Suspenion of Disbelief and You

Why the hell does Dr. Wily keep wasting money building elaborate bases with expensive robots confined in the last room?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I wonder how much the Mecha Dragon would cost to build IRL...Would give me something to look forward to doing if I won the lottery.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

My suspension of disbelief is challenged only in certain instances or when I feel like being a smartass.

The MGS series is of special note here. In each installment, they up the realism of the combat engine, eliminating unrealistic but fun devices like instant-heal rations and a motion detector--neither of which I had any problem with--on the grounds tha they're not realistic enough. Yet at the same time, the plot becomes more ridiculous. Undead bisexual Gypsy? Check. 105-year-old super sniper? Check. Living bee swarm? Check. Those are fine, but not instant-heal rations, oh no--too unrealistic.

As for Dr. Wily, the trick is that he's really just rebuilding the castle over and over again, on the same spot using the same parts (mostly the giant metal skull left over from Dia De Los Muertos 1985). It's the perfect plot--who would ever expect such a move?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

My suspension of disbelief is challenged only in certain instances or when I feel like being a smartass.

Which is all the time.

Ok. Crash Bandicoot's story makes no sense either. Tomb Raider's story also makes little sense. Why is there a bandicoot running around in the jungle collecting apples from pre-packaged boxes, or why is some girl running around the aztec half naked attacking crows. All these things are meant to be overlooked because they're a minor issue.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm usually able to suspend all disbelief in a game and get wrapped up in the universe. Until I notice a graphical or sound glitch. Then I'm snapped right out of it. Good example, Halo 2. There's so much pop-in and every single time I realise "oh yeah, this shit's retarded."

Otherwise, it doesn't matter. I don't like ruining games for myself over stupid things like odd trap-infested buildings and strange storylines.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Elixir

Why is there a bandicoot running around in the jungle collecting apples from pre-packaged boxes, or why is some girl running around the aztec half naked attacking crows. All these things are meant to be overlooked because they're a minor issue.

Or a hedgehog. Or a fox. Or a frog. Or a dog. Or a cat. Or a (insert random animal to be fashioned into a badical character with 'tude!).

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by guyinrubbersuit

Or a hedgehog. Or a fox. Or a frog. Or a dog. Or a cat. Or a (insert random animal to be fashioned into a badical character with 'tude!).

Frog? Why would I need to question Frogger? Frogs cross busy highways all the time.

Oh well, if gaming consisted of realism and realism only we wouldn't bother with gaming in the first place. I mean, Tails and Megalith. You really think they're going to be flying that fighter jet? No, so it's hello Ace Combat. Half of the games I play (semi-realistic) I wouldn't do. It's meant to be the escape from reality which sets gaming apart.

We could sit here and question a bunch of things which will ultimately be left unresolved. It's funny because some of the more realistic games aren't selling too well. Which reminds me, why must you cut everyone's head off in Tenchu?

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Diablo II always struck me as a bit shocking in the amount of demons that one man/woman is able to take on and live to tell about it. Even Diablo 1, with a lot less coming at you at one time, seemed pretty wild in terms of enemy/hero ratio. Mostly this occurred to me because I was briefly considering some Diablo fanfiction and wondered how exactly I could bring about the feel of the games without turning it into something masturbatory and overtly false.

The one question that always sprang to my mind was "Doesn't his arm ever get tired?"

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Why I can invade anyone's house and take their stuff and they just sit there idly

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Grand Theft Auto is a pretty ridiculous game. A random killing spree takes only about a grand and the confiscation of your arms to get out of. All keys are left in the ignition of cars or the main character knows how to hotwire anything with wheels and a motor in record time. Policemen are the only drivers with locked doors. My absolute favorite thing would have to be how standing on the hood of a moving vehicle while stomping it like a campfire will eventually cause a fire from the engine, a few seconds later, an explosion.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I don't think of any of this stuff in games. At least, I don't think I do.

Besides, you're all forgetting the most perplexing VG mystery of all time: Where did the Koopa Kids come from? I don't see any female Bowsers anywhere in Mario's exploits.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

maybe Bowser is a-sexual

I was speaking idiomatically.

In the original SMB, Mario is a terrorist. None of the enemies really actively seek you out (as far as I can remember), it's Mario who is running through the landscape squashing and burning.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by garthvadr3

maybe Bowser is a-sexual

I think that's where Birdo fits into the whole thing. As nightmare inducing that sounds.

