In the latest issue of the esapist, Tim Stevens discusses the ways in which virtual pets--in this case, a Nintendogs German Shepherd named Peach and a boxer named Bowser) seem to offer a little bit of companionship for busy people who don't have quite the willingness to commit to the requirements (and benefits) of a flesh-and-blood version.
So, at least in certain circumstances, virtual or otherwise non-living things can help to ease the longings to follow a dream one might suffer, thanks to a lack of money, a lack of charisma to attract a mate or simply a lack of time to do anything of substance. These replications can give you some sort of feeling of emotional connection, and while nobody would argue that these replica sensations come anywhere near the power of the real thing, these substitutes have one major advantage: They work on our schedule.
Virtual pets and other simulations always seemed, to me at least, to occupy a space somewhere between "real" situations and novels. You can lose yourself in them, briefly at least, but eventually the boundary conditions start to show: Eliza keeps repeating, "Tell me more..." or the Sims person you created walks into a corner and can't get out. Which isn't really a diss on the simulation--if it seems real even temporarily, it's interesting. But, like following a character or story in a novel, there are boundary conditions. Which is both good and bad. That's why, for example, you can (as Spork frequently did to me) fire a grenade at me in Marathon and shout, "Dad! Catch this!")--at this stage in the development at least, virtual pets are somewhat like real pets, but they've had much of the responsibility stripped away, making them amenable to fitting into our schedules and workloads.
Posted by johndanseven at December 2, 2005 03:54 PM