Sunday, January 17, 2010

Quotation of the day for January 17, 2010

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Quotation of the Day for January 17, 2010



Computer games began, for me, in 1982. Which was precisely the right moment. I was seven, we'd had a Sinclair Spectrum for a month or two and into my life came The Hobbit text adventure game. My dad brought it home. "Look!" he said, "it comes with a copy of the book!"

The game was hard: sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating. Commands had to be typed in using painfully simple English. Go west. Look. Examine Gandalf. We were simultaneously amazed by what the programme understood - and astounded by what it didn't. Question Gandalf. No. Threaten Gandalf. No. Angrily demand answers from Gandalf. No. In desperation, my dad typed: "Cut off Gandalf's ear." The game understood that. We were very impressed. We had discovered computer-game violence. Gandalf killed us.

- Naomi Alderman, The Guardian, 7 January 2010.

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/jan/06/game-theory-player-naomi-alderman]

Submitted by: Jean Rogers
Jan. 14, 2010

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