Making the "Right" Choice in Paperboy and Beyond

Malfy

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Jul 16, 2010
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I just had a thought of the paperboy throwing his papers thought neighborhood windows, with the front page containing a story on how much of an ass the paperboy is.

I'm always interested in modern games that have "be a dick" options in them, never thought many retro games could have those options as well outside of "kill everything".
 

tilmoph

Gone Gonzo
Jun 11, 2013
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Good intro article, Lizzy. Neat way to look at Paperboy. Weirdly enough, I've never played it, despite it being a classic.
 

R.K. Meades

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Oct 1, 2014
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StreamerDarkly said:
Moral dilemmas and the ability to exercise free will in video games are all well and good, but the real question is how you managed to recover from the gut punch of misogyny of not being to play as a Papergirl?
From the note situated directly underneath the article: "Paperboy 2 offered the additional choice of playing as Papergirl."
 

thoughtwrangler

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Sep 29, 2014
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There's all sorts of ways to look at morality choice in games.

While we all (myself included) rage against the black-and-white morality in many games and see them (very reasonably) as offering only illusions of choice, they are representative of how society perceives and rewards behaviors. You can either be by the book, or you can be a maverick, but games like Mass Effect take the view that it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you're consistent someone will respect you. Cynical, but we can certainly relate to politicians and business persons who appear to be dead wrong about so many issues, but from adhering to a consistent set of principles, earn a following.

A game like Paperboy is interesting though because it penalizes for doing some "wrong" actions, but allows you to carry out others with reckless abandon. It's a very selective morality wherein your only compass of "wrong" is what someone tells you not to do.

On the other hand, doing everything "right" is a self-imposed challenge that in the end will probably only matter to you. Likely no one will notice it, and the only thing you'll gain from it is a feeling of satisfaction.

And before we get into "reading too deeply", I don't care if it's navel gazing. The right navel can be a great place to gaze.

Especially when you're waiting for the end-of-shift whistle to blow at work.
 

Lazule

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Oct 11, 2013
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Glad you already started Liz about time! Welcome to the Escapist, I'm looking forward to your content! ^^
 

Willy Rogers

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Aug 20, 2014
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Wow, that was an interesting article. On that note, welcome to the escapist Liz, looking forward to more of your articles! On that note for a great moral dilemma game that I mentioned on another thread, you should try DEFCON. It's cheap, not very graphics intensive, hella fun, and makes you think about the cognitive dissonance necessary to push the button! :D