Magnavox Trigger Happy Manuel D’Utilisation

 

Trigger Happy 

378 

Terry Pratchett, the videogame-loving author of the 
Discworld novels (whose universe, like that of a good 
videogame, is bizarre but consistent), explained to me 
just why he enjoys games in these terms: “For me, it’s 
the fun of exploration, and new challenges. I like the 
big-screen feel of the Tomb Raider series and, for 
example, Half-Life . . . I like hidden areas, secret 
rooms, non-player characters who can help you. This 
gives you a real sense of involvement. What impressed 
me about Tomb Raider was the breadth of the scenery, 
and the . . . claustrophobia, the sense that you were 
really there.” And what does he want from the 
videogames of the future? Simple, really. “Give me the 
speargun, the revolver and the shotgun, and turn me 
loose on an unknown world.” But it’s much better when 
there are plenty more things to do in a videogame than 
just spraying bullets around. Pratchett agrees: “That’s 
what I liked about Tomb Raider—it wasn’t defined by 
shooting.” 

Yet particularly in first-person games, there is still 

room for massive symbolic improvement. Interesting 
steps have been made recently by games such as 
Rainbow Six or Hidden and Dangerous, where the