Gamers and Urbanism

@ad-mastro: “I’m reading Reddit threads about the rereleased Paper Mario game, and again playing with this idea that video games are the closest thing a lot of Americans have ever experienced to urbanism”

“It is one of the few games I would say is genuinely a 10/10. It’s basically a perfect game. Even the backtracking I think is overblown as an issue. Walking through the environments multiple times is part of what ends up making them feel so familiar for people. You notice things you didn’t before. You discover a secret you missed your first time through. You stop to chat with people or listen to the music. You get some inspiration for new battle or cooking ideas. You practice your combat skills against weaker enemies. All of this, organically. In this way, backtracking can be good. It serves as active downtime, which is almost always preferable to passive downtime.”