A gamer may fight for many things: coins, stars, thermos flasks, that particular sound that rings out when a plasma bolt sizzles into a Collector’s carapace. However, in the realm of the video game, one goal is traditionally championed above all others. Achievements may chime, speed records may tumble, combos may combine, but no gamer dare call their quest complete before they have acquired that most valuable of all treasures: the girl.
From the moment Donkey Kong busted into Jumpman’s semi-detached and decided Pauline looked better than any banana he’d ever seen, the scene was set. As with cinema during the decades prior (and literature during the centuries before that) gaming would lead its audience down some familiar thematic paths. And, inevitably, many of these paths lead towards a cackling lunatic with a silly moustache who happened to be standing between you and your caged girlfriend.
Some might say that Jumpman’s struggle is the digital continuation of the classic tale, the one true story in the world: the quest for love. Others might see it as a metaphor for man’s unflinching determination to reach for the stars, to climb ladder after ladder and vault barrel after barrel in the pursuit of truth and beauty.
Some might point out that a lot of games are made by men, and a lot of men like boobs.
This is a tribute to those we’ve spent our lives rescuing. We love them. We need them. We’d sail to the edge of the map and back to save them.
We wish they’d remember to lock the back door once in a while.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/lPvzq2uoeyg[/youtube]
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