DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

HOW A BOOK MADE ME LOVE GAMES EVEN MORE - by Mr Biffo

6/6/2016

48 Comments

 
Picture
The span of my life is littered with novels I've left half-read. I know how many books begin, but not how they end. Reading is hard work and time-consuming. Most other 21st Century entertainment mediums are kind enough to do all the work for you.

​And maybe that's why there are few greater feelings than finishing a good book. Not only do I feel like I've achieved something, but it's so much more personal than a video game, movie or TV show. What you see in your mind's eye when you read a book is a collaboration between you and the writer. In that respect, no two people will ever have the precise same experience with a novel.

I've read three novels and a travel book over the past month, a feat I've not managed in years, and yes, I would like a medal, thanks.

One of the novels made me feel wretched about humanity. And one of them made me feel optimistic about humanity. More than that, the latter made fall in love all over again with video games.
Picture
FILTHY POPCORN
So, I thought I'd read The Girl on the Train, which I'd heard about before I knew it was being made into a movie.

As someone who spent too much of their life commuting into London, I was intrigued by the premise: a girl on a train (yes yes...) gets embroiled in a mystery after becoming obsessed with something she sees through the window on her morning commute.

It's a decent set-up, but the body of the book is pure popcorn, in the worst sense; lacking any nutritional value, yet compelling me to keep consuming it until the tub is empty.

Afterwards I was annoyed - nay, angry - at my lack of restraint, my inability to stop stuffing the stale snack into my gob, even though it wasn't doing me any good.

For a start, it's horribly middle class. I kept seeing beyond the text to the author sat there with an open bottle of wine, pouring her life onto the page, scarcely bothering to disguise it or add anything approaching imagination as she hammered tipsily at the keyboard.

Everyone drinks wine. Somebody had a job at an art gallery. The men are all gorgeous, but one of them - tah-wi-iiiiiist - is a secret bastard. Infidelity is a way of life. The protagonist is a train wreck, and all the women she meets are blonde bombshells... but it's okay, because they're actually messed-up too. "Ha ha! Take that, every bitch I ever met! Being pretty never made you happy, did it?!"

​And the mystery is about as bland and obvious as it could've been - and only comes to light because the alcoholic protagonist suddenly and conveniently remembers something she'd previously forgotten.

I hated it. And hated myself for reading it all the way to the end. It's a big, dumb, hollow, wretched, turd of a book. So of course Hollywood bought the rights.

AND THEN WHAT?
And then I read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. Spielberg is already working on the movie. It's described on the cover as "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory meets The Matrix", and I wouldn't argue with that.

Set in a dystopian future, the world is hooked on the Oasis - a virtual playground in which everyone is trying to solve a puzzle placed inside by the man who built it.

It's a shameless blast of nostalgia - in the world of the novel, society has become obsessed with 1980s pop culture, in a bid to decipher the clues left by the game's similarly preoccupied creator. From visits to virtual recreations of the movies War Games and Blade Runner, to old arcade games and consoles, and a remarkable tribute to the band Rush, rarely a paragraph goes by without reference to some slice of 80s entertainment.

Like The Girl on the Train, it's popcorn - but it's fresh popcorn with melted butter, and afterwards, instead of feeling terrible, I wanted more. 
Picture
HAPTIC-TAC-TOE
We're not so far off of the world described in Ready Player One.

We've already got the entirety of popular culture at our fingertips... we're just not all accessing it while wearing VR headsets and haptic feedback suits. At least, not yet.

Whenever the book mentioned an old video game, I went online to play it. Whether it was Joust or Black Tiger, they were only ever a few seconds away.

​And weirder still, the second I finished the book, I fired up my PS4, and returned to some of the virtual worlds I hadn't visited in months. Specifically, The Witcher III and Far Cry Primal.

I saw them differently. I saw their potential. More than that, I saw how utterly, brilliantly, cool it is that our games now offer these massive, open, environments. Imagine where we're going to be in ten years time? I want all these games to be linked, like they are in Ready Player One. I want to be able to get into my Battlefront X-Wing and fly to Azeroth, via a perfect facsimile of a grotty seaside arcade.

