Hi everyone from thatgamecompany!
My name is Raph, and I'm a
graduate student here in the Philippines. I love video games, and I
recently picked up the Collector's Edition of your games for the
PlayStation 3 at my local store. It was a good day: I finally got hold
of your titles! Living here the urban sprawl of Metro Manila, there's no
real support for an online store that lets us get digital releases, (no
support from Xbox Live Arcade nor the PlayStation Store as of this
writing) so it was a godsend that a boxed collected set was made
available. I bought it, and after hearing the gaming press sing praises
for "Journey", "flower" and "flOw", and I finally get to play them!
After my first run with "Journey", I was moved to tears.
I'm
currently a grad student learning Counseling Psychology, and my future
work trajectory is all about helping people cope with life challenges.
Many of the people I've been asked to look after all come to me
depressed, or on drugs, or even already confined for psychiatric care,
and I'm being trained to provide therapeutic work for them. I listen to
stories of people being abused, or abusing themselves, and my job is to
listen and hold their trust as a total stranger. It's challenging
because I'm ending my days heavier, moodier, and more stressed out
because I have to "help people carry" the emotions that they take from
their daily lives. I go home and play video games but I only get so much
relief from the titles out there on the market today, full of violence
and anger, all of which I already see regularly in my young practice.
Playing "Journey" was startling because I ran into a total stranger
and he/she accompanied me all the way through the top of the mountain. I
could tell it wasn't the first run of my companion from the longer
scarf and the patterns on the robes. Yet, at the top of every hill
he/she waited for me to climb up after them, at the bottom of every
slide he/she waited for me, and at points I got lost he/she would call
and I'd know who to follow.
Suddenly, it was like the tables of my life were reversed. Where I
had to be trusted, at that run I was the one who had to trust others. I
was the one being helped by a total stranger. I could put my, well,
journey's fate to a total stranger. And they helped me through the whole
way too, and I tried to help as well.
It made me realize that I don't always have all the answers. I
learned how to be more open to the kindness of others, which I started
to feel I was losing touch with (and it's almost a requirement for my
work-path). Lately, most of my interactions with people are
"challenging" and demand I tackle with a mind-set of "fix this". Here
was a time where I'm playing a game and the mind-set was "let's do this
together" and it's so refreshing.
I felt that because of the profound experience the game made for me,
I feel more "whole" as a person, more in touch with that side of myself
that can relate to others. It's funny how a game with no chat functions
managed to open me to somebody else, and with hope, to others in life. I
felt that it's such a new experience for games as a whole, and I think
somehow it's a shame not enough people have gotten to play this.
Maybe someday I'll be able to help someone else along their own
journey, both in the game, and as someone to trust in their lives as a
counselor. I learned here that we open ourselves when you take away the
external things - language, gender, identity - and focus on the person
as a person, and that together you're stronger than alone. I suppose
that someday I could even use the game as a way to provide people with
some relief too, and get them to play it! I have a good feeling some of
my clients can feel a lot better after buying your games!
It's astonishing what your team at thatgamecompany is doing
everyday, and the world is richer because of what you're doing and
because of the heart you all put into it. Even if others dismiss video
games as toys for children, I know better: my own life is greatly made
richer.
I hope that your team continues to produce amazing things. I hope
you know how you've helped impact my life, and that you may continue to
impact others' lives too.
Maraming salamat po. Mabuhay ang thatgamecompany!
(Thank you very much. Long live thatgamecompany!)
With warmth.