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Video game virgin

posted by Jason Kottke   Aug 16, 2010

Nicholson Baker has "always had pacifist leanings" so it was interesting to read about his first experiences playing video games, mostly the popular violent ones: Halo 3, Red Dead Redemption, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, etc.

To begin with, you must master the controller. On the Xbox 360 controller, which looks like a catamaran, there are seventeen possible points of contact. In order to run, crouch, aim, fire, pause, leap, speak, stab, grab, kick, dismember, unlock, climb, crawl, parry, roll, or resuscitate a fallen comrade, you must press or nudge or woggle these various buttons singly or in combination, performing tiny feats of exactitude that are different for each game. It's a little like playing "Blue Rondo a la Turk" on the clarinet, then switching to the tenor sax, then the oboe, then back to the clarinet.

Bummer that the whole article isn't online.