Like most of you, I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and I've seen games evolve to the point we're at today. When I was a kid, I could never have conceived of a time when games would be THIS good. When they'd offer so much. Ready Player One's greatest success was in grabbing me and reminding me of just what we, as gamers, now have - and what we're going to have in the years to come.

Picture
CAUTIONFAIRY TALE
At the same time, Ready Player One is a cautionary tale.

Already, so many of us are lost online, or in places that don't exist in any physical sense, where we can be whomever we want. That's only going to get worse as our virtual worlds get better.

I still think there are many barriers to VR - the strongest of which is that the real world is, well, more real. I can't imagine anyone who doesn't live alone ever using it regularly.

​But the day will come when immersing ourselves in a virtual world will offer experiences that feel sufficiently real - albeit without all the stresses and hassles of reality. And with the ability to fly around in spaceships. When that happens, what will happen to society?

There's a little of that message in Ready Player One, but the focus is mostly a full-on celebration of geek culture - particularly for geeks of a certain vintage. And it celebrates it so well, that it made me thankful for not only where we're at, but how we got here. That I was alive, and lived through, arguably the most exciting 30 years in entertainment history.

Comparing The Girl on the Train and Ready Player One side-by-side, one of them couldn't have felt more removed from my life, and the other felt as if it could've been written for me.

More pertinently, the former felt like the one which didn't get the world as it now is. It felt stuck in the past, a cul-de-sac cluttered with a herd of oblivious, wine-drinking, middle-class professionals, who got lost on their way to the art gallery or a dinner party, while play-acting at being adults.

​The sorts of people who'd read The Girl on the Train and then post about it on Facebook or Goodreads, saying it was the best book they'd ever read. People who live in a world that is no more real than Rapture, Hyrule or the Mushroom Kingdom.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
BLESSED ARE THE GEEKS - BY MR BIFFO
AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES BY MR BIFFO
THE POWER OF NOWSTALGIA by Mr Biffo


48 Comments
Chris
6/6/2016 12:33:52 pm

It is a really good read, but the movie is going to suck I fear.

Reply
PhilWal
6/6/2016 12:53:30 pm

I read RP1 as part of my book group last year, and just finished Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre, which feels an awful lot like a British take at the same general concept, but with a bit more of a focus on the consequences of digital consciousness.

Also, it has a Jet Set Willy bit in it.

Reply
Mr Biffo
6/6/2016 12:55:35 pm

Cheers for that tip-off, Phil. I'll be getting that, I think.

Reply
Picston Shottle
6/6/2016 04:13:41 pm

Seconded. Bedlam is a great read. Chris Brookmyre hasn't written a bad book yet.

He's actually a follower of yours on twitter, Biffo. I did one of them Follow Friday things and he added you. Whether or not he reads Digi2000 or not, I have no idea. Buuuuut! interviewing him would make a good read, if you could work your media magic and set it up. He's a serious gamer, as will become clear once you read Bedlam (which was also turned into a game which he had a hand in writing).

Wicked Eric
7/6/2016 08:56:14 am

Brookmyre's book Pandaemonium is also a loose adaptation of Doom, relocated to the Scottish highlands with a bunch of randy catholic schoolchildren as the protagonists.

Unfortunately it's not as good as it sounds and gets a bit bogged down by the author's own voice coming through the characters a bit too obviously.

His book A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away is also riddled with video game references, mainly the original Quake and Half Life games.

Fryguy64
6/6/2016 01:17:32 pm

I read Ready Player One last year and had the same problem with it you had with Girl On a Train - I could picture the author, surrounded by his retro collection, trying to imagine a (silly) scenario whereby his geekery could be used to save the world. Laughable dialogue and daft plot - and yet the gaming nostalgia made me warm and fuzzy. I felt inspired and also manipulated. Weird book for sure!

Reply
Harry Steele
6/6/2016 02:39:36 pm

Same here! It's an absolute page-turner and I enjoyed RPO tremendously, even as I sensed I was reading a traditional hero's journey with lashings of 'you get this reference, don't you?'

If I had been in the mood for something more sophisticated it might have put me right off, but as it stands it is just as Biffo says: top-tier popcorn entertainment!

