GameGirl

When I play games I plahy them as an outsider looking in. I think I always have because I can diffrentiate whats real and whats not real. The only time that I put myself into character is when I think to myself "If I was Marcus Fenix, i'd do this differently" or something of that nature.

And on the subject of the non-speakings NPC's , it solely depends on the player's perception of whats going on. So im sure the reasons will vary from player to player.... because we are all unique and think in dfferent ways.. Im curious to find out what others think though

the irony of your blog is in the fact that the characters were less detailed back in the days and yet you felt the urge to be them while you played. Maybe that is the difference now, the fact that there is so much information on the character that you no longer just naturally try to be the character because the character is so thoroughly explained and detailed. But yeah, I understand what you mean though. Also, there were greater game consequences when you got hurt because most likely you died instantly lol.

"And do you think non-speaking characters help encourage players to imprint their own image onto the main character? (Like Link, for example.)"

One big YES. Although I have always been aware that I'm not the one in the story (obviously), silent characters really help to make the experience much more streamlined and natural, like in the Metroid Prime games, where the first person view and Samus's persona really help to immerse me inthe game, while reminding me that this is Samus's mission.

BTW, I'm glad you played PH.:)

Wow Oh Snap, that is some deep thinking, this is an excellent subject.
I do think that people grow up (dont get me wrong, im 25 and i still love playing video games everyday) but when you hit some age people dont see video games the same way when they were 9 years old. At my age, i play for the thrill, the passion, the fun factor, the story and because i love it, but i do remeber than whe i was smaller i used to think that i was the main character, it was like a fantasy. Another factor that i think it might be consider is the enviroment were you play, the loud noices around and mood and state of mind that peopla have. But i think that it would be great to think like a child once in a while and try to play like you are the character, i will do this once the release of Guns of the Patriots, this time i will be Solid Snake :)
You made a good choice on getting Phantom Hourglass, hope you enjoy it like i did. Farewell.

P.S. this is only my point of view, people could agree or disagree, but, hey, this is my way of thinking.

I used to do that...

I'm weird...I still play "pretend" when I play any game. No matter how detailed the character is now from how it was back then I still go all out and play "pretend" hell I even draw myself as a pokemon trainer lol.

It depends how good the story is. I just finished Bioshock the other day and that game really draws you in and makes you feel like you're the main character. One of the best storylines ever! Sucked when it was over cause it was a great game. In my opinion it's also alot easier to imagine your're the main character when you don't hear them or really see their face. That's why games like Bioshock ,Call of Duty and alot of fps are easy ones to feel like you're in the game. Not like Mario or Gears of War where you see the main character and they talk all the time. Kinda hard to feel like I'm Mario or something cause I'm not a 3 foot tall Italian with an accent or a metrosexual elf.