the stealth game.
Upload your consciousness into another human being or android
Popular Examples: Gamer, Source Code, Real Steel and Surrogates
In this possibility, we aren’t uploaded into a virtual world. We have the ability to control a human being or a robot in a controlled setting. In some iterations, we still own our original bodies but others have your consciousness completely uploaded into another entity.
Pros: You won’t question reality because you are in it. The concept of Gamer is pretty cool too if you take out the fact that people actually die. However, I think the best part about this is controlling mechs similar to the film Real Steel. Now, that’s pretty awesome. What if there were games that happened in real life, and we can temporarily use different identities to play the game? It’s like LARPing to the next level.
Cons: In Gamer, people can work as avatars in pseudo communities. While there’s nothing wrong with that if you’re playing a game, people can use it for perverted reasons too using other people to fulfill their vulgar wishes. I also wouldn’t want these avatar surrogates to replace me in real life. I’d only want to have those avatars in video games. Lastly, what if your consciousness gets permanently transferred to your surrogate because of a glitch? That’s a scary thought.
Related articles
- Five films about video games that are actually good (neonsoviet.wordpress.com)
- A Step Into the Virtual World with Omni (globalgnn.com)
- Mod Madness: A Gamer’s Struggle with Mods (gamemoir.com)
- Oculus Rift; Novelty or The Future of Gaming? (philsopinions.wordpress.com)
