Arthur and I have been playing a lot of Burnout Dominator recently. V good game. In my usual inept driving game style, my thumb has been firmly on the X the whole time. Really pressing down hard, inducing thumb-ache. Which is of course pointless; you don't go faster by pressing harder. But you can't help it, it illustrates how persuasive the whole experience is to your brain, it's really hard not to press hard, hunch forward, screw up your face, the whole time.
Which made me wonder if Burnout Dominator might therefore be a good training tool for buddhist monks and those who wish to demonstrate control over their emotions and their bodies. If you can drive really hard and fast in Burnout Dominator and keep the pressure light then you've got some kind of zenfoo PS2 detachment from the real world mastery.
Pressing buttons too hard. Aaah the memories.
When I go back up home now to the amazingly beautiful seaside drug spot of Seaton Carew, I see young lads playing on the same Tuppenny Nudgers I used to play on (top prize of £1.60), playing in the same way I used to play them.
How to spot an amateur:
Presses the buttons in a random manner - timing, pressure and displacement of force all unconsidered.
Stance is normal.
When there's a random flashing thing, the select button is pressed randomly.
No baseball cap.
How to spot a Pro:
Presses the button with such a forced finesse, that he sometimes misses the actual button itself as he's trying to strike the button by hitting the slightest edge with the least amount of pressure possible.
One foot is always pressed against the baseplate - and it's usually a Reebok Classic.
When there's a random flashy thing, one hand is placed over the random flashing things as if to try and prove that seeing the random lights give you more chance of losing the computer controlled randomness.
A baseball cap is present 96.3% of the time.
Posted by: Mark Hadfield | April 22, 2008 at 09:46 AM