Vanellope von Schweetz (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unglitched) wrote2013-02-21 07:26 pm
unglitched) wrote2013-02-21 07:26 pm
Headcanon: Memory
Much like the computers they inhabit, game characters have two kinds of memory. First, there are the preprogrammed memories built into the game itself, which includes who they are, what their special powers are, any backstory the developers gave them, and so on. This is what Turbo hacked when he took over Sugar Rush. This form of memory is roughly equivalent to Read-Only Memory in a computer: it can't be changed in any way (except via hacking the source code), but will always be there regardless of the state of the system.
Second, there are the game characters' experiential memories--the memories of things that have actually happened to them since their game was plugged in. This is equivalent to Random Access Memory: it can, and is, constantly being added to as the characters go about their lives...but, like RAM, it needs a constant stream of electrical current to exist.
If any game in the arcade were to be unplugged and then plugged back in, the preprogrammed memories of its residents would remain intact, but their experiential memories would be lost. They would effectively be starting their lives over again, with nothing but the memories the developers gave them.
Long story short: Unplugging doesn't literally equal death... but from the point of view of the unplugged game's characters, and anyone who knew them before, it might as well be.
Second, there are the game characters' experiential memories--the memories of things that have actually happened to them since their game was plugged in. This is equivalent to Random Access Memory: it can, and is, constantly being added to as the characters go about their lives...but, like RAM, it needs a constant stream of electrical current to exist.
If any game in the arcade were to be unplugged and then plugged back in, the preprogrammed memories of its residents would remain intact, but their experiential memories would be lost. They would effectively be starting their lives over again, with nothing but the memories the developers gave them.
Long story short: Unplugging doesn't literally equal death... but from the point of view of the unplugged game's characters, and anyone who knew them before, it might as well be.