"Disneyland exists in order to hide that it is the 'real' country, all of 'real' America that is Disneyland." –some asshole
every day i go on a walk because my gf calls me fat if i don't and it makes me feel bad so i do it. when i go outside for my daily shame walk i think about how there hasn't been a time in my life longer than a week or two where I haven't heard the sound of cars, haven't seen a billboard, haven't looked upon all the asphalt and concrete and wondered what the world looked like before we paved it all into stupid shitty roads and sidewalks.
recently a bluesky post reminded me of something said by Shigeru Miyamoto in an interview:
"If it's really nice outside, you should go play outside. And I tell that to people who want to be game designers as well, you know? If it's a nice day, you know, go experience outside, because really, I think there's an important factor that it's your personal experience."
and wow I bet that shit is so useful if you grew up in the Kyoto countryside 70 years ago but I think I speak for the rest of us when I say please keep your advice to yourself dumbass! there is no outside anymore. in a physical sense it is true I can drive to the river or the mountain (and truly my neck of the woods is in no way starving for natural features) but there is no longer any way to spend time in these places in good faith. how can I just go outside and play? have you seen the news? have you seen what people are doing to each other? outside is fake now. you go outside to pretend you aren't still online in your heart.
games are an escape from reality as much as prison is an escape from civilization. game design is about creating the most comfortable cell. maybe the most ethically designed game would offend so thoroughly the sensibilities of its gamer that he or she would wake up and finally, fully understand their physical and spiritual carceration and escape into the dinosaur world