Greetings, all. I am a member of the community at
http://www.metroid2002.com and have been so for some time. While I do not actively pursue the same sort of gaming endeavours most of the patrons of sites like this one and metroid 2002, I am very involved with the community thereof and support elite gaming in all its forms. It is with this mindset that I approach this forum.
Relations between the elite console gaming community and the elite emulator gaming community are as they have long been: strained and at times openly hostile. I dislike this state of affairs as I find enjoyment and entertainment in watching both console runs and emulated runs. It is a different kind of enjoyment with each, and I expect different things from them, however, they are, at their core, merely different types of elite gaming. For a time I did not think much of this; I recognized it as a problem but found no inclination or means to attempt to fix it.
This thread on m2k2 changed my mind. It concerns a member of the nesvideos community, and what he was calling a Tool-Assisted Speedrun of Super Metroid. Posting a link to a promo video of what the community at m2k2 refers to as "Emulation Rape" generated a very quick and mixed response, easily viewable there. I came to the conclusion after conferring with the admin of m2k2, Nathan Jahnke, that the primary problem was not what the emulated run
was but what it displayed itself as. One of the primary reasons so many members of m2k2 hold emulated runs in such distaste is the fact that emulated runs
appear to be the same thing as console runs at first glance (but are not), and they outperform their look-alike cousins to a considerable degree. Whether any one person is specifically interested in emulated runs or not and whether they find them offensive or not are two seperate distinctions. The issue then arises from nomenclature: Spades should be called spades, and they should be so called both loudly and obviously for all to hear.
The large problem with this is that the name for these emulated runs is in dispute. Not among the emulating community by any stretch, but between the different major factions of elite gaming. m2k2 would have them be derisively known as Emulation Rape or Emu Rape, while the emulating community would have them be known as the very politically correct Tool-Assisted Speedruns. Neither community is willing to accept the other's term. This lack of a definitive name is a severe impediment to relations between these major sides of the elite gaming community. For each to shrug the other off as inconsequential and not care what they think is, in my humble opinion, a mistake.
Therefore, and as you can see in the thread I linked to, I feel that a new name should be agreed on by both sides. The name I propose is "Cyborg Run", the verb form of which would be "To Borg a Run/Game". My reasoning, reposted from the thread on m2k2:
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1: It is as accurate as you can possibly get. The first line of the article 'Cyborg' on Wikipedia reads:
"The term cyborg, a portmanteau of cybernetic organism, is used to designate an organism which is a mixture of organic and mechanical (synthetic) parts. Generally, the aim is to add to or enhance the abilities of an organism by using technology."
I can't imagine how anyone could argue that that's not an accurate description of what we at m2k2 call emulation rape. In truth it's more a tightened and cooler-sounding version of "tool assistance" than anything. Which brings me to the next reason:
2: It sounds better than anything currently in use. "Tool assistance" sounds, to me, anyway, as spineless as "vertically challenged person of separate gender" to describe a short woman in poltically correct gibberish. I've never heard a person desribe their emulated run as "tool-assisted" in any tone other than a begrudging "I have to say this so I am" sort of way. Furthermore, "Emulation Rape" contains the word "Rape", which is probably offensive to more than one person out there, I would dare say. Compare:
"Hey guys, check out my Tool-Assisted Speedrun of Metroid II"
"Hey guys, check out my Emu Rape of Metroid II"
"Hey guys, check out my Cyborg Run of Metroid II"
"I am in the middle of doing a run of Metroid II with tool assistance" or "I'm tooling Metroid II"
"I'm raping Metroid II"
"I'm borging Metroid II"
3: I've got nothing riding on this since I've never done a run. This isn't actually a reason that my idea is a good one, but it does stand to show that I'm just offering this as a possible way of easing tensions between two groups of gamers that really have enough in common to make a feud pretty stupid.
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So I'm posting this here to see what you guys think.