Losing a parent at just six years of age is unimaginable. You may vaguely remember some of the wonderful memories from that brief time spent together, but the pain surely never goes away. I imagine you cling to those memories dearly, grasping hold of them and praying that over time you won't forget.
For one teenage YouTube commenter that scenario is real. And in the comments section of a piece about whether video games can be a spiritual experience, he told his touching story.
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Teenager Discovers Late Father's Ghost-car in Xbox Rally Game
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(Score: 3, Informative) by meisterister on Sunday July 27 2014, @01:45AM
Just a bit of a logistical problem, but someone tell him to back up that hard drive, since the first gen XBoxen are getting pretty old by now.
(May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by romanr on Sunday July 27 2014, @01:57AM
This story is touching, but is it newsworthy? I'd much rather see here the story about the HIV elimination [reddit.com] or something that actually matters.
(Score: 4, Informative) by b on Sunday July 27 2014, @02:49AM
Connecting with a dead parent doesn't actually matter?
Also, that other story is pretty ephemeral at this point. (I am a molecular biologist.) At the moment, it's a pretty targeted approach that won't necessarily scale up to human-level therapy. Similar technology has been around for quite a while, and is used routinely in labs. The problem is getting it into humans and targeting all affected cells, as opposed to easily-accessible cells in culture.
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Sunday July 27 2014, @03:57AM
"Connecting with a dead parent doesn't actually matter?"
Only to the ones connecting.
No one else really cares. Even if they say they do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28 2014, @03:32PM
"No one else really cares."
About that specific event of connecting? Yes, indeed, I don't care.
About the discussion between nerds about the general matter of connecting? I do care. Yes, really. Why the hell do you think I'm here?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 27 2014, @03:17AM
> This story is touching, but is it newsworthy?
It isn't about it being touching. It is about a case of how tech can interact with our essential humanity in surprising ways. That intersection is the driving force behind the growth of the internet and really all consumer technology. We ought to be thinking about this stuff more, a lot more. Because, for better or for worse, that intersection is most certainly going to be the defining characteristic of this century.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Tork on Sunday July 27 2014, @04:27AM
On a site where the tagline is "Soylent News is people", yes it is discussion worthy.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by jcd on Sunday July 27 2014, @06:16AM
Um, there's no reason we can't have both. Submit!
I personally liked this story quite a bit. It's nice to remember that we're humans every now and then, not just input devices between our brains and our keyboards.
"What good's an honest soldier if he can be ordered to behave like a terrorist?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 27 2014, @11:54AM
What touching story?
Sure, the summary says there's a touching story, but it doesn't, ahem, summarize it at all..
(Score: 2) by mrcoolbp on Sunday July 27 2014, @04:33PM
True, but the title already does summarize it:
(Score:1^½, Radical)
(Score: 1) by _NSAKEY on Sunday July 27 2014, @05:00AM
This story sounds like a scene from the live action Speed Racer movie that came out several years back. (The relevant scene can be seen in terrible quality here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIY_eblS_U [youtube.com])
(Score: 2, Insightful) by quitte on Sunday July 27 2014, @06:46AM
A couple of weeks ago we were asked wether we would accept "different" stories (iirc it was about My little Pony"). Back then I agreed that that was an interesting idea.
But "this touching story" goes way too far. Stop it!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 27 2014, @05:55PM
> But "this touching story" goes way too far. Stop it!
I think you meant "quitte it!"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by islisis on Sunday July 27 2014, @08:40AM
Reminds me of the story turned into comic/animation a mother's message left behind in Animal Crossing.
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/a-heart-wrenching-tale-about-animal-crossing/ [joystiq.com]
Humans have embedded latent memories into objects forever, so if you can't see the relevance of technology affecting how we see and think about people I recommend looking at this tale.
(Score: 1) by microtodd on Monday July 28 2014, @12:33AM
I thought this sounded familiar.
http://www.viralnova.com/touching-animal-crossing-story/ [viralnova.com]
tl;dr kids play animal crossing with dead mom's old save, discover she had sent them tons of letters in game.
The deeper aspect of this story, to me, isn't "spirituality in gaming" or anything like that. Its how completely virtual worlds and environments can apparently affect humans in an emotional and psychological way just as profoundly as meatspace does. Which, to me, say that metaverse-style totally plugged in futures are possibly more achievable than I suspected.
I always figured a metaverse wouldn't work because people want "real" life, not a virtual life. But maybe I'm wrong.
(Score: 2) by everdred on Monday July 28 2014, @07:11PM
It's been a while since I've played Animal Crossing, but I'm pretty sure that the "Mom" letters come from an NPC who lives in another town, one you never actually meet in-game. (I hate to stomp all over a sweet story with a dose of reality; sorry about that.)