I have probably completed the 20 required hours just through trying to get it set up. None of the PS2 memory cards are saving; before that, the different versions that various people installed on my laptop have not worked. Everybody that I approach for help has a different solution that does not work in the end.
I am frustrated.
I want to quit.
I have been thinking about McGonigal's claims that gamers like to fail. I did not agree with her at all, at first. I have never enjoyed failing anything. When I do fail something, I redo it not because I enjoyed failing it or because I am optimistic about getting it right this time, but because I want to get it right and out of the way.
However, McGonigal quotes some interesting research. "It's only fun to fail if the game is fair – and you had every chance of success" (67).
Well, Final Fantasy has not given me a fair chance to fail. Everything that is keeping me from success with the game is completely out of my control. I can't make the memory cards work or deal with any of the technical things because I just do not know how.Failure is really only ever overwhelming when you cannot control what is going on. So, when I die time and time and time . . . and time again in WoW, it's alright because I just have to endure the usually brief inconvenience of having to run to my body before I am back in control, slaying left and right with my righteous vengeance.
Granted, I guess it is not Final Fantasy's fault.
But it is my scapegoat because I am tired of playing the same beginning over and over again with new memory cards, hoping that they work.
I haven't thrown anything yet (and I don't plan on it) but I am already feeling sorry for the Gamestop guy who is going to have to figure this out for me.
Awe, don't quit. It's times like this that I really hate technology. They make people spend all this money for crap that doesn't work half the time. And I agree that failing in this sense doesn't feel awesome. But I think what she ment was that people like to fail in game because then it gives them the chance to try new methods or shows them that the game is a bit difficult. I know a lot of gamers who get really mad when a game is too easy. We all liked to be challenged in a way. If I spent 60 bucks on a game that I could beat in a day, then I'd beat the game into a wall. Plus, gamers like to brag about "getting achievements" or "getting through a difficult mission right away". It makes it exciting. Ps2 is crappy and always has been because memory cards are a pain. Next time, try to get it on Xbox. So much easier.
ReplyDelete> Ps2 is crappy and always has been because memory cards are a pain. Next time, try to get it on Xbox. So much easier.
DeleteSurely you jest. PS2 has far more games than the XBox, and probably the XBox 360 as well. Despite having the least powerful hardware of its generation, it was able to destroy the competition through reliable hardware and an API that didn't make the game programmers want to kill themselves. Also, some of the best games in the past decade were PS2 exclusives (Metal Gear Solid 2/3, all of the main Final Fantasy games of that generation, the Jak and Daxter series, the Ratchet and Clank series, etc). Plus the PS2's library has far more variety than Xbox/360, which is pretty much just FPS and gritty, dark Action-RPGs with blood all over the place.
And if "memory cards are a pain" then you have issues. It's not that hard to find/purchase quality cards, and if you run out of space because you play SO MANY GAMES or whatever, then just buy a new one. If you can't remember what's stored where, start labeling the things, and set up a logical system to organize your files.
> It's times like this that I really hate technology.
Every time I hear someone say this, I hate humanity a little more. Really, you hate technology? So you hate computers? You hate your cell phone? You hate television/radio? You hate canned food that remains fresh? You hate treatments for illnesses that would have killed your ancestors? You hate running water? You hate fire? Because this is what you're saying when you proclaim that you hate technology.
If anything, you should say you hate poorly designed technology. You hate when engineers make bad decisions. You hate when corporate big-whigs try to do the engineers' jobs because they think it'll net them some more cash. Shit like planned obsolescence, or RRoD's, or weak lasers in your disk drives, this is what you should hate. These are things that ruin industries and make technology frustrating. Not memory cards that don't work because you didn't RTFM.
Megan - That makes sense about the failing. In my case, I think it just boils down to the fact that I am not a gamer. Like, at all. I really just want to get through the game. I enjoy it, but I get tired of it pretty quickly.
DeleteMatt - Haha! About 99% of that went over my head, anyway. But, I can appreciate what Megan says about hating technology. I think that the phrase is an appropriate response to overwhelming moments of frustration. And, in those moments, (if you are anything like me), you honestly do hate every single piece of technology that has ever given you trouble. Do you really mean it? No. But, that's just a natural response to anger.
DeleteSarah, I feel the same way. After not being able to save after about 6 hrs of gameplay was discouraging and it made me hate the game before I got really started. I think both of us have the same mind set when it comes to failing. I hate to fail and this class has taught me how to handle failure is a positive way. I think the fact that our grade is not determined by our failure in game, just our failure at trying. I also think that WoW has a different concept of failure. You never have to restart completely or repeat things. If you can't do something you can abandon it and if you don't, the experience and quest is never exactly the same
ReplyDelete"If you can't do something you can abandon it and if you don't, the experience and quest is never exactly the same"
DeleteI really like your observation that our experiences/quests have different results based on our own decisions and actions. I've never thought about it like that.