Here’s an article which talks about a specially hacked version of Super Mario Bros. that was created for a Canadian art exhibit a few months ago. The game features no enemies, power ups, pits, or stuff to climb over, and there’s just one level that simply loops. But Mario can still do everything he normally can, expect with no obstacles or objectives to deal with, all the player can really do is simply keeping running till the clock runs out.
The article examines how game players reacted in such an environment. Some kept running till they died, some simply walked, some just stood there, and others moved about in ways to keep themselves occupied until it was all over. Basically, the game gave these people a very specific amount of time to live, and how they chose to spend it reflected their personalities. Also interesting was how there was one single treasure block presented in the level early on, but in the ground, and totally inaccessible, and how some reacted to that as well.
In addition to discussing how people found ways to entertain themselves in the face of certain death, the article touched upon players who enjoy games without any set goals or criteria, which then led to a mention of people will often exploit bugs and glitches to go where they couldn’t or shouldn’t.
This of course led me to recallr all those rooms in Super Mario 64 that are nothing but empty, black space, specifically the thrill of finally reaching one, and the genuine sense of eeriness of exploring the negative space, until you could go no further and the game simply crashed.
Plus there’s all those “extra” rooms in the original Metroid which one can access by jumping through the top of doors.
The article also led me to remember another artsy video game event, the Tekken Torture Tournament, which was held in New York City last fall. Two people face off against each other in Tekken 3 while hooked up to electrodes. Whenever a hit is delivered, the recipient also gets an electric shock. It was pretty wild to watch, especially near the end, when the electricity level were pretty high. I really wanted to participate, but there was just too many people ahead of me. Plus you had to sign a waver, and I do have sort of a iffy heart, so perhaps it was for the best I didn’t participate.
