6 ms·

A Father’s Video Game About His Son’s Terminal Cancer

83 points by fspeech 11y ago

po 11y ago
Sometimes there are games that are awesome and important and I am glad that they exist… but that I don't think I ever want to play. Pretty sure this is one of them.
- leereeves 11y ago
  When I was 20 I would have loved games like this that share experiences and deep truths. Now that I'm a bit older I just want games that help me escape those experiences and deep truths.
  - ivanca 11y ago
    Got a chronic illness at 2012, my closest lady friend died this year after a long battle with schizophrenia, and I'm just 26... yeah, I'm sure many people have it worse but after a while you can barely deal with your own baggage to be willing to imagine getting any more. So yeah, escapism is the best thing there is around, if just to avoid going mad.
smudgy 11y ago
It's now truly possible to walk a mile in a someone's shoes.
trequartista 11y ago
Here's the Polygon article about the game, which IMHO is far more detailed - http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/4/16/8374481/that-dragon-cancer http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/4/16/8374481/that-drago...
web007 11y ago
"That Dragon Cancer" if you're looking for more info. http://thatdragoncancer.com/ http://thatdragoncancer.com/ and the kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/godatplay/that-dragon-cancer https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/godatplay/that-dragon-c...
cmyr 11y ago
I was able to play an early version of this at sheffield doc fest (https://www.sheffdocfest.com/interactive/overview https://www.sheffdocfest.com/interactive/overview), and was really impressed. It is one of the better examples I've encountered of somebody using the mechanics and language of video games to tell a truly personal story. Very worth encountering if you have the opportunity.
j_m_b 11y ago
Some gameplay demo footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ivCwjnQ6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ivCwjnQ6I Here is a teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPc2zwVEn0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPc2zwVEn0 From the footage I saw, this game is like a novel in that you are getting inside of the head of someone else and experiencing life from their view point. A "Being John Malkovich" video game.
kdamken 11y ago
Despite the tough subject matter, these are my favorite kinds of games. Maybe it's because I played so many video games growing up, but now that I'm in my late twenties most of them don't really capture me anymore. I get bored of them quickly. I find the ones that I enjoy most are often shorter, but deliver a powerful narrative experience. Titles like Dear Esther, The Walking Dead, Proteus, and especially Gone Home are looked down upon by many to be just "walking simulators", but to me they're the best gaming currently has to offer. I played through GTAV for a few days and haven't thought about it since. But because of the focus on the narrative experience, games like these stay with you, like a good book or movie. While this game will likely be tough to get through, I'll probably get way more out of it than a few hours in the latest cookie cutter RPG or FPS.
- corysama 11y ago
  > looked down upon by many to be just "walking simulators" I played through Dear Esther in a single session in VR. It was a magnificent walk.
  - eropple 11y ago
    I couldn't keep interested in Dear Esther, but Korsakovia, by the same folks, is a tremendous experience. (Also may bring modern computers to their knees because of some bad technical choices, but having everything go choppy and weird when you're under terrifying stress is not a bad side effect.)
  - kdamken 11y ago
    I am beyond excited to get a chance to try that. When I first saw the Oculus, these types of games were the first thing that came to my mind.
ironoxide859 11y ago
I'll try to pretend that I didn't tear up reading that story but it would be a lie.
csense 11y ago
This looks really dumb. The gameplay's going to be crap, it's probably going to wildly overuse cutscenes, and the game's message isn't subtle at all. It's supposed to be all literary and pretentious, but it's not going to be fun. I can't believe backers want to waste real money on this garbage.
- eropple 11y ago
  The use of the word "game" to describe interactive media is an unfortunate one, largely because your reaction is understandable through the parsing of the word--though you must couple it with aggressive rejection of context, as you have in this case, to find strict parsing to be a good way to derive meaning. Or, put another way: I don't think your distaste for what other people think of the potential of a piece of art oozes through quite sufficiently. Could you perhaps try to be a little bit more of a jerk about it, while doing even more to assume facts not in evidence? Thanks in advance.
- rawTruthHurts 11y ago
  "This looks" - "The gameplay's going to be" - "it's probably going to" - "it's not going to be" and the closing fireworks "I can't believe" It must be awesome to know what it takes to make you Beliebe in.

