Most of us have probably seen The Matrix. Some may even have seen it's sequels (yes, they do exist, stop pretending they don't. They exist just as much as Twilight or the Star Wars prequels, no amount of head-burying and la-la-la-ing will change that...). And so of course, we know about the virtual reality construct that is the Matrix itself.
I was just thinking, after posting something similar in another thread, about something I've long considered now. We've all seen the countless threads about what we would do in certain situations, if we play as good or evil in games, how we would survive the zombie apocalypse, and so on. Well, what if we could actually take part in these? What if the choices we make in a game were real ecisions, what if we were really fighting against the zombie hordes, or defending Earth from the alien onslaught, or finding the last feathers on the rooftops of Rennaisance Florence?
Imagine then, that virtual reality constructs have been developed, similar to the Matrix. Although without the plugs in your head, rather, it's like a cryo-chamber but without the freezing (think of the same sort of thing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, if you've seen that). Assume that there are all sorts of safety features, so dying or injuries in-game don't affect you in real life, but you still feel what your character would feel in that situation. Also assume that games and technolog have been developed to the point where the virtual world interacts seamlessly as if it were real, for example, games take place in real-time and events in one place directly affect other parts and places, instead of everything being scripted (we're nowhere near that level of technology yet, but this is all hypothetical anyway).
In that case, with a fully realistic environment and safety features implemented, what would you do in a virtual reality game? What types of game would you want to play like this, and what would be your thoughts on the whole concept?
And while we're at it, what would you think if the technology could be extended so you could effectively take part in, and even change the plot and events of, you favourite books, TV shows and films? Assuming they were back to their original state afterwards...?
I was just thinking, after posting something similar in another thread, about something I've long considered now. We've all seen the countless threads about what we would do in certain situations, if we play as good or evil in games, how we would survive the zombie apocalypse, and so on. Well, what if we could actually take part in these? What if the choices we make in a game were real ecisions, what if we were really fighting against the zombie hordes, or defending Earth from the alien onslaught, or finding the last feathers on the rooftops of Rennaisance Florence?
Imagine then, that virtual reality constructs have been developed, similar to the Matrix. Although without the plugs in your head, rather, it's like a cryo-chamber but without the freezing (think of the same sort of thing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, if you've seen that). Assume that there are all sorts of safety features, so dying or injuries in-game don't affect you in real life, but you still feel what your character would feel in that situation. Also assume that games and technolog have been developed to the point where the virtual world interacts seamlessly as if it were real, for example, games take place in real-time and events in one place directly affect other parts and places, instead of everything being scripted (we're nowhere near that level of technology yet, but this is all hypothetical anyway).
In that case, with a fully realistic environment and safety features implemented, what would you do in a virtual reality game? What types of game would you want to play like this, and what would be your thoughts on the whole concept?
And while we're at it, what would you think if the technology could be extended so you could effectively take part in, and even change the plot and events of, you favourite books, TV shows and films? Assuming they were back to their original state afterwards...?