Reply
Damon
6/6/2016 02:17:56 pm

I'm actually in the middle of ready player one right now.

Also re-reading the unbearable lightness of being.

Reply
SweetMrGibs
6/6/2016 03:33:22 pm

I blazed through Ready Player One a few years ago and loved it. I picked up Ernest Cline's latest novel, Armada, but have yet to read it as reviews were... not pretty.

Reply
Retro Resolution link
6/6/2016 05:53:59 pm

Ready Player One was an engrossing page turner.

In utter contrast, Armarda was a test oif my resolution - I managed to read to the end, but barely.

Bitterly disappointed, but Cline had used up so many ideas and references in his debut that it was, I suppose, inevitable. He seems a great, genuine guy - he's in the Atari: Game Overdocumentary driving his DeLorean...

Reply
CdrJameson
7/6/2016 08:03:23 pm

Armada made me question my own judgement about whether Ready Player One (which I like a lot) was actually any good or not.

It seems to have that Highlander 2 quality of retrospectively making what went before seem worse.

I really would rather have not read it, and I recommend you don't.

(Hey! My Amazon review is still there...

You know that story you wrote when you were 8-12 about video games being real?

Well, here it is!

Only longer.


Still, the cover's nice.

...I was also over-generous at 3 stars. In retrospect, 2 at most)

Anton Gully
23/6/2016 12:47:45 pm

I'd classify RPC as one of the most-entertaining, badly-written books I've ever read. I enjoyed every minute of it, but the plot and characters were tissue thin.

Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson is an interesting, if not entirely successful, book about video games, and culture.

A guy, fed up developing dreary pony games for girls, makes contact with aliens and becomes Earth's ambassador, getting to delve through millions of years of alien culture by examining the video games they've made. Kinda dry, but "thought-provoking.

Reply
Retro Resolution link
6/6/2016 05:55:55 pm

Please Mr. B, please can we have an edit option for comments. We'll be ever so good...

Reply
Mr Biffo
6/6/2016 06:34:14 pm

I don't know how to do that!

Reply
Retro Resolution link
6/6/2016 07:41:01 pm

Depends on what you've got powering Digi on your back-end, so to speak!
No problem, I'll just have to be more careful proof-reading.

Mr Biffo
6/6/2016 10:04:45 pm

I think called "Weebly".

Mr Biffo
6/6/2016 10:05:13 pm

Or, indeed, a "thing" called Weebly. That's why we need an edit button.

Darren Lock link
6/6/2016 08:21:01 pm

Books are for dweebs...

Reply
Mr Biffo
6/6/2016 08:29:54 pm

Says the prog fan...

Reply
Dave
6/6/2016 10:44:36 pm

If you've the stomach for anime, I might recommend "Sword Art Online" to you. (The first 15 episodes of the first series, at least. After that, YMMV.) It's on a similar general theme to RPO, but with more of a focus on survival, and the minutiae of the MMORPG genre.

Also, "Log Horizon" is quite fun, too. Less of an all-out adventure, and more of a take on the theme of society-building in a virtual space.

Reply
CdrJameson
7/6/2016 10:30:11 pm

"Log Horizon" is my new favourite euphemism.

Reply
Guppeth
7/6/2016 01:43:26 pm

I still think there are many barriers to books - the strongest of which is that the real world is, well, more real. I can't imagine anyone who doesn't live alone ever using them regularly.

Reply
Stuart
7/6/2016 05:19:42 pm

A friend recommended Ready Player one, and after reading your synopsis, I am now psyched to borrow their copy!

The other week I just finished Death By Videogame, by Simon Parkin, which is definitely worth a read. The title makes it sound reactionary, and while it does delve into the issues surrounding addiction and Internet cafe deaths, it's more an exploration of the good games can do, and how they can meet our emotional and psychological needs. It really should be called Life By Videogame, or something!

Reply
Paul Shinn link
8/6/2016 09:19:01 pm

I actually picked this book up from the library the other day and was going to start reading it tomorrow on my way to work. Looking forward to it now!

Reply
arsenal players in england squad link
6/8/2016 07:33:15 am

These won’t comfort you like hell, but atleast they can steal the show for your little time.

