In The Eye of The Beholder
Video games have always amazed me. And ever since I layed my eyes on Rogue Squardon II when the Cube first came out I had to own my own console. Since then I've played pretty much every blockbuster Nintendo has to offer and a hell of a lot of games for my Xbox and Ps2 (before I sold it). And as I grow older and my imagination begins to broaden, video games become alot more interesting. Take Four Swords for example, as a young boy I might enjoy the combat and puzzle solving but never would I begin to marvel at its philosophical genius at work behind the scree; Like how there are four different coloured Links that are all part of one original Link, or from my perspective, everyone is connected through body and mind and we need to work together to overcome challenges in life that would be impossible doing alone. Another way to see something larger than the game is the team work between the four Links and their participation and dedication with the townspeople - to me this is a key element to everyday life and something a great eastern philosopher - known as Cunfucius - was all about. In a nutshell Confucius himself had a simple moral and political teaching; to love others; to honor one's parents; to do what is right instead of what is of advantage; to practice "reciprocity," i.e. "don't do to others what you would not want yourself"; to rule by moral example (dé) instead of by force and violence; and so forth.
Confucius teachings are similar to teachings of Jesus as well, which brings me to another part of Zelda - The Triforce symbol. In Christianity there is the symbol of the Trinity and triangle symbols are generally recognized and used in many different religions. Its also in The Legend of Zelda series; The Triforce is a legendary relic consisting of three triangular fragments, called the Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Wisdom, and the Triforce of Courage. Coincidence? Connection?
Four Swords are always better than one.
The Legend of Zelda is a great example of the larger than life elements found in many Nintendo games, and is probablly the best example. But I've found myself in similar awe when playing games like Pikmin 2. There are many different coloured Pikmin with different abilities, each preforms better than the other in certain areas but there all part of one large body of Pikmin. To me the Pikmin are like humans, we're all very different from one another but we`re also still the same as one another and we`re all part of one larger human body. The Pikmin also trusted their lives with Olimar and were loyal enough to die for his return to his home planet. I saw Olimar as the figure of God, Cosmic Consciousness, The Ultimate Energy, whatever you want to call it. Ah who knows where this one is going. It`s hard for me to put this into words, maybe you understand where I'm coming from or maybe your beginning to think I'm a psycho. Regardless, it goes to support my next point about videogames.
The experience in a video game is not in the actual game, but in the gamer. I loved Pikmin 2 for its sheer amount of fun, and for its quirky metaphorical refrences that get you thinking. Someone reading this might have hated Pikmin 2 - But why? Did they recieve a different copy that absolutely sucked? No. They just didn't get the same experience that I got from it. Or someone might enjoy Zelda as much as I do, but for different reasons. It`s all about the gamer and his perception of the gameworld. Having an open mind is also really helpful when playing games. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular but we all know what a fanboy is, its someone who is missing out on alot of great games because they care more about the mega corporation who made the game than the actual game - and many times they ignore all those small little things in the game that make the experience twice as enjoyable.
Its the small things that make up the big picture. And ultimate respect goes out to those developers who put their personality and small refrences to the metaphysical world into their games. Your work doesn't go unnoticed. Now keep this idea and article flowing, tell us about your unique perspective on your favorite games in our forum topic.
Click here to join the discussion in our message boards!
Confucius teachings are similar to teachings of Jesus as well, which brings me to another part of Zelda - The Triforce symbol. In Christianity there is the symbol of the Trinity and triangle symbols are generally recognized and used in many different religions. Its also in The Legend of Zelda series; The Triforce is a legendary relic consisting of three triangular fragments, called the Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Wisdom, and the Triforce of Courage. Coincidence? Connection?
Four Swords are always better than one.
The Legend of Zelda is a great example of the larger than life elements found in many Nintendo games, and is probablly the best example. But I've found myself in similar awe when playing games like Pikmin 2. There are many different coloured Pikmin with different abilities, each preforms better than the other in certain areas but there all part of one large body of Pikmin. To me the Pikmin are like humans, we're all very different from one another but we`re also still the same as one another and we`re all part of one larger human body. The Pikmin also trusted their lives with Olimar and were loyal enough to die for his return to his home planet. I saw Olimar as the figure of God, Cosmic Consciousness, The Ultimate Energy, whatever you want to call it. Ah who knows where this one is going. It`s hard for me to put this into words, maybe you understand where I'm coming from or maybe your beginning to think I'm a psycho. Regardless, it goes to support my next point about videogames.
The experience in a video game is not in the actual game, but in the gamer. I loved Pikmin 2 for its sheer amount of fun, and for its quirky metaphorical refrences that get you thinking. Someone reading this might have hated Pikmin 2 - But why? Did they recieve a different copy that absolutely sucked? No. They just didn't get the same experience that I got from it. Or someone might enjoy Zelda as much as I do, but for different reasons. It`s all about the gamer and his perception of the gameworld. Having an open mind is also really helpful when playing games. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular but we all know what a fanboy is, its someone who is missing out on alot of great games because they care more about the mega corporation who made the game than the actual game - and many times they ignore all those small little things in the game that make the experience twice as enjoyable.
Its the small things that make up the big picture. And ultimate respect goes out to those developers who put their personality and small refrences to the metaphysical world into their games. Your work doesn't go unnoticed. Now keep this idea and article flowing, tell us about your unique perspective on your favorite games in our forum topic.
Click here to join the discussion in our message boards!