The Disappointment

I had some gold in the archives…

Me, playing Need for Speed Underground 2 at my Dad's house, sitting on his Cadillac Captains Chair with a Logitech Driving Force GT attached. I just happened to have driven a Go Kart for the first time in my life, and after experiencing that rush of speed first hand, I knew I couldn't get it back whenever I wanted… but I could find a proxy.

Hence, the gloves, helmet, and visor.

And while my Hands sweat from the lack of ventilation in a static sim-rig they were never meant for, I dreamed of what games would be like in the future. Specifically, I wondered if you could take a TV and stuff it into a pair of googles, placing me in the cockpit, turning my head to see the incoming competitors, walls, and hazards.

It seemed impossible back then, but I couldn't help but dream it anyways…

And now I have it…

It's right there.

For the over the last five years, whenever I want, I can do exactly what my ten year old-self dreamed about. In-fact, Virtual Reality, is more than what I dreamed of. My wish back then was quite literal, a TV strapped to my forehead, I wasn't thinking about Finger, and Face Tracking, I didn't imagine experiencing this with friends over Multiplayer, or walking physically in these spaces to slice-up enemies as a Cyborg Ninja.

It is incredible what I can do in video-games today… but you know what I don't have today?

A proxy of Need for Speed Underground 2.

This isn't an instruction.

I'm not declaring that this is the reason why so many people are disappointed by modern games, in-fact, I originally intended this video to be about a whole other reason, in that whatever you're playing these days, MOBAs, Shooters, Fighters, or the handful of Racers, you'll be experiencing the same battle-passes with the same progression with the same rewards in the same seasons.

That's a pretty good reason, among a smorgasbord of pretty good reasons.

I'm just talking about this one, because it's the most impactful to me, and maybe you'll relate to it., just as I related to a viral-post by FPSthetics, who tells the same story.

Mirror's Edge is old enough to drive; this game was itself inspired by a massive cultural-impact spawned by French Athletes, one that is still influencing the world to this very day.. And yet, the closest thing a Mirror's Edge fan to Mirror's Edge, is its own reboot, released a decade later, and Titanfall.

That's insane...