.hack//Quantum

I have yet to watch the famous .hack anime series. So, I was a little lost when I jumped into the 3 episode Quantum original video animation. The series caught my interest. It follows Sakuya, Tobias, and Mary as they play the latest MMORPG, “The World R:X.” Their adventures quickly take a turn for the worst when the three girls run across a player called Hermit and strange events in the game world.

The reality of virtual reality gaming hits home when Mary doesn’t wake up from the game world.

There isn’t much time for character development in just 3 episodes. Quantum relies on character stereotypes: the ditz, the calculating serious one, and the cautious protector for the girl’s in-game persona.

.hack//Quantum was an interesting watch. Although, I was lacking background from the other .hack series I could follow what was going on. I find series that look into virtual reality and how it affects reality quite interesting. Before going into librarianship I studied computer programming and video game design as an undergraduate. Of course, I grew up playing video games too. I was an 8bit and 16bit console child.

The short episodes briefly explored what would happen if a person could “fully” enter a game: feeling pain and have the game affect you in reality. Sakuya, for example, receives a wound in the game that made her hand in real life continually tingle. I can see events like these being remotely possible. Virtual reality interfaces wouldn’t even have to stimulate the brain directly to do this.

The mind is easy to trick. Think about the last time you woke from a nightmare. However, stimulating the brain and body with electric impulses could certainly lead to problems. I tend to get fragged often in first person shooters. I rarely play them because I tend not to like them and get motion sick playing them. Now imagine feeling something uncomfortable every time you get shot or killed.

Of course, there is the pleasure side of the equation that Quantum doesn’t have time to delve into. Sword Art Online touches a little on how virtual reality could affect sexuality. As you can tell, the idea of virtual reality and how people would use the technology fascinates me.

In any case, Quantum shared many elements with Sword Art Online. It definitely makes me want to look into the other .hack series.