Nostromos wrote:
I think I'm a relatively successful aspie: I've managed to get a college degree, maintain a good physique, keep a good job, have friends, and have had some good relationships with the opposite sex. This is significant to this discussion because I still, after all these years and experiences, cherish my memories of being often lost in the world of video games in my grade school to high school years.
The imagery and music of Monster Party on the NES still brings me back to a place where I was a hero in the world of the dead, free and oblivious to the pain at school and at home. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 was my opium in junior high school, where sexuality became an even more formidable monster than before. My sweetest times hiking in the beautiful mountains, or training hard to meet some goal, still often remind me of how I felt when absorbed in Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 6, and Chrono Trigger on the SNES when in high school. I fear this sounds pathetic to many people, but it is the truth and I think there's lots of people whose experience is similar. Otherwise, why are video games so popular?
I want to know how anyone here thinks how video games have helped them in life. Those from my day were like antidepressants that actually worked: I enjoyed them, but wasn't consumed by them.
i did not have this experience with videogames, but with books.
i still can remember when and where i read them, which character i "inhabited" or the setting i created in my mind.
also, like you, i can remember the way a book used to make me feel - funny sometimes, when i come across the title of a book and i "feel" its atmosphere again, often i have trouble remembering the plot, but i will always remember how a book made me feel, weird!
oh there are a few video games i would like my son to form for the same appreciation as you did for your games.
they are:
ICO
Shadow of the Colossus
The last Guardian
i watched some footage on youtube and found it just entrancing,