Going Against the Game
Part of the appeal of open-world games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Crackdown is the option for the player to deviate from the principal story or mission and explore on her own. Creativity is a pretty sweet thing. Undoubtedly, these games were designed with some non-linearity in mind, but I can’t help but reminisce to another game where going against the main storyline was more fun than playing to the end.
That’s right…Oregon Trail!
I have fond, fond memories of playing this game in second grade computer class. I’m pretty sure I only escorted my party safely to Oregon twice, maybe three times, ever. Much more fun than actually completing the game was the mildly-sadistic practice of creating a party (usually comprised of the silliest names imaginable, or – even better – of myself and my best friends) and sending them to their doom via poorly-chosen attempts at fording a deep river, or antiquated diseases like typhoid and cholera. Pretty cruel, but my friends and I erupted in giggles whenever the screen declared, “You have died of dysentery.” (apparently, we weren’t the only ones)
Even more cruel? Despite being an animal-lover, I had loads of fun stocking up my party’s wagon with nothing but guns and ammo, and singlehandedly contributing to the buffalo’s status as an endangered species (come on, was it ever really necessary to shoot more than one when you could only take 200 lb of meat back to the wagons?).
Oregon Trail shenanigans aside, this got me thinking about game structure and what makes people deviate from the rules. At the risk of getting a little bit too theoretical…I wonder where the line is between desired order in games (missions and structure and goals, oh my!) and fun sandbox play. After all, outside of video games, how much fun was it to make up your own play as a child? Who didn’t enjoy playing with sticks and rocks and sand just as much as they enjoyed playing with a soccer ball?
Ladies (and gents, of course), weigh in: how do you like your games? Structured, with a side of rule-breaking, or totally free-for-all?
I like free for all personally–when its structured it just doesn’t feel the same. You know exactly where you have to go and what you have to do each time you play. But with free for all things call happen in different sequences and it makes things more interesting. It just feels more real and not staged. Does that make any sense?
LOL!!! I played Oregon Trail!! Sad to say though I only made it to Oregon once… hehe I was fascinated with the deviations…
I am a big fan of free for all.. I think the best game for that in my opinion is Mercenaries.. you have objectives however completing them is all up to you and how you want to do it.. so you can “ninja gaiden” or “rambo” it
Isn’t a 2nd mercenaries coming out sometime? I heard it was suppose to be co-op if so I will stand in line at midnight to get it!
Oh lol to actually answer the question.. i like the “structured” free for all haha so have stuff to do but do it your way….
Although I play games of all types, I adore those games that are almost total-free-for-all. When I accidentally stumbled upon Daggerfall for Windows 98 (For those of you that don’t know, the prequel to Morrowind. What? Some of you may live under a rock) I played it for hours upon hours! And I didn’t even start that game until Windows XP was out. So. Graphics were utter shite, and some of the quests were repetitive, but I loved that I could basically do whatever I wanted. When Morrowind came out I was stoked! And you have no idea how much I enjoyed Oblivion. It, of course, sucks your life away. . . but in the best way possible.
That said, I also love structured games. Especially when they have an above average plot.
So, I guess what we can conclude that I just love video games.
And that Oregon trail was epic. I totally want the t-shirt with the covered wagon on it that says “You have died of dysentery.” Epic!
P.S. Did anyone play Oregon Trail during the high point of popularity of those Tombstone pizza commercials? Yeah, I definitely did. If you died, it would ask you what you would like on your tombstone. I would proceed to say. . .”Pepperoni and cheese.” Ahaha.
Great article, so funny that I was just talking to some of my colleagues just the other day about this game…ah it brings back memories!!
To your question, I suppose I like to have my cake and eat it too…I LOVE stories, whether I read one in a book, watch one in a movie, or even play one in a game! I like to play the story and have that structure, but then also the option of exploring and playing around.
I loved the main story in Oblivion but I spent so so many hours just riding around on my unicorn (sorry, I’m a girl, does that disappoint you? lol ;p) looking at anything and everything.
Ah, and then there was Morrowind, all the glitchiness in the game made for a whole new type of exploring experience with all the ridiculous things you could do, like filling up a shop or the center of town with hundred and hundreds of white fluffy pillows or making weird enchantments that allowed you to get away with the most ridiculous things….
tee hee…
I like games where you make your own storyline, Oblivion had alot of that. Where you chose what quests you did and what you didn’t. I missed about 1/2 the quests on there I think and still had a kick ass time.
