Trigger Happy
impossible, task). The
This idea could eventually induce a gnawing sense of personal guilt that is not evoked by novels or films, where we pity or regret the fates of characters who remain distinctly “other people.” Outcast, as we saw, has made some steps toward this system of moral causation, yet it simply requires the player to rebuild his or her reputation after an act of foolish violence, so mistakes can in effect be erased.
Enriching this idea, if attempted, will not be a trivial design task. It would only come to work properly if the paradigm of replayability were abandoned, for as Alain and FrÉdÉric Le Diberder argue, if you are able to wind back to a stage before your error, you have not made a moral decision but simply explored a branch of a system. So videogame creators interested in a new moral architecture would need to somehow create a template for action that doesn’t stop, yet still offers the adrenaline thrill of physical danger or swordplay and firefights. One way to do this has been suggested by the fascinating though
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