Sometimes, when I think about all the work that goes into actually creating a videogame, it makes my head hurt a little. Imagine, hundreds of people dedicating years of their lives to just one project. Or even one guy, in his garage, tinkering away and creating every single aspect of the next great indie game. Simply said, making games is hard work. Hell, I can't even make a coherent level using the built-in tools in LittleBigPlanet. Which is why it impresses me to no end seeing some of the things that gamers are able to create using these sorts of tools.
Now obviously The Sims is great for this sort of thing. It gives you the tools to create characters, and shape their lives. This has led to quite a few notable creations, but possibly none are as interesting as Alice and Kev. On this blog, Robin Burkinshaw chronicles the lives of a single father and his daughter, who just so happen to be homeless. Using The Sims 3 as a storytelling tool, Robin does an amazing job of chronicling the lives of these two characters as they struggle to survive, sleeping on benches, squatting in barns, all the while trying to maintain a relationship with one another.
What I find most amazing about this though, is that here is a person who took a game, something most of us use solely for our own entertainment, and created something for others to enjoy. And of course, Robin isn't alone. Look at the countless mods out there that have extended the lives of PC games, or turned them into something completely new. Or the deluge of incredibly creative levels just waiting to be played in LittleBigPlanet. Hell, look are pretty much any game that allows for user-generated content, and you'll find some amazing stuff.
So while the game designers of the world continue to amaze me with their skill and dedication, what boggles my mind even more are the gamers out there. The kind who take the time to create something brilliant like Alice and Kev. It's not their job and they don't get paid. And chances are they probably won't get much recognition either, but maybe that's what makes a lot of these projects so great. The creators are simply doing it for the love. And I, for one, love what they do.
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