Leanne’s recent video-game related post reminded me of how I too dislike violent, fighty first-person videogames. With the realistic graphics and sound that these games have, they are just too real for me. I can’t handle the heat.
I used to watch in horrified fascination as Brian played “Bioshock”, which was set in a rotting underwater city populated with cackling madmen. Apparently one of the objects of the game was to locate and rescue several children. “Why are you saving those kids?” I remember asking him. “What kind of lives are they going to have, growing up in that horrible place?” Brian would pause the game to give me a look.
One time (and only one time) Brian tried to get me to play “Army of Two” with him. He must have been desperate. In “Army of Two”, you and your teammate are in a war zone together, shooting bad guys with automatic weapons and getting shot at and blowing stuff up. Occasionally if you get hit, your character lies down and you hear a harsh, husky voice say, “Save me, I’m not gonna make it,” or something dramatic like that. I’m pretty sure that line brought tears to my eyes.
“Who are we even shooting at?” I kept squeaking. “Don’t shoot those guys! They might be civilians! They have families! Why are they trying to kill me? They don’t even know me! WAR IS SO TERRIBLE!”
I lasted through about ten minutes of “Army of Two” before Brian gave up and stopped the game. If you ask me, he should have seen that coming. He knows I’m a Bubble Bobble kind of girl.
I Heard Tell 
leanne
Thanks for the linkback! Bioshock was terrifying, I couldn’t even watch Jon play it. I kept worrying that the city would collapse. Although, I do have to confess that when we cooperatively played Lego Star Wars, I took advantage of the friendly fire and kept sneaking up behind Jon’s character. Lego deaths are not as scarring.
Michael
You’ll kick butt though if it ever comes down to zombies who can only be defeated through encapsulation in soap bubbles, then jumping on the bubbles, then cleaning up various snacks as a reward.
Don’t let the zombies linger too long in the bubble, it really ticks them off.
Jayme
I feel ya. I’m always standing over my boyfriend’s shoulder, inquiring as to what the underlying theme of the game is, asking if that broken clown doll has any significance, why people are deformed, etc. etc.
One time I was in the living room reading some Foucault (true story) and Richard runs in clapping his hands in glee. At first I thought he had found a kitten. Than I followed him to see what was up and, low and behold, his excitement stems from the fact that, in the game Bioshock, he had found out how to set people on fire and then throw their dead bodies at other people.
It was then that I realized I was dating a homicidal maniac in disguise as a Business Ethics Doctorate Student.
Johanna
Hee hee. I can see Brian giving you that look 🙂 I actually like watching Matthew play those games, but I agree they are shockingly realistic. I’ve definitely screamed out loud when bad guys pop out from a dark corner. So real! I mean, if feral ghouls were a real thing.