Virtual Reality video games are, as the name implies, recreations of actual life (albeit with a few fun perks.) There must, therefore, be real places which inspire the virtual worlds. I think I’ve encountered a fair smattering of the places that some great video game stalwarts could have been based on.
DELHI – Call Of Duty Modern Warfare
Remove Dehli’s hoards of civilians (no mean feat) and you’d be left with an urban junkyard of shoot-em-up perfection. Pavements are crippled enough to look shelled, rubble piled high enough to provide cover and electrical wiring bad enough to add that extra element of danger. Infiltrate the Commonwealth Games and watch an event – a near impossible objective.
NEPALESE NEWARI VILLAGES – The Legend Of Zelda
You can almost hear the Kokori village theme tune as you stroll through Nepal’s charming villages. Like Link, children here often set out to see the big wide world during their teens, including perhaps an adventure the mountains which cling to the horizon. There are certainly Ice and Water temples, but I haven’t encountered a fire one yet.
ROAD TRAVEL – Burnout
(If I remember correctly that Burnout is the one where you aim to create a giant crash and score points for danger etc.)
In India and Nepal, the driving test appears to read as follows; “Are you a total nutter? If no, bad luck. If yes, congratulations.” This could also provide the inspiration for Colin Macrae Rally games, only less rally car more glorified scooter.
KATHMANDU VALLEY AGRICULTURE – Harvest Moon / Farmville
Here, they grow loads of crops. Clearly this must be the exact genesis of agricultural video gaming. The similarities are uncanny.
WILDLIFE – Pokemon
Not so much catch’em’all as avoid’em’all – there are critters and creatures everywhere, from chickens galore to cows fornicating by the roadside. Like the game, there are rare animals such as tigers. If Chinese business men are trading Pokemon (which they are), perhaps they should check out the real deal here in Nepal.
And the list could go on and on and on… but I would then be clutching at straws even further than I already have. Rest assured, though, that there is most definitely real life behind the virtual one.
