When Games Overtake Reality

[Railwaymodeler]

I've been in an interesting discussion with the owner of the hobby shop about this:

There's the program Trainz Railroad Simulator. It's become somewhat popular, forming its own fanbase. Now there's payware downloads of locomotives, cars, and accessories for one's virtual railroad.

What the hobby shop guy was saying, is that he has had young people come in with their parents, and complain that the kid can get the download of a certain car or locomotive, far cheaper than the physical model.

This concerns the both of us about the future of model railroading!

I have tried out Trainz, and am not particularly impressed with it. It's fun to play with when I am on the road and don't have access to my model railroads, but that's about it. Even then I am working on a small railroad to fit into a suitcase for my travels!

I've found that I need a physical model, to hold in my hands, to be engaged in the hobby. I could never allow a virtual railroad to overtake my physical one. But, the kids out there seem to love buying a binary model, that can be destroyed by a hard drive crash or virus.

Granted, Trainz and similar are handy if you have no space at all for a railroad, but even then, it should not replace a real layout.


Now, on the other hand, I find that Trainz is a handy program to augment my physical layout. In the hobby world, we are always selectively compressing distance. I am making a layout in Trainz, that is a near clone of my physical layout, without compression, and a second Trainz layout of my layout as it is with compression, but this one is for conceptual planning of various industries.

I wonder, are computers and gaming getting to a point where virtual hobbies can now overtake their real-life counterparts?

Any thoughts?

[eMTe]

I wonder, are computers and gaming getting to a point where virtual hobbies can now overtake their real-life counterparts?

They cant. Physical contact is the most important in the world and internet is only a temporary trend. Be happy.

[Zyx]

This concerns the both of us about the future of model railroading!

I understand what you mean, but I wouldn't be too worried about the virtual world overtaking the hobbies. I believe the games widen the popularity of the hobby as a whole and net result is that more people end up with the "real" things. One thing about future is that things rarely stay the same, but I'm pretty certain that even though the hobby might change, there will be more people enjoying trains.

[Chroelle]

I thought the same thing, and actually felt like finding Trainz and trying some layouts and getting re-acquainted with the world of model trains as I always wanted to make a model railway setup when we get a place big enough for it - so the kids and I can build up something together. So I am guessing that underlines Zyx's fact.

[Zyx]

I think the fear is that you'll get Trainz but you'll never get a place big enough for the real thing and you'll never get a real model. And that's not a good thing.

[eMTe]

This concerns the both of us about the future of model railroading!

I believe the games widen the popularity of the hobby as a whole and net result is that more people end up with the "real" things.

I think you misunderstood Raillo's point. (maybe I misunderstood Raillo myself - sorry then! ) He said about virtual hobby replacing the real one, not about the program that encourages people to participate in reallife model railroading.

[Zyx]

Relevant: Lego readies building kit for Minecraft loves.