Second Skin Trailer
Second Skin is a documentary (or docu-drama possibly) about gamers involved in Massively Multiplayer Online Games. From what I can tell, it mostly focuses on World of Warcraft and Everquest, which are definitely the two heavy hitters of the genre. I am curious what the tone of the film will be, as most stories I’ve seen regarding MMO game players generally feature two views. One : Look how obsessed these people are, aren’t they weird, they should be shunned. Or Two: Look how obsessed these people are, aren’t they sad, they should be pitied. Maybe this will walk some middle ground. The problem is a story about a guy who plays this game for two hours a day, and then stops, eats dinner and goes out to a movie probably isn’t very interesting. Our morbid curiosity demands a 450 pound woman who has been consisting on a diet of Mountain Dew and powdered donuts to stay wired enough for hour 36 of her two day straight WOW marathon.
The documentary isn’t out yet, I believe it is being screened at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX in March. After that I hope it hits limited release or at least a DVD release so I can check it out.
World of Warcraft is probably the closest I’ve ever come to an addiction. I never did cigarettes, and I managed to give up soda without too many problems, but WOW is another story all together. I’ve “quit” the game a number of times, but I keep coming back to play. Luckily I never hit the “17 to 18 hours a day” point of obsession with it, but ever now after three years of having it installed on my computer, I can still spend an entire afternoon exploring Azeroth. It is a powerful, powerful thing.
