This post is by guest blogger Unlockable Character.
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Categories: Rant
Tags: atari
Tom: proud to be an 8-bit man.I’ve never given a crap about finishing anything. I don’t finish books. I don’t finish games. I get up in the middle of TV programs and do something else. In the middle of something else, I fall asleep.
You could argue that philosophically, I finish everything because at some point I stop doing it. But I didn’t say I don’t finish; I just said I don’t give a crap about it.
Just like computer games. At some point, I stop playing. Maybe I become too cool for the game, like the game shows me what it has, does its little dance, but I grow beyond it and become bored.
That would be an awesome excuse for quitting. I would look at my computer and complain at its banality. And then I would smoke a clove cigarette and adjust my beret.
I think that’s why I loved the game Rogue. I played it on my Atari ST, which I’ve read is the worst version of the game, ever. But I loved it. For a game from 1986, it was beautiful. Who cares if it was impossible to win, that made it more like life. Every level was randomly generated and creatures appeared out of nowhere. In the Atari version, you could only see the rooms you had visited and danger could spring from any corner. Scrolls and potions eluded understanding. At some point in the game a random event would happen and you would die, and nobody was ever going to appear to help save your ass.
It was a lifetime of Zen wisdom loaded on a 3 1/2 in. floppy. You’re going along happy as a clam, and WHAM, you’re killed by a quagga.
I loved that it was impossible to finish. Not finishing was built in to the game. So not giving a crap about not finishing was literally the only answer to the faq:
Q: How do I defeat the dragon?
A: Don’t give a crap about defeating the dragon.
Q: How can I…
A: Stop giving a crap. You’re gonna die anyway.
I love the freedom of a futile struggle. When nothing matters, then death is just something else unfinished. And why should I give a crap about that.
I’ve never given a crap about finishing anything and I