Favaro emphasizes that Alter Ego is only entertainment.
Since life experiences beyond adolescence are linked to gender, there are male and female versions, both released this year.ĭr. Favaro and his assistants, which multiply into thousands of possible ''lives.'' The written program is longer than 25,000 pages, and the software is three disks instead of the usual one. The game has more than 500 episodes culled from hundreds of life-experience interviews held by Dr. A player hitting the bully's face and fighting to the finish either gets killed or is saved by a teacher the computer picks the outcome at random. Responses influence the profile as well if, in another episode, the player befriends someone, his or her sociableness rating rises.Įach choice leads to others, as in the fight scene, where the player chooses whether to show up for the fight, to hit the face or the stomach, and to run or stay once his opponent draws the knife. The personality profile can also influence the outcome: For instance, a person with a low sociableness rating may ask someone out but be rejected, while somebody with a higher rating will succeed. Each situation requires a choice of emotional and physical responses, which determines what happens next.
Then the game presents the player with scenarios spanning birth to death, though one can opt for any age level. The game starts with a personality profile, which includes characteristics such as trustworthiness and sociableness, attained either by answering a psychological quiz or by letting the computer choose. Computer-game reviewers have trouble defining Alter Ego, calling it ''a game of self-awareness'' or an ''experience monitor.'' Whatever it is, versions of the game are already being played in high school psychology classes and will soon be marketed at the college level. The game, Alter Ego, is riding the crest of a wave where shoot-'em-up games are fading and psychologically oriented ''interactive fiction'' is growing. Favaro, a Port Washington child psychologist and adjunct assistant professor at Hofstra University. That is how it is in reality, and in a new computer game developed by Peter J. Each choice shapes your next, ultimately shaping life. You swing again, miss, fall and look up to see a teacher grab his arm. OR: You decide to hit him in the stomach.
Instead of running, you swing at him and miss, fall and feel a jolt in your chest as he knifes you. You can hit him in the stomach or the face.
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