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A Little Bit Wrong, a Little Bit Right
By Corvus | December 6, 2007
The following video has been making the rounds, proving once again that traditional media has very little idea how videogames work. I have no idea what show this scene is from.*
So, ignoring the gamer cliche and the technical implausibility…
Not only did they cast a woman as the expert player, but everyone in that office was completely absorbed by Prince of Persia as she played. In fact, they looked a little disappointed when reaching “level 10″ unlocked the spreadsheet. So, while they got many of the particulars wrong, they did manage to convey that games aren’t naturally a gender biased experience and that they provide a compelling narrative experience.
Good for them.
*Nor do I really care.
Tagged:games in media. | 5 Comments »
December 6th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Life. Excellent TV show. Video games and MMOs have shown up all over TV this season. At least 5 or 6, probably more since I don’t watch everything.
December 6th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
The cutest part about this episode is that the guest characters were originally from Iran. Get the joke?
December 6th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I do get the joke. That gives rise to two questions:
1) By “guest characters” do you mean villains?
2) Think that was intentional on the part of the writers?
December 10th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I don’t think that the writers knew which game would be used for the sequence. The script refers to stuff that isn’t in that game (like numbered levels) and in the bit where the guy is dying repeatedly, the time travel thing isn’t shown – which is fair enough, the episode doesn’t need it.
Basically, they adapted the game to suit their narrative, so they really could have used any game. I suspect that it ended up being Prince of Persia solely for marketing reasons.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I don’t think you’re wrong about that, Tocky. If it’s an intentional joke it came from a different department.