Facts v. Truth

Cool.

I would've captured a screenshot that didn't feature the depressing "game over" but of course that would've required interrupting progress in the game. Which reminds me, did'ja ever notice that in movies and TV shows, players were usually shown ending a game with a big win, loud bells and cheering from the sidelines? Which showed that the creators of the movies and TV shows were either clueless about how these games normally end (in a loss of the final virtual life, or ship, or ostrich, or whatever, and a more subdued celebration of the score), or they didn't think enough viewers knew it and would be confused.

It's an odd feature of storytelling that sometimes the facts have to be manipulated in order to present the truth more effectively. Songwriters do it all the time. Not to mention producers of "reality TV." Guess it depends on the situation as to when "storytelling" becomes "lying," even in an entertainment context (director Oliver Stone, self-proclaimed "former Satanist" Mike Warnke, Milli Vanilli...any other examples come to mind?). I suspect there are some scientists using this principle to justify their public statements regarding global climate change. Which is why it's harder and harder to accept anything I hear from either side of the argument. Although those who claim graphs to be irrefutable proof and use terms like climate change deniers" (thereby subtly casting their opposition in the same category as Holocaust deniers) definitely reduce their credibility in my eyes.

At least with Pac-Man, there's no doubt who the enemy is. No wonder it's been such a popular game; we may not know when it will end, but at least we know how.