Why Game? 1 - TextFiles.com

mainframe. The Con-human has given you op-
tions, in the sense that, after the initial stage,
you are able to choose your path among five
possible areas, each named after cognitive
senses. The first and last stages are always
“Identity,” the core of the mainframe, but
between these stages you have to hack at
least three other zones in order to get back to
Identity and fight the big bad Con-Human. The
zones are named after such things as Emotion,
Perception, and Memory. Choose three of them
with any order and try to arrest its onslaught.
The Con-human’s story is intertwined with mine.
I was just a teenager and I wanted to save
Earth. Damn, this is why I was so sad. I still
remember the first time I completed the game.
Ok, we’re speaking of Taito: synonymous with
sad games. I don’t know why. In this specific
case, I would say that the lack of good endings
whatsoever was a bit of a letdown. Perhaps a
stab wound to the soul. Maybe I should just not
care about these things, but I had a tiny bit of
hope left unfulfilled.
Now it’s hot and dry. The sun is shining on my
head. The sky has that peculiar cyan color so
typical of August - when it’s hot, but the days
have already gotten shorter. I have played all
three titles in a row, trying to remember my
gaming story and its bizarre sub-plot called
Rayforce. I think back to the buried fragments
of gaming experience that I was lucky enough to
experience thanks to Taito. Sometimes, honest-
120 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #3
ly, I feel like the Con-human itself, shattered by
one meteor strike, the blow from a green-haired
woman that makes me implode in my newfound
body, the Earth.
Maybe I’m too catastrophic in my ramblings
about the future. Well, at least, this fictional
world ends with a bang. All reactionaries in the
world, including Eliot, would be happy. Maybe
Taito wanted to end things with a bang, too. Oh
well, Ave atque vale [3], Rayforce. May you rest
in peace.
[3] Latin for “hail, brother, farewell”