193: Tipocalypse Now

[pparrish]

Tipocalypse Now

It's New York circa 2005. Manhattan is a smoldering wasteland. Gamers live in fear of torture at the hands of their government. And a coalition of Middle Eastern countries is developing a next-gen console of mass addiction. These horrifying possibilities and more would await us in a world without ... GameFAQs?

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[Labyrinth]

Oh god! What would we do! The stock market would be inefficient! Banking would take weeks! Nooooo my internet!

The aspect of online society is a particular pointed one as many of the people I speak to regularly wouldn't even know I existed, or I them, without the internet. It gives us the chance to better pick-and-choose our friends, to find out more about them every day even when two people live a thousand kilometres apart.

Excellent piece. The satire is striking and very well written. What would we do indeed? Another thing to consider is what would happen if the net stopped tomorrow...

 

[ShadowKirby]

What would we do indeed? Another thing to consider is what would happen if the net stopped tomorrow...

Millions of very white people running and screaming in the streets.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Handin Thetill. Briliant

 

[rossatdi]

See Jack Thompson, see!

Wait, I missed the point didn't I?

Anyway it seems like a few Counter Strike kill crazy rampages are a sad payment for world stability. Condition Zero single player did suck balls.

 

[KDR_11k]

1980 - 1999
Fueled by the progress in computing made in the 1970s, videogaming evolves largely as normal. Yet as gaming technology becomes increasingly advanced, the complexity of games produced increases exponentially. The need for tips, cheats and walkthroughs expands at pace with this increase in sophistication. In the beginning, print publications attempt to meet the public's new demand for help in their gaming adventures.

198X: Big game releases end up with game guides released that sell separately and reveal all the tricks or at east the ones the developers wanted you to know about.
199X: Squaresoft figures that game guides would sell better if they were absolutely necessary to figure out how to get the infinity plus one swords and other optional extras, making their acquisition needlessly contrieved in ways you could never possibly figure out yourself, culminating in FF12 in 2006 which requires you to avoid five arbitrary chests throughout the game in order to get a (very low) spawn chance for the ultimate weapon in another arbitrary chest..
2006: Nintendo releases the Wii, reversing the whole trend of increasing complexity.
2008: Nintendo patents ingame walkthroughs.

Also let's not forget that the majority of gamers don't even know what GameFAQs is. Well, maybe not the majority on the HD consoles, they already alienated everyone but the hardcore but the majority overall.

 

[insectoid]

Oh no!

*bows to the internet gods*

Forgive our sins!

 

[Aramax]

The internet would be a better place if there was less competition between everyone. Everyone wants fifteen minutes of glory on the internet but a lot of people dislike the fact that too many attempts are made simultaneously so they resort to insults, threats, intimidation and cyberbullying.

Sure on one part we can understand why so many people finds it frustrating to waste all their time reading/watching pointless content that has low entertaining value but on the other hand it's really sad to see the most promising technology becoming a weapon that destroy the lives of people who are unfit for the internet.

In a way, they asked for it but on the other hand many are taking it way too seriously.

Most people feel that this is the most disturbing issue about the internet and with good motives. Luckily the world is learning fast and the internet is slowly becoming a better place for everyone.

You just need to learn to love the trolls.

=D

 

[olicon]

Handin Thetill. Briliant

Actually, I didn't get that one at all. Care to explain it for me?

First time I see such an outlandish piece on non-fiction issue of Escapist. And I have to say I like it a lot. It would be interesting to see what life would've been like without a lot of things we so take for granted.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Handin Thetill. Briliant

Actually, I didn't get that one at all. Care to explain it for me?

First time I see such an outlandish piece on non-fiction issue of Escapist. And I have to say I like it a lot. It would be interesting to see what life would've been like without a lot of things we so take for granted.

Hand-in the-till

 

[Ghost]

What would we do indeed? Another thing to consider is what would happen if the net stopped tomorrow...

Millions of very white people running and screaming in the streets.

i'd be first, to be quite honest

 

[Fearzone]

Before the internet there was bitnet and usenet and information between gamers transmitted reasonably well on Bulletin Boards. No, not as well, but well enough for everyday purposes usually. Cheat codes were easy to get in this way.

Other than cheat codes for fun, before I had an internet connection there was only one time I had to go look up how to get past a point in a game. There was one puzzle in Riven I just couldn't figure out so I just went to the book store, opened up the strategy guide, put it back on the shelf, and problem solved.

 

[hipster666]

It was a pretty fascinating wasp

so thats all it takes to destroy the world? a fascinating wasp? sweet.

Well China's history was forever changed by a single lightning storm a few centuries ago. Admittedly a bit bigger than a wasp, but you'd be surprised how often a little thing has made a huge impact on the world.

On topic, the internet has never been an evil or even bad thing. It's merely a tool, used by people, reflecting all of their best and worst traits. The biggest thing people have had to deal with is the constant and extreme levels of change in this environment. Within 15 years we went from dialup to fibre connection, from hunt and peck to personalised search engines. The way things work and what we need to learn to use these new things is ever changing and I think a lot of people get stressed out with the regular updates, new versions and latest greatest gadget that will be superfluous within 4 years.

All this furore over DLC, micr-transactions, etc. is no different from a dozen other new things that have been thrust upon the populous. If it doesn't work they will do something else and it won't work if you vote with your virtual feet. Stop being sheep and make a choice.