Reply
online casino link
6/9/2017 07:36:08 am

The Internet brought more than a lot than what it was predicted. Who would have thought the traditional brick and mortar casinos would leap online and conquer the Internet? Generally, online casinos, also known as virtual casinos, offer odds and paycheck percentages comparable to real-life casinos......

Reply
Play At Monopoly Casino link
21/9/2017 04:12:10 pm

Over the years, the popularity of online casinos has soared. Instead of dressing up and driving to the nearest casino in your area, you can play the casino game of your choice right in the comfort of your own home.

Reply
IGGGames link
27/9/2017 03:25:06 pm

One Night You are Crazy Download PC Game is a direct link for windows and torrent.

Reply
Monster Legends Mod Apk link
22/10/2017 12:01:24 pm

Description. Breed, raise and battle the ultimate monster fighting force and lead them to victory asMonster Legends! Legendary monsters are waiting.

Reply
Csgo accounts link
20/1/2018 12:22:28 pm

There is a myth among some people that video games are not 'healthy' for kids, but let's assure you that it is not really the case. As a matter of fact, online games can be rather healthy and beneficial to them, provided that they are enjoyed with certain guidelines. Moreover, family members can also get involved, and enjoy gaming together.

Reply
shopcsgoaccount link
1/10/2018 11:45:38 am

Nice article. thanks for sharing the article.<a href="https://shopcsgoaccounts.com/">csgo smurf</a>.

Reply
shopcsgoaccount link
12/11/2018 05:29:13 am

Nice article. Thanks for sharing the article. <a href="https://shopcsgoaccounts.com/">cheap csgo accounts</a>.

Reply
Csgo accounts link
21/11/2018 10:42:47 am

I agree! Today's generation is just lost up in Virtual world as it seems to be a better world as a whole. Real life sucks as compare to virtual world and this has led to increased number of people getting depressed and killing themself. THIS MUST STOP!

Reply
sky link
22/12/2018 11:32:34 pm

nice article thanks for sharing you can check out csgo smurf accounts here!

Reply
Cyber Sandy link
27/3/2019 02:28:18 pm

Life without video game is boring, specially for teenagers. Virtual life is gaining popularity more than real life.

Reply
Csgoaccounts link
14/1/2020 06:25:36 pm

csgo-accounts provides best csgo accounts online, we made it easy for every csgo player to get cheap csgo accounts, buy csgo prime accounts from csgo-accounts.com with 100% safe delivery and checkout. Its the best csgo prime accounts website out there you can find which provided csgo silver accounts, csgo global elite accounts, buy csgo now and start playing prime matchmaking with no cheaters. Csgo ranked accounts are the cheapest on our website. Buy csgo prime now and start playing csgo today. Buy csgo smurfs and start smurfing with silver csgo accounts or global elite csgo accounts



buy csgo prime,buy csgo ranked accounts,buy csgo accounts,cheap csgo accounts,buy cheap csgo accounts,csgo prime accounts,csgo smurf accounts,csgo smurfs,buy csgo smurfs,buy csgo smurf accounts,csgo mg accounts,csgo silver accounts,csgo gold nova accounts, cheap csgo prime accounts,cheap csgo ranked accounts



Best website out there to buy csgo prime

Reply
918kiss link
10/7/2020 01:09:25 pm

If you are starting to enjoy casino games, then you should make sure that you are using the right website like 918kiss.

Reply
Malaysia Casino Slots Machines link
11/7/2020 09:54:10 am

We uw88e Malaysia online casino gives wide range of Malaysia Casino Slots Machines Play & Win Jackpots, Real money now.

Reply
Online Casino Slots Singapore link
11/7/2020 01:04:02 pm

Thanks for the post

Reply
Sportsbook Singapore link
13/7/2020 08:48:43 am

Thanks

Reply
Elive668 link
31/5/2021 10:43:42 am

Thanks for sharing this post. This post is really very interesting.
<a href="https://www.elive668.com/home/default.aspx"> Trusted Online Casino Malaysia 2021</a>
<a href="https://www.elive668.com/home/livecasinos.aspx"> Live Casino Games Online Malaysia</a>
<a href="https://www.elive668.com/home/promotions.aspx"> Online Casino Malaysia Promotion</a>
<a href="https://www.elive668.com/home/slots.aspx"> Mega888 Login</a>

