Topic: Sources of awesome

[KDR_11k]

Everybody loves awesome and many games are happy to provide it but... Where does the awesome come from? I think there are three sources of awesome with different qualities:

The player: This kind of awesome is felt when the player feels he has excelled at something, often by completing something really hard or executing some difficult sequence flawlwessly or whatever. Basically the feeling "**** yeah, I kick the ass!" and the greatest euphoria games have to offer.

The player character: Some characters just ooze awesome, be it Dante from DMC or Kratos from GoW. Everything they do looks awesome and some of it is felt by the player too but in the end, anyone can look awesome when controlling an awesome character. It gives a good feeling but doesn't hold a candle to the above.

The enemies: Well, this is less awesome. The enemies are hardly putting up a fight and you can win the most "difficult" fights easily. Completely loses the sense of any awesomeness being imparted by the player, the weapons might seem awesome for a minute but after a while the realization sets in that winning is nothing special in this game.

Just a random thought, not founded in any serious research.

[EasyCure]

no serious research, but very serious(ly awesome) realizationg.

never thought about the awesomeness of video games until your descriptions reminded me of some of those moments where you feel almost untouchable.

[Bill Aurion]

Where's the "environment" and "music" categories? =(

[EasyCure]

thread in progress Bill, thread in progress!!

[UltimatePartyBear]

I thought for sure this thread was going to include a diagram of awesome cows.

[EasyCure]

make it happen UPB

[UltimatePartyBear]

Sadly, I can't find the original Penny Arcade comic for reference.  It's not in their archive, and Google doesn't seem to have it.

Edit:  I found it with the help of the Wayback Machine, which did not actually have it but did provide important clues to its location.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I may be the only person who finds this funny, but oh well.




Since this isn't the funhouse, I'll add that I get the greatest feeling of awesomeness when I'm doing well at a game, but just barely in control.  It only happens when I'm playing a new level for the first time, and I've got nothing to rely on but my wits, instincts, and/or reflexes.  It's the feeling I get when I have no idea what's going to happen next, but I'm overcoming every challenge anyway.  It's the feeling of reading a boss's moves and dodging everything even though it's your first try and you don't know its attack patterns.  It's the feeling of anticipating an ambush and picking off the sniper without knowing he's there ahead of time.  It's the feeling of anticipating the opponent's moves and cutting off his escape route, or leaving a trap for him, or especially firing a rocket so that it meets him there.

[EasyCure]

one of my most awesome moments were in Goldeneye007..

So many good ones too...

Like playing w/Pistols and getting a double KO using a well timed shot from a Magnum.

Or the time's we'd playing w/Rocket Launchers.. oh man. I was such a suicide player with these (and grenades but it was tougher to pull off... I'd aim at my feet in between the other players and blow us all up, yet i'd escape with a sliver of health. I did that so many times my friends banned me from using explosives.

The most epic moment was when i did the same thing, shoot rockets straight at the floor a few feet in front me me between all players and back up as fast as possible.. of course i took damage, and it woulda of been fatal but either the recoil from damage or my stepbackwards, something, made me walk over a piece of body armor before my life drained! it must of been some weird glitch but it counted as a Quad Kill!!!

[Morari]

Some characters just ooze awesome, be it Dante from DMC or Kratos from GoW.

Those are actually both lame, super cliche characters.

[KDR_11k]

I know (graaaaah, that DMC3 intro was so freaking stupid) but the players love 'em so I'll take their oppinion over mine on generalizations.