Last week, during a special report just like this one, I took a look at the effects of pain in video games, both mental (pushing yourself through the hardest difficulty in Ninja Gaiden Black and God of War) and physical (the talked-out PainStation device that's developing a hardcore audience overseas). And it does affect quite a few of you out there, depending on your approach to these games (prepared, angry, etc.). But the general approach to video games is that you're supposed to have fun with them, no matter what the content at hand.

And it's with this article that we take a closer look at how games evoke emotions out of people. Sometimes it can bring forth moments of pure joy and giddiness, and sometimes you find yourself so drawn into a character that, upon their demise, you can help but shed a tear or feel a great moment of sadness.

Emotions are actually starting to play more roles themselves in a video game. They take center stage as the characters within the game try to convey their dedication to completing a task, or even let the emotions themselves take over and transform them into a more powerful being. Take Bonk, for example. The classic hero from the Turbo Grafx games is usually a happy-faced caveman, fresh on his journey to rescue a beautiful alien princess from evil forces. Feed him meat, however, and you soon see an attitude change that makes him a bit more excited, eventually to the point that he's temporarily invincible and mowing down enemies simply by walking over them.

But excitement isn't the only emotion that's pushing a video game character forward- sadness is also playing a surprising factor. The death of a character in a game, for example, might push others to finish the quest for their departed company. But a more quirky example worth mentioning is Super Princess Peach, a game where you control the damsel-in-distress in a bit of role reversal, as she sets out to rescue Mario from the clutches of evil. She doesn't have as many skills as Mario, but, with the use of the touch screen, you can change her emotions rather quickly and quickly turn the tide in your favor. For instance, if Peach is stuck in a particular spot, you can make her cry, and rivers practically flow from her eyes. As a result, this grows a vine out of the ground that she can climb up. Wow, I didn't think I could make a woman cry so easily. (Shut up, Zach.)

And it's with some of these on-screen emotions that players can easily reflect. Let's talk about the point of loss for a second. **spoiler warning up ahead for Final Fantasy VII**. Midway through Squaresoft's classic game Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation, one of the key characters in the game, Aeris Gainsborough, perishes. With this, not only do the on-screen characters feel the pain of such a loss, but several fans of the role-playing game, and the series in general, feel such familiar loss. Their hearts sink, a tear rolls down their cheek, and the real feeling of despair sets in. That's when you know that character design and detail has done its work, when you begin to care for members of your party. Granted, it IS just a game, but the fact it can invoke such feelings out of you put them on a whole different level. It seems a lot of Final Fantasy games have moments like this, even older 16-bit efforts like Final Fantasy III, when one couple laments about giving birth to their child in a world filled with such hopelessness.

Furthermore, it seems more and more developers are depending on making their games an emotional experience. David Jaffe, the main man behind Sony's behemoth God of War, used that game to paint the picture of a man tormented by pain. **spoiler warning ahead** When you find out the point for his journey to revenge, the fact that he slaughtered his own wife and child, you feel his pain and get that much more into his journey. And Jaffe isn't done yet. Not only is God of War II bound to have a storyline just as dedicated as the first, but Jaffe has begun work on a PSP project that he deems will make PSP owners literally cry. Is it some sort of emotional-pushed game or perhaps something with characters that draw you in and make you feel their moments of regret and relief? Hopefully we'll know more at E3.

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