Not Spoilers, do read Kermit. (Or anyone else.) (Gaming)

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, June 29, 2020, 12:00 (1389 days ago) @ Cody Miller

(Apparently my brain is very wordy today. Hope y'all don't mind a read.)

Game Platform Exclusivity sucks. Once again, like a steam sale, the library of games "I must play", grows larger. I haven't owned a Playstation since it was... well, PLAYSTATION. (Which still is just THE BEST intro.)

Silver lining though, as long as I don't dig in too greedily and too deep like some Lord Of the Rings Dwarf, I can skip across a field of spoilers and get to the other side unscathed. Most of the stuff I've read about which involves the story of Last of Us 2, fortunately doesn't MEAN anything to me at this point. At this point all I have is some names of folk (which I'll probably forget), a Zombie Apocalypse, and the apparent(?) shock that valley girls probably wouldn't survive said apocalypse. Other than that, I don't know shit about this game. I'm OK with that.

Why am I saying all this? Well, in my peeks around the corner, selectively eavesdropping on conversations about Last of Us 2, one thing is blatantly true - even with the pre-reivews I read; Through the level of realism Naughty Dog has achieved, THIS SUCKER IS STRAIGHT UP VIOLENCE PORN!

Violence, of course, is nothing new in games. If you have been playing videogames at all, you know what to expect if you play a Mortal Kombat game. Shoot, it's why we have the ESRB in the first place. For their latest iteration, there was apparently at least one Developer for Mortal Kombat 11 who apparently got PSTD from the process of creating Mortal Kombats ever infamous Fatalities, Brutalities, and what not. Just in case you don't know, part of the creation process that must be done is to collect REAL WORLD VISUAL references. Man, what does THAT Google history look like! Essh! Link to the source of this has an expectantly, Mortal Kombat Violent picture.

I bring this up, as, the little I've seen for Last of Us 2 is 110X more violent for our minds than anything Mortal Komabat has done. Of course, your results may very. It all depends on your natural tendency, for lack of a better word. If you're a hunter who has in the field skinned an animal moments after getting a kill, your mental space is arguably wired differently than... a vegetarian who has become such for reasons not due to dietary needs. Not calling out anything, just throwing out examples.

Watching someone pull out a beating heart with their bare hands? Or even a human spine? Ripping off an arm and beating the poor sucker to death with it? It's so out there, even with the realistic-ish look of modern games, it's debatably arcadeish. It's JUST SO crazy enough to possibly be able to separate yourself from the violence you see, like one may also do in a movie. As long as you aren't a toddler, you can separate "real" from this crazed "shared imagination".

Than, there is Last Of Us 2. There is some pretty cool tech and tricks in this game. I've seen the rope physics, which... how long did that take to make? I love the trick they used to fake global illumination in dark rooms, which as I understand it is essentially using the flash light as a color picker and than tinting your screen though post-prosessing. Very cool.

Than I watched a character stab viciously bearing teeth, with fear drenched intent, as if some poor animal who has long forgotten warmth, shank repeatedly-rapidly-again-and-again as if a motion was a scream and time a blur *SHK* in neck of some poor poor fool. Boom Boom. Blood with a realistically accurate shape gushes out with each jagged stab, only to be thrown aside a former person now slab of meat, recklessly collapsed in a crumple slopped to the floor, doomed to draw one last gurgled breath in some bloody pool of their own will-less making. That's... how I'm going to describe it anyway.

"Oh... SHIT!"

That was just one. I've seen a few other clips too. Folks... that shit can stay with ya. We're at a point now in virtual visualization the question needs to be asked, "Has Science gone too far?". In fact... before I continue this... whatever this is, now seems a good time as ever for some eye bleach.

I've long enjoyed the pursuit of realism in games. Learning how these things work, and WHY it works, helps bring an appreciation for things that you wouldn't even know to think of. What makes something look real versus a more stylized look or just... not even "right" at all? It's all very fascinating. But now... now as we are at the cusp of breaking that visual 4th wall practically completely (which I say, as I'm note sure where else needs to be improved visually), it seems to me that with great power comes great responsibility.

It's one thing to watch a movie with some sort of realistic violence in it, but playing a game that is visually realistic is different. It's an experience. And right now... y'all experiencing the tribalistic end of all things. AND THAT'S JUST 2020! /s(?)

I've not even played the game and man... even if it was a movie. Would this shit be R or NC-17? Man.

Look, I worry bout y'all. It's a casual worry, but its a worry. Y'all take care of yourselves. It all might be 1's and 0's, but wow... it really seems to be transcending to be something else. Be careful out there.

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Next Time On "INSANEdrive Rambles about [Subject Goes Here]"
Cyberpunk 2077; How Much Snoo Snoo is Too Much Snoo Snoo?