“Farming simulator is way bigger, more fun than you think” from Vice:
I’ve done many challenging things in games recently, from slaying hordes of humanoid rats in Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, to beating the magic-casting game Magicka 2. But the most hardcore gaming experience I’ve had this year was was trying to lift a bail [sic] of hay in Farming Simulator 2015 while using the $300 Heavy Equipment Precision Control System.
Farming Simulator 2015, in case you’ve missed the phenomenon, is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a game where you manage a farm much like you would manage a city in SimCity,
[We had this 20 years ago. We called it SimFarm!]
but you can also perform a wider variety of seemingly menial tasks, like hoeing, sowing, harvesting, and transporting crops, all while driving any number of accurately recreated, brand-name tractors, combines, and other heavy duty farming equipment.
I think the entire Corn Belt just strained muscles in their faces from looking at the author funny. Let me get this straight: It’s all the stuff farmers do every day because it’s their job, except out of the elements while sitting your desk holding the steering wheel from Pole Position?
You may not have heard of Vice, but you’re going to: Disney is investing $400 million in Vice Media and also killing the H2 channel on cable to make room for “unconventional content that’s avowedly targeting millennials.” Which not only includes experiencing a farm simulator, but hiring a 21-year-old to be a life coach. (Life experience is not a prerequisite for being a life coach, apparently.)
I can think of one way a “farming simulator” like this could be useful — as a course for agriculture and ag-related majors at college. If this sparks someone’s interest in the real thing, that would be great also. The Midwest has an issue with a lack of young farmers for a combination of reasons, but they’re needed in the real world, not the virtual one. But I suppose it’s better than spending that time on a smartphone application that picks its users’ pockets one in-app purchase at a time.