Did you get through the title without going crossed eyed or nodding off briefly? Points for trying if you’re still reading this if either or neither case may be, the fact you remain invested in the notion of breaking down what “fingerfeeling” means is what counts.


It’s not what you may initially think, I swear

In an attempt to bring some well needed “zesty pizzazz” to discussing video games through the lens of philosophy, the burden of proof weighs heavily on my shoulders in grappling with the notions of how to make such endeavors work. My current investigation resides within the cyberpunk-rock aesthetic of System Shock, in working my way through the remaster that came out last year, in attempting to deconstruct yet another new vector of virtual metaphysicality, in understanding and translating it’s premise to interested parties. I could be accused of shenanigans for such offensively gaudy vernacular in describing my proclivities, as anyone with any sense of simplifying reason would point a wagging finger with the proclamation of “cutting the shit” after surmising I was merely being verbose in describing a “preview of a video game“. My contestation there after would involve pointing out we are well going beyond mere preview, in breaking down greater virtual constructs and the metaphysical realities that entail, within the immaterial metric of abstracta in referencing what exists between both the 0’s and 1’s of the code to the intuitive nature of “feeling the thought” of design inherent in the DNA of the experience itself.


I got winded just writing that paragraph, be sure to catch your breath before we move on. Pro-tip- circular breathing from here on out

In reference to…many articles I’ve written recently, there were notions I landed upon involving “taking a game at it’s own premise“, doing injustices upon video games through points of direct comparison, and “the lack” helping to create design itself. All of those are relevant in this moment, though I throw in another building block of comprehension in helping me to understand System Shock, as my thoughts and feelings on the game as I play through it are a touch overloaded in discerning where to start with the title.


The totally not problematic kind of overload, of course

I suppose one of the least of my issues, though one I imagine which will be discussed at some point, is the very notion of how easily I gave up on the game when I was but a “wee one”, walking away from the experience after landing on the recollection of feeling defeated after being thwarted by the first real “puzzle” the game throws at you. Though, now as I sift through a hazy memory and the uncertainty that follows, I’m in serious doubt I had any patience whatsoever in my sit down with this game originally when I tried it in the 90’s, and the perverse misunderstanding in my head related to the title was due to some surface level elements System Shock shares with another popular 90’s shooter at the time. My assumption going into interacting with System Shock may have merely been as erroneously simple as “it’s like Doom” leading me to believe it may not have even been *specifically* a puzzle of note that stopped me, but puzzlement itself related to lack of effective ingress full stop. I believe this must be true, as I am supposing my strategy in tackling System Shock was in borrowing the same brute force mannerisms that had worked so well for me within the realm of hellish conquest found in the confines of the Mars base Doom so proudly boasted, and those strategies were, so to say, not of great intellectual endeavor, let’s say.


No notes: unrivaled design metrics

So yes, traversing the dark and dank interior of the now techno-fascistic inclined interior of the space station Citadel of System Shock fame, one may not borrow the same emphatic strategic machinations of brute force to understand the world; tis’ why one cuts trees with chainsaws and utilizes scalpels in surgery. There is a relative application process of meticulous standard that is demanded in our approach of aptitude within the realm of context. Perhaps this means Doom is a forest, and System Shock is an operating room, and both environments carve out their own niche of demanded exploration through mere contexual existence alone. The shortcut in navigating either, while easily dismissed in terms of the mindfulness required, is a surprising moment of sharp definition, but most certainly overlooked notion of contrasting relevancy. This is due to the idea that both involve entirely different levels of discernment that remain largely contingent in redefining our laser like focus on understanding how we are to hit out target of analysis with gusto, and in becoming witness to the recalibration of the definitional standard of success.


Success do be like that sometimes

I suppose before I run out of time for this entry, it is high time to address the inspiration for this article per the title. The term “fingerfeeling” is very much one inspired from the term “mouthfeel”, which I’m familiar with due to my curious meddlings in what one could consider, err…”saucier equations“, as it were. Many argue that mouthfeel is beyond texture, and I concur, and this notion helps to regulate my ideas around the now filled lexical gap (you’re welcome) involving “fingerfeel”, and how one fingerfeels a game, in understanding the virtual metaphysics of any single experience, and is vital in helping to extrapolate the immaterial related to understanding the sensedata that underpins the entire tonality involved within the spectrum of play. This translation process possesses a key importance of thought, and in this very instance, involving the difference between navigating a forest, and successfully moving through an operating room.

~Pashford