I've been experiencing a new addiciton lately.  Despite having DNF sitting unfinished on my mantelpiece, next to LA. Noire - which I've barely scratched the surface of... I've been reading.  I've been reading the Phillip Pullman, Dark Materials Trilogy; The Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and the Amber Spyglass... And I haven't been able to put them down I read the Amber Spy Glass in less than a week...
 
The thing is there is something special about the idea of alternate realities, other worlds.  We as a species have always had a fascination with exploring and seeing new places - otherwise Star Trek wouldn't have been running in one form or another for over 5 decades!  Even in the days of wooden sailing ships, when most people probably didn't leave their village - India, China, the America's must have seemed like strange alien worlds.  Even now, who wouldn't like to set foot on Mars?  Even knowing that in reality there's probably not a great deal there apart from erm, rocks and dust... 
 
His Dark Materials reminds me most of a medium budget character driven sci-fi series that has long been cancelled, called 'Sliders' it works on the same principle, that there are various realities and as you read you marvel at the wonder of being able to jump into another world.  I won't spoil it by telling you too much, you really SHOULD read it - but there comes a point where the protagonists cannot jump between worlds in the way that they could.... And at this point in the story, you really empathize with them, you can imagine the great sorrow that you would feel if you were unable to explore anymore.
 
Whether there truly are multiple dimensions is something of a mystery, quantum theory suggests it's possible, or so I believe, but to be able to test the theory and travel to an alternate reality is a further leap from where we are now, than the caveman making fire to the Space Shuttle and the Internet.  The closest we have to this are games... Artificial realities that you can travel to at will.
 
Some of you may have watched Red Dwarf, and seen the episode 'Better Than Life' it's basically an artificial reality game, which plumbs straight into your head so you feel like, 'You're really, really there...' to quote David Lister.  This particular game is unusual in that it doesn't simulate war or sport of anything like that - it just works out what you want to happen and makes it happen.  All goes well in the episode until Rimmer's mind revolts and starts wishing bad things upon himself.  In the novelisation this theme is expanded greatly, and it seems that people get trapped in the game, unwilling to leave and end up dying because their immobile body starves to death, while they refuse to leave the sanctuary of the paradise 'Better Than Life'.
 
It makes you wonder whether this sort of technology will ever become available?   And if so would it be a good thing?  People can get addicted to altnerate reality games in their current crude form  - who hasn't heard of the people quitting their jobs, divorcing their wives and abandonning their kids to play World of Warcraft?   And in some ways it's understandable, the uber irritating, ugly as sin, morbidly obsese dude who sits in his bedroom for 10 hours a day playing WoW because he has no real friends, can choose his appearance, and due to ingame time being greater than his popular peers, who actually socialize in the real world... He can become more powerful and more knowledgeable of the game - he becomes the guy you want leading your raid.  And why shouldn't be prefer being the level 85 Death Knight with his epic flying mount and what equates to a group of followers and psuedo friends?  It must be better than being Ryan Smith, the friend-less dole dosser who has zero percent chance of attracting a mate in the real world?  There've been cases where people have met in world, online and have ended up getting married!  Sometimes emmigrating half way across the world to do so... I can only imagine the joy they must have of sitting alongside each other, 'raiding together'... Erm....
 
Still - imagine how it could be if we had a better technology, which did make you feel like you were there rather than watching a screen?  It would only become easier to get hooked on it so much that you don't want to return to reality.  At this level, maybe gaming would become akin to Heroin addiction?   Heroin is a drug which makes a human feel happier and more content than their mind will normally allow - the rest of life seems rather rubbish once you've experienced that, so you can understand people becoming addicted.  And with this logic in mind, you can imagine people who aren't content with their real lives being happier in a game.
 
But does that mean the industry shouldn't strive towards making game technology better?  No, I have to say, the simple act of exploring and building in an alternate reality doesn't need probes inserted into  your brain and for you to feel like you are really there - WoW is a testament to that.  Me?  I've been enjoying Minecraft lately, it's buggy - it crashes all the time, but there's something magical about entering a new world... and making your mark upon it!