FELIPE NO

Rippped right off of Infernal's Journal. Now when I see this movie, it just makes me go WTF. Maybe when I was 5 years old back then playing it, I'd be like whatever, but now....wow, how "enemies" have progressed in gaming history.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Earthbound was very believable. A bunch of snakes, birds, and dogs attack you, so you pick up the cracked bat from your sister's room and have at it. And then a meteor just happens to land at the top of the cliff, which is the SAME cliff that you live on with your evil fat neighbor. And at the top the giant meteor send a bee from the future to tell you that you and 3 children have to save the world....happened to me all the time.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

In any RPG, I never understand why the hero only has one parent... I highly doubt the other one died valiantly for his family. It was probably stupidity. Also, out of everyone in the world they could've chosen, why this ONE person? I don't get it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well. One of their parents is sometimes involved in the story, hence making the protagonist's role special. Like Tidus, for example - he sort of only had a mum, but for a relatively good reason.

But I get what you mean. If they're royalty, they only have a father who promptly dies; if they're a layperson, they only have a mother.
Did Crono have a dad? :x

As for the second question, that's sort of looking at things the wrong way round.
You're watching the story of the hero. You're not watching the story of a randomly selected person. ><;;
Looking back on history, we could study all sorts of things. We could study (insert German name)'s story, or we could study Adolf Hitler's story. It just so happens that the second one is more significant and interesting, so that's the one people write about.

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Ness had a dad....he was just somewhere else where you just happen to be able to get ahold of him via phone all the time.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Quote:

Where did the Koopa Kids come from? I don't see any female Bowsers anywhere in Mario's exploits.

I always just figured it was Peach...

I was speaking idiomatically.

You know, I've been playing Front Mission 3 for about 2 or so weeks now, and it's a pretty fun, if not addictive game. The thing though, is why the hell does the "troop of five" (Rudolf Kaiser, Rebecca Sydney , Greg Herigle, Hatari Khartoum, and Emilio Gusly ) keep chasing after you guys even though you've beaten them like 3 / 4 times already. I mean, HELLO, DO YOU WANT YOUR ASS KICKED MORE?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Why is it that when I utterly destroy a boss in some RPG, in the following cutscene, MY people are on their knees begging for forgiveness?

GET UP YOU LAZY FUCKS YOU WON THE BATTLE.

Bastards.

FELIPE NO

I always wonder where people go to the bathroom. Hardly any games have a bathroom in them, and when you're exploring the world, you'll need one in every town you stop in.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by TheKnightOfNee

I always wonder where people go to the bathroom. Hardly any games have a bathroom in them, and when you're exploring the world, you'll need one in every town you stop in.

Video game characters just go in their clothes. Like in the days of yore.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think the earliest case that I contemplated these things was back when I was playing the 2d Sonic games on the Genesis, I kinda wondered "why doesn't Robotnik just build a big wall in the level that's too high for me to jump over?". That's a kind of simplistic look at it, but really it does seem a little strange that the bad guys would make all these elaborate levels and fill them with hundreds of robotic villans, yet they never seem to build a wall in your path that's higher than you can jump or can't be broken simply by running into it.

One thing that did kinda hurt a game's belief for me is Star Ocean: The Second Story. A ways through the game, you go to a totally different planet that hasn't had contact with the outside world for a very long time. And yet the great thing is, all of the money that was used on the backwater planet you were on works just fine on the new planet! Hey guys, no need to convert money or anything, a shopkeeper in a futuristic world is more than willing to accept your rupees! And it's worth EXACTLY as much as it was on the other planet, you can even sell your equipment for the exact same price! You'd think that no shopkeeper would want the junk you got from some hick town, but I guess he does!

But really, RPGs are filled with all kinds of ridiculous things like that, but usually I just ignore them and concentrate on killing things. Come to think of it, I don't even know why we accept half the crap shoved at us in these games...I guess we've just been conditioned to not question all mannors of weird plot holes and bizzare non-explainations for various things. Hell, RPGs actually seem to be getting WORSE in that regard, Star Ocean 3's plot twist just blows the doors off any sense of logic or reasoning.

Oh, but I have to say that some games like Tomb Raider actually pull it off pretty well. The random switches and traps are actually there for a somewhat valid reason, and the levels design is fairly justified. Even the main character's role makes sense (duh, she's a tomb raider, not just some hillbilly off the street that happens to need to save the world). Most FPS games even have somewhat believable (if sometimes still flawed) settings for their environments and events. Obviously not every game needs this kind of justification for why your character is doing what they are, but at times it can help that whole immersion thing.

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

Besides, you're all forgetting the most perplexing VG mystery of all time: Where did the Koopa Kids come from? I don't see any female Bowsers anywhere in Mario's exploits.

The same way Godzilla had a kid when there's no female Godzillas? Maybe the American Godzilla was onto something with that whole asexual reproduction thing, and hey, they're both lizards. Or maybe Godzilla is actually a female and hooked up with Bowser and they had some kids together (3 of which ended up being Koopas, the other was a Godzilla). See, any plothole can be filled if you take the time to come up with baseless reasoning.

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