My friend Christopher told me about the videogame Passage back in November, but Kottke recently mentioned it on his blog and reminded me of it. I highly recommend you go download it and play. For a very simple and free five-minute video game it is a remarkably affecting simulation of what it’s like to be human.
From the creator’s statement: You have the option of joining up with a spouse on your journey. Once you team up with her, however, you must travel together, and you are not as agile as you were when you were single. Some rewards deep in the maze will no longer be reachable if you’re with your spouse. You simply cannot fit through narrow paths when you are walking side-by-side. In fact, you will sometimes find yourself standing right next to a treasure chest, yet unable to open it, and the only thing standing in your way will be your spouse. On the other hand, exploring the world is more enjoyable with a companion, and you’ll reap a larger reward from exploration if she’s along. When she dies, though, your grief will slow you down considerably.
That might sound like some kind of complex fantasy game but if you go and check it out you’ll see it’s really just a little side scrolling game with ultra low-tech graphics (it makes the first Nintendo look 3-D by comparison) which is why it’s so amazing that can evoke so much with so little. I think that Passage is the best example I’ve ever seen of how video games can be art. [that being said I haven’t really played video games since high school so I’m sure there’s many other examples out there]
Speaking of which, I recently stumbled across Play Value which is this Internet TV show about the history of video games. It’s really well done and interesting, and if you spent any portion of your youth in front of a Sega or Nintendo you will probably find it interesting. I think this is also a good example of how it’s possible to put high quality and glossy-looking videos and shows on the net. Jakob Lodwick once pointed out, quite accurately I think, that too often we settle for shitty quality video on the Internet, just because it’s not on TV or in movie theaters. Youtube’s countless grainy webcam rants are fine and all, but that’s not all online video was meant for.
