Top Gaming Moments (1 of 5)

Next week I will be attending the Scottish Premier of "Video Games Live" - a concert where the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will be playing soundtracks to popular video games including Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic the Hedgehog and many more...

To build up to the event, I asked some of my friends to tell me about their favourite video-game moments. Over the next 5 Day's, I'll be sharing their thoughts, but today I'll begin with my own favourite.

--------------------

For me, "Metal Gear Solid" was the first computer game that engaged me theatrically. The movie-style cut scenes told a great story, the game play focused on a more cunning and stealthy approach to dealing with enemies rather than the gung-ho style action of most games. And it also, unashamedly, broke the fourth wall and messed with game players heads. This was especially true in the Psycho Mantis sequence.

Psycho Mantis, one of the games villains, claimed to have the power to both read your mind and move objects with his brain power alone. He then proceeded to demonstrate this in a very frightening way, by asking the player to place the game pad onto the floor which he would then successfully cause to shake and move across the room!! This was achieved through the pads built-in rumble feature. However, since this was still a relatively new feature on the game pad, it certainly caused me to jump with fright when I seen my pad violently shake across my bedroom floor. He then followed it up by telling me which games I had also been playing recently (achieved by reading the contents of my memory card!). These initial psychic stunts proved to serve as a powerful introduction into what was one of the most clever boss fights in video game history.

Okay, so now came the time to beat him up - but how exactly do you defeat someone who knows what your next move will be? Every time you tap to throw a punch or kick, it's blocked. All bullets are dodged with ease. It really seemed that he knew what you were thinking and was anticipating every move. The Solution? You needed to unplug your game pad from control port 1, and plug it into control port 2, that way he couldn't read your mind. Utter genius! I, and many other gamers I know, still look back fondly when we realise how fun it was to teach this secret to our friends. And all reacted in the same way: firstly disbelief that it would work, but then the slow realisation that not only was it working, but that Metal Gear Solid, in one action, redefined the way we think about modern day video games.

----------------

How did you feel about this moment in Metal Gear Solid? Or was there another trick you prefered? Tell me in the comments.

"Video Games Live" is performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 26th June 2008.