Anime of The Week: Sword Art Online

sao

sao

It is incredibly easy to immerse yourself into a video game. As technology continues to advance, we find new and unique ways to become a part of the virtual worlds we play in. We have gone from single joysticks to motion and voice controls when playing video games. Sword Art Online takes video game immersion to another level as the series demonstrates the potential of future gaming. In which players will be able to control their characters within the game via brain waves read by virtual reality headgear.

Kirito

Kirito from Sword Art Online


It is every gamers dream come true to become so involved in the games that we love but what happens when we discover that we cannot log out of our beloved virtual world?

In the future, many gamers have anxiously awaited the release of the highly anticipated video game named Sword Art Online. The game utilizes a unique technology called “Nerve Gear” where players can control their avatars within the world with their brainwaves. The turn out for the launch is large as many people have waited outside stores for days to get their hands on the game. There are several players, however, that obtained early beta access to Sword Art Online and have learned the ins and outs of the game before other players.

Asuna

Asuna from Sword Art Online

One of the beta players, Kirito, learned the ropes of Sword Art Online quicker than most players and while other players focused on building groups for leveling or joining guilds with their friends; Kirito focused on playing Sword Art Online by himself. As the launch of Sword Art Online progresses, players soon realize that the “Logout” button on their user interface is missing. Players using the Nerve Gear technology are not able to manually remove the device while inside the game so many players start worrying about how they are going to leave their game. An announcement is later on made in the game that no one will be able to log out of Sword Art Online and if any players attempt to manually remove the Nerve Gear device, they will die. To make matters worse, players learn that if your avatar dies in Sword Art Online, then the player also dies in real life. The developer of Sword Art Online also announces that players will be able to log out once the final boss of the game is defeated. The world of Sword Art Online is perilous and with the newly added danger of potential death of the player; the game consequences of failure are dire. Many players are killed in the very beginning but there is hope as skilled players, specifically Kirito, work towards overcoming the dangers of Sword Art Online and being able to log out of the game.

The characters in Sword Art Online are heroic and the story is incredibly touching as viewers learn that most of these players are just scared children who want to go back to their normal life and family. Sword Art Online brings a new light to gamers who have never wanted to leave their virtual worlds especially when it means losing your life within a game.

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