Using personal experiences to discuss the potential influence of video games.
Sierra; it screams classic PC gaming.
...become a Private Investigator. Crazy, right?
It’s one of those stories that I try to use in order to explain to non-gamers that this medium is more than just a child’s time waster. This is bigger than movies. It has the ability to tell stories in ways that we have barely even tapped yet. It can influence us in ways that movies and books would only hope. I am telling you people, this stuff is exciting.
In my case, it all started out around the age of 11. My older brother had convinced my parents to get him a computer. We had moved to Canada from Poland 3 years earlier and we were really getting settled in. Stuff like computers were not always a luxury you could afford back home. Here was different though. And this was an ancient PC by our standards today; like pre-Pentium stuff. But it was awesome. And as with any self respecting computer user, my brother played games. He played all types of games like space sims, flight sims, strategy and adventure games. The ones that particularly stuck with me were the FMV games. Those always seemed like something special.
The first one I saw my brother playing was Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon. He had borrowed it from a friend. This was before the days of mass CD copying piracy, so I can assure you it was legit. I would try to look over his shoulder as he tried to guide Tex through his adventure in post World War 3 earth. He was talking to mutants, looking for clues, and all of it was “real”. I specifically remember seeing the flash back scene where Tex recalls catching his wife flirting with an upholstery man while he is away. The only thought going through my head then was “OOOOO, grown-up stuff.” I had no idea how ridiculous the whole premise was. There was definitely something very intriguing with the adventures of this gum-shoe. I never got to play the game myself though. I was “too young” to touch the computer. Ppfffttttt.....
