The Devil? In MY Nintendo?
Time to stir the EEEEVIL CACKLIN' WITCHES' BREW pot in here. NEE HEE HEE HEE.
But seriously, folks, I love this community even though it is very often silent, and you-all were the first thing I thought of when I read the article at the following link:
TABOO, for the NES, doing naughty things? Paganism and computer-based technology merging in the late 80's, with less than pleasant results in some cases. I haven't read through the whole thing, but part of it focuses on the presentation of the material, including choices of wording and imagery, and its overall effect on the user experience (both during and after play). The article then moves on to an anonymous "case study" of a person who had some very bad experiences with the cartridge, and theorizes that the "negative" images and readings may have affected the subject psychosomatically or otherwise.
Other parts of this article - about spirituality and subconscious stuff - may be review for members of this community, but it's a fascinating story from my perspective. What's the lesson here? Don't make toys that can fuck people up? ;) Or, to be less frank, do not take such stuff lightly when you're creating a tool like this? It seems to me that TABOO was a Good Idea that was just put together the wrong way. Granted, I didn't know nearly as much about tarot and pagan-type stuff back then as I do now, and I'm sure they didn't either - otherwise they wouldn't have put a skull with red flashing eyes in the freaking title screen of the game.
See? This was too good to pass up. I never messed with TABOO myself, and I don't know anyone who has (or they've kept awful quiet about it), but the subject matter is right up this comm's alley. What do you think? Have you had similar experiences with this? Does this make TABOO a very dirty precursor to modern computer-based tarot/divination, or did it perhaps induce something more active in people like its case study? What can be learned from this? Enjoy.
But seriously, folks, I love this community even though it is very often silent, and you-all were the first thing I thought of when I read the article at the following link:
TABOO, for the NES, doing naughty things? Paganism and computer-based technology merging in the late 80's, with less than pleasant results in some cases. I haven't read through the whole thing, but part of it focuses on the presentation of the material, including choices of wording and imagery, and its overall effect on the user experience (both during and after play). The article then moves on to an anonymous "case study" of a person who had some very bad experiences with the cartridge, and theorizes that the "negative" images and readings may have affected the subject psychosomatically or otherwise.
Other parts of this article - about spirituality and subconscious stuff - may be review for members of this community, but it's a fascinating story from my perspective. What's the lesson here? Don't make toys that can fuck people up? ;) Or, to be less frank, do not take such stuff lightly when you're creating a tool like this? It seems to me that TABOO was a Good Idea that was just put together the wrong way. Granted, I didn't know nearly as much about tarot and pagan-type stuff back then as I do now, and I'm sure they didn't either - otherwise they wouldn't have put a skull with red flashing eyes in the freaking title screen of the game.
See? This was too good to pass up. I never messed with TABOO myself, and I don't know anyone who has (or they've kept awful quiet about it), but the subject matter is right up this comm's alley. What do you think? Have you had similar experiences with this? Does this make TABOO a very dirty precursor to modern computer-based tarot/divination, or did it perhaps induce something more active in people like its case study? What can be learned from this? Enjoy.