Reply
nick02 link
18/12/2021 11:45:59 am

Here at Buy Prime Account, buy in the safest and most affordable way possible <a href="https://www.buyprimeaccount.com/">CSGO Prime accounts</a>
<a href="https://www.buyprimeaccount.com/product-category/csgo-high-tier-accounts">CSGO Cheap high tier accounts</a> at best price

Reply
Will link
6/2/2022 11:28:58 pm

Where to Buy CSGO Prime Accounts?.
Buy CSGO Prime Account online for an affordable price and start your quality CSGO career. This gives you an excellent possibility of moving ahead in the game. You can select accounts that are at different ranks, that have miscellaneous kinds of skin, those with the most success ratio, and substantially more. It is very much like glancing for your patronage CSGO Service Medal account.

You can get the new accounts as per your choice, and once you finalize the account, you will be encouraged to make the payment by sending the account details to your email id. It is 100% safe and secure. Once you make the payment, your gaming career will start in Counter-Strike, and you will reach a new higher level.

Firstly, A Prime ranked Account of CSGO is one that has already completed hours of play. It is the one that has covered so much activity and surpassed a long winning streak. Secondly, all you need to do is buy the account from our marketplace and start gaming.

The conclusion is that buying an account will save a lot of time and lots of energy. You will also get the higher rank teammates who are like experienced players, and playing along with them makes the day perfect. So, For this, you need to spend a few dollars and grab a CSGO that will help you cross all those hackers and cheaters and help you play the game with a lot of enjoyment & Fair.


https://www.buyprimeaccount.com/

Reply
Will Bing link
24/2/2022 10:51:05 pm

Where to Buy CSGO Prime Accounts?.
Buy CSGO Prime Account online for an affordable price and start your quality CSGO career. This gives you an excellent possibility of moving ahead in the game. You can select accounts that are at different ranks, that have miscellaneous kinds of skin, those with the most success ratio, and substantially more. It is very much like glancing for your patronage CSGO Service Medal account.

You can get the new accounts as per your choice, and once you finalize the account, you will be encouraged to make the payment by sending the account details to your email id. It is 100% safe and secure. Once you make the payment, your gaming career will start in Counter-Strike, and you will reach a new higher level.

Firstly, A Prime ranked Account of CSGO is one that has already completed hours of play. It is the one that has covered so much activity and surpassed a long winning streak. Secondly, all you need to do is buy the account from our marketplace and start gaming.

The conclusion is that buying a csgo ranked account will save a lot of time and lots of energy. You will also get the higher rank teammates who are like experienced players, and playing along with them makes the day perfect. So, For this, you need to spend a few dollars and grab a CSGO that will help you cross all those hackers and cheaters and help you play the game with a lot of enjoyment & Fair.


https://www.buyprimeaccount.com/

Reply
william007
31/3/2022 01:09:10 pm

It's an excellent enhancement to your game and prices hardly anything, You are planning a weekend Counter-Strike: Global Offensive marathon or looking for the exclusive things with a <a href="https://myownrank.com/">Buy CSGO Accounts</a> , You get full features
graphics to super-interesting setup, the game is all a gamer could ask for. But to experience more significant matchmaking within the game, and to take full benefit of all its features,you will need to get a <a href="https://myownrank.com/13-csgo-prime-accounts">Buy CSGO Prime Accounts</a>

Reply
kiaslot2indonesia link
5/8/2022 11:03:43 am

Play now Situs Slot Online Terbaik 2022,Bandar Slot Bonus New Member 100,Judi Slot,Slot Online,Bandar Slot,Slot,Agen Slot,Bandar Slot 99,Bandar Slot 4d

Reply
gffgh tyfd link
8/9/2022 08:54:23 am

Valorant is the following big thing in competitive FPS gaming. Everyone believed that it’ll make a blemish on the esports scene,<a href="https://www.buyvalorants.com/">Cheap Valorant Smurf Account!</a>to the point that there are already groups and franchises forming Valorant teams even when the game was still in beta!

Reply
berry link
19/1/2023 02:22:38 pm

Nice blog!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