LOL Dope I think everyone on here but a few people are women so I don’t think you dissappointed them*LOL* But yeah I loved playing that game if you could have co-op’d that would have been the shit. They just need to make a game where there are no weird ass glitches though. But Morrowind was great too, I played that for freakin hours on end. Looking forward to Fall Out later on this year,since its done be the same people from Oblivion(I think its Bethesda but wouldn’t swear to it). Two Worlds was like that was well, I was hopelessly addicted to that game. ok i have to go now because I have dope’s voice going Tee hee in my head and I can’t get it out. It will pop up at the most inopportune times as well, I just bloody hope I don’t do like I normally do when a tune gets stuck and start saying it out loud…now that would be odd
i guess i like a good mix of both. i like to be able to do what i want when i want, but i also like to know that there’s a main quest for me to follow. i think mass effect was a shining example of this. the main quest was pretty straightforward, but there were also a lot of opportunities for you to make your own story.
but that aside, i miss oregon trail SO much!!! they should remake it with new graphics =D
LOL! “remake Oregon Trail” that would be something… i’m not sure if i would play it or not.. for me it is like that Viva Pinata game.. you don’t want to play the game but you get suckered into it and just keep playing and you don’t even know why..
They did remake it with better graphics. It’s not the same, but some parts (like hunting) are easier with point-and-click.
I’ll grab a link later (midterm today, should be studying instead of checking the blog!)
Nothing could ever be the same as the original Oregon Trail though. There’s just something about those bad graphics and hilarious sound!
“something about those bad graphics” LOL!!! yah for some weird reason I know what you mean!!
I just think it’s that. . . nothing can really compare to the nostalgia you have. This can refer to games or otherwise. Memories are powerful. If you have really powerful memories tied to experiences; attempts to recreate them will just pale in comparison. It’s the same reason I wonder if I would love a remake of FFVII as much as I did the original game. I know I would love it, but would it be the same?
hehehe once again thank you miss psychologist for answering the “why’s” of life
Hey, you know, anytime. Parts of my mind are going to waste at work, might as well use it at home, right? : )
LOL! so where is it you work again? I must have missed that in a previous post…
I actually work for Bloomingdales. Upscale retail store. Which is funny considering I have a degree in psychology, go figure!
Hey CLOTHES!!!! I think its a great job! Especially if you like clothes (like i do).. so no worries
I haven’t shopped at Bloomingddales but I have heard of it before…
Well consider being the blog psychologist as a second job
we need you posting around here so degree isn’t going to waste at all
Ah I used to work for Hastings(downscaled retail store*LOL) so I know how the retail business can be a pain in the keister. Yes we most deffinetely need a blog psychologist…where’s the couch around here I need to get some things off my chest*LOL* I can see it now. Advent saying ‘Uh hah……uh hah……dammit I should have killed him “then of course I’d have to look up and scold her for playing the 360 during a session*LOL*
No, Rav. The 360 is part of the therapy! Haha. Retail isn’t all bad. I mean right now I’m not even in a store, I’m in a call center doing customer service and many other things. It’s not bad at all.
And Smiles. . . yes, I do like clothes. Parts of me are feminine after all. . . haha. That always puzzles people about me. I am very outwardly feminine (I love glitter, flash, dressing up) but I have many masculine personality traits and interests (can be intimidating, very confident; love watching sports and playing video games).
Damn Advent your just THE WOMAN*LOL* reminds me of the movie Repli-Kate (i seriously know no one has seen this movie but me*LOL*) whats sports do you watch? Retail does have its ups and downs. There are some people you just want to go out of your way to help and then some people you just want to point and say its over there, find it yourself.
Thank you, thank you. I have never heard of that movie, what is it? My favorite sports are college football ( I graduated from the University of Michigan) and hockey (Detroit Red Wings!!). I also will always watch the home team in basketball (Detroit Pistons) and football (Lions – but they are always terrible). I don’t really enjoy baseball on TV but I always enjoy going to a game.
Hey you went to UM I graduated recently from Ohio State University wow don’t hate me b/c i don’t hate you
.. I hate baseball.. like to watch pro and college football (fav team the Browns.. I know their not good but I still belive though one day they will be) I like college basketball NOT NBA (a bunch of babies)
The olympics are the best sports to watch to me… I am excited for this year’s olympics
Rav never heard of Repli-Kate.. and for some reason I get the feeling I shouldn/t watch it either seeing as how your the ONLY person on earth to have seen it?