83 points by fspeech 11y ago

po 11y ago

Sometimes there are games that are awesome and important and I am glad that they exist… but that I don't think I ever want to play. Pretty sure this is one of them.

leereeves 11y ago
When I was 20 I would have loved games like this that share experiences and deep truths. Now that I'm a bit older I just want games that help me escape those experiences and deep truths.
- ivanca 11y ago
  Got a chronic illness at 2012, my closest lady friend died this year after a long battle with schizophrenia, and I'm just 26... yeah, I'm sure many people have it worse but after a while you can barely deal with your own baggage to be willing to imagine getting any more. So yeah, escapism is the best thing there is around, if just to avoid going mad.

smudgy 11y ago

It's now truly possible to walk a mile in a someone's shoes.

trequartista 11y ago

Here's the Polygon article about the game, which IMHO is far more detailed - http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/4/16/8374481/that-dragon-cancer http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/4/16/8374481/that-drago...

web007 11y ago

"That Dragon Cancer" if you're looking for more info. http://thatdragoncancer.com/ http://thatdragoncancer.com/ and the kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/godatplay/that-dragon-cancer https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/godatplay/that-dragon-c...

cmyr 11y ago

I was able to play an early version of this at sheffield doc fest (https://www.sheffdocfest.com/interactive/overview https://www.sheffdocfest.com/interactive/overview), and was really impressed. It is one of the better examples I've encountered of somebody using the mechanics and language of video games to tell a truly personal story. Very worth encountering if you have the opportunity.

j_m_b 11y ago

Some gameplay demo footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ivCwjnQ6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4ivCwjnQ6I Here is a teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPc2zwVEn0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPc2zwVEn0 From the footage I saw, this game is like a novel in that you are getting inside of the head of someone else and experiencing life from their view point. A "Being John Malkovich" video game.

kdamken 11y ago

Despite the tough subject matter, these are my favorite kinds of games. Maybe it's because I played so many video games growing up, but now that I'm in my late twenties most of them don't really capture me anymore. I get bored of them quickly. I find the ones that I enjoy most are often shorter, but deliver a powerful narrative experience. Titles like Dear Esther, The Walking Dead, Proteus, and especially Gone Home are looked down upon by many to be just "walking simulators", but to me they're the best gaming currently has to offer. I played through GTAV for a few days and haven't thought about it since. But because of the focus on the narrative experience, games like these stay with you, like a good book or movie. While this game will likely be tough to get through, I'll probably get way more out of it than a few hours in the latest cookie cutter RPG or FPS.

corysama 11y ago
> looked down upon by many to be just "walking simulators" I played through Dear Esther in a single session in VR. It was a magnificent walk.
- eropple 11y ago
  I couldn't keep interested in Dear Esther, but Korsakovia, by the same folks, is a tremendous experience. (Also may bring modern computers to their knees because of some bad technical choices, but having everything go choppy and weird when you're under terrifying stress is not a bad side effect.)
- kdamken 11y ago
  I am beyond excited to get a chance to try that. When I first saw the Oculus, these types of games were the first thing that came to my mind.

ironoxide859 11y ago

I'll try to pretend that I didn't tear up reading that story but it would be a lie.

csense 11y ago

This looks really dumb. The gameplay's going to be crap, it's probably going to wildly overuse cutscenes, and the game's message isn't subtle at all. It's supposed to be all literary and pretentious, but it's not going to be fun. I can't believe backers want to waste real money on this garbage.

eropple 11y ago
The use of the word "game" to describe interactive media is an unfortunate one, largely because your reaction is understandable through the parsing of the word--though you must couple it with aggressive rejection of context, as you have in this case, to find strict parsing to be a good way to derive meaning. Or, put another way: I don't think your distaste for what other people think of the potential of a piece of art oozes through quite sufficiently. Could you perhaps try to be a little bit more of a jerk about it, while doing even more to assume facts not in evidence? Thanks in advance.
rawTruthHurts 11y ago
"This looks" - "The gameplay's going to be" - "it's probably going to" - "it's not going to be" and the closing fireworks "I can't believe" It must be awesome to know what it takes to make you Beliebe in.