Death in videogames

I started playing videogames when I was little, first on the Commodore VIC-20, then on the Nintendo Entertainment System, PC and Videogame Arcades (actually bar Coin-op machines at first).

But initially I preferred watching others play, rather than playing myself: my reason for this preference was, I think, fear of defeat. There were (and still are) a lot of videogames which have the character you control die or get destroyed somehow when you fail; whether it was just the simple vanishing animation of Pac-Man or the more realistic falling-to-your-death animation in Prince of Persia, it always made me feel uneasy. Excessively "violent" death sequences actually impressed me more (I clearly remember the moment I saw Scorpion's and Sonya's Fatality sequences in Mortal Kombat for the first time), but the concept of punishment upon failure may be the root of this fear more than just graphical representation of death.

I eventually grew over it, but I still like watching others play videogames, especially those I've already played. I have to thank the evolution of the Internet if I can now watch so many videos of really good players who show off their best tricks to win the hardest videogames.

Maybe as a consequence of my fear of defeat, I'm not really that good at most videogames: my best gaming feat might as well be finishing The Legend of Zelda: the Minish Cap with 3 Hearts and one Bottle (and those who've played it can tell it's not really much of a challenge).