Another Buckeye! AND a Browns fan! Smiles, we are totally friends
Booooooooooooo, Ohio State. Anywhere but there! But no, don’t worry. I don’t hate either of you. : ) May bleed maize and blue but I keep my OSU hate to a minimum. Unless you’re part of the football team, then we might have to reconsider.
Oh the movie is hilarious, these guys are working on a cloning device and accidentally clone an extremely gorgous woman in error(psssh right). The thing is she is fully grown and knows absolutely nothing. So the try to turn her into every mans fantasy woman..ie loves beer,sports,games, and i’ll just stop right there
but ya get the picture.
Im not that uber into sports, alittle hockey(go stars) and my NFL team believe it or not is not Dallas. I am a die hard Silver N Black Raiders fan*LOL* Oh and the UFC and PrideFighting of course*LOL*
Wow. That sounds. . . ridiculous. Ahahah. I’m guessing no one we know would be in this film??
Actually it has Eugene Levy in it from American Pie, other than that, yeah no one I knew*LOL*
Hahaha. He seems to pop up in a lot of low budget b movies. Maybe it’s his niche nowadays.
yeah I have noticed that as well, He was in American Pie: Band Camp and Beta House as well
“Wow. That sounds. . . ridiculous” LOL!! took the words right out of my mouth Advent.
.. wasn’t funny tho’ how excited Rav was to share about the movie only he has seen?? hehe
And Miss Risky we are sooo FRIENDS!! GO BUCKS!
(sorry Advent had to say it)
Oh the shame, Smiles. As a die hard Wolverine I cringe, but I know we can be friends nonetheless. I have a friend at work that -loves- Ohio State. We are mutually respectful. He calls me “big blue.” And when I see him I say “O-H. . .”
ha ha ha ya’ll sound as bad as the Long Horn fans down here are when talking about an OU fan*LOL* OMG though here it gets a tad violent from time to time. A guy got stabbed last year for walking into a OU bar with a Long Horn jersey..
Hey it was like $2. for me a the time so I bought it just for the hell of it, its still a funny movie*LOL* There are alot of good B movie comedies out there…Anyone ever see Dr Jeckyl and Mrs Hyde. or Boat Trip? now those are good as well.
We are exactly like that. OSU fans are generally worse though. I don’t like the team but I’m not mean to the fans. Someone I know from UofM went to OSU for a game and. . . got peed on.
I did see Dr. Jeckly and Mrs. Hyde. That was pretty funny. Not boat trip though. Who was in that? Was that Kurt Russel? Wait no, that was Captain Ron. Ahahah.
OK Boat trip is a totally perverted movie…go figure i’d have watched it *LOL* but it has Cuba Gooding Jr and Horatio Sands–Cuba is on the outs after getting turned down for marrage by his girlfriend and dumped for the car wash guy. And horatio sands is his best bud who is always looking for women. Well they find out that a cruise is the perfect place to meet women and decide to go on one. Well they piss off Will Ferrel who is a gay travel agent and he books them on a guy only gay cruise*LOL* Add in an attractive Dance director and the swedish bikini team( with a really mean female coach) and the fun begins…also has roger moore as an old gay ex military guy*LOL* funny as hell let me tell you.
Wow. Yes, I have definitely never heard of that. I don’t know if it’s so much my kind of story line, but I love comedies. I also have Netflix now but I’ve been using that to catch up on TV shows that I’ve fallen behind on. Thank goodness for Netflix. Just finished the second season of Weeds. That’s a really funny show.
Well if you enjoy American Pie or Porkies kind of comedies it fits in there, if not I would avoid it like the plague*LOL* My PC is like a Tivo so I record alot of tv on it and rewatch it later*LOL* You know I have never even seen Weeds whats it about?
I enjoyed the first American Pie movie. . . hilariously enough I actually saw it in the theater with my Dad. Never saw Porkies, though. Weeds stars Mary Louise Parker as a widowed, suburban mother who somehow ends up peddling weed for her family income. It is great. Lots of fun side plots, too. You should check it out.
Sounds like an interesting series,If you liked American Pie then you might like Porky’s. Same kinda stuff in a 60’s era, basicall all centered around a basketball team(from Angel Beach High) and their hijinks. There are a few parts no matter how much I watch it, that I laugh my ass off till tears are coming out*LOL*
I know that is a typically man-loved movie series. I remember the cover of the VHS. It was kind of ridiculous.
LOL yeah it was a good series, well at least the first two were funny. Ah I have a whole library of Man-Loved movies*LOL* You can’t go wrong with : There’s something about marry, and then there is Tomcats,Wedding Crashers, a guy thing, and of course Just Friends*LOL*