Verb + Noun = Scary Beary

I happen to be an avid video gamer in my precious spare time. I've found I rather miss the story lines of RPGs, the mindless action games, and seeing just how much money I can get for racing on the edge. It's strange for me to think a few key people, like Scott Adams, actually laid the foundation for the very games that we enjoy today. A lot of little computer programming goes a long way after all.

Everything is based on the way in which we communicate, so why wouldn't games start out as text based? When I was a middle schooler, I took day-summer courses at IUP. I can still clearly remember the text based games that we played around with in a class. Technology continues to advance, but I still like those golden oldies.

I almost hate to type it, but I tend to become pretty addicted to problem solving games. I just have to go back again and again to see of I get different choices (or if I happen to die!). I greatly admire Adams though for his ability to recognize what the users were searching for or using and then incorporate it into the game. While it may be that your eyes can get screwy after staring at a computer screen for so long, games where you are given options and forced to make decisions can be a great allegory for life if need be.

We all have to walk some path that eventually forks and read signs that give us only what we need to know right now.

No matter what you do, there are always somethings that are seem so simple that they're almost ingenious! This bear problem is a prime example. People are probably apt to take the most direct approach: kill the bear. However, by eliminating that as an option, Adams essentially forced the gamer to think outside the box. I mean, who in real life would start yelling or screaming at a bear to try and make it go away. Then again, some users tried plying this wild animal with honey and I know I wouldn't do that! I suppose the option "Play dead." wasn't on the menu. Anyways, this just goes to show that something doesn't have to have flashy graphics and be detached from a PC to make you boot up your brain (though they can certainly wow you).