Gamer Shares Touching Story of Finding His Late Father’s In-Game Ghost in Racing Game

In most racing games, a player’s best timed run on a given track is recorded by the game as a “ghost” that can be played against to improve upon records and hone your skills. In one gamer’s case, the ghost became a lot more literal after his father passed away, and he stumbled upon one of his dad’s best times still within the memory of RalliSport Challenge. His story is a moving look at how truly emotional gaming can be.

He posted his tale in the comments of an episode of PBS Game/Show on YouTube, which frequently analyzes games from a real-world social perspective. 00WARTHERAPY00‘s response to an episode on whether or not games can be a spiritual experience reads as follows (reposted unedited):

Well, when i was 4, my dad bought a trusty XBox. you know, the first, ruggedy, blocky one from 2001. we had tons and tons and tons of fun playing all kinds of games together – until he died, when i was just 6.

i couldnt touch that console for 10 years.

but once i did, i noticed something.

we used to play a racing game, Rally Sports Challenge. actually pretty awesome for the time it came.

and once i started meddling around… i found a GHOST.

literaly.

you know, when a time race happens, that the fastest lap so far gets recorded as a ghost driver? yep, you guessed it – his ghost still rolls around the track today.

and so i played and played, and played, untill i was almost able to beat the ghost. until one day i got ahead of it, i surpassed it, and…

i stopped right in front of the finish line, just to ensure i wouldnt delete it.

In an era wherein the Moms Against Gaming Twitter account—which I’m still pretty sure is a cleverly subversive parody—sparks rage over issues related to gaming’s negative impact on society, this is a great reminder of the positive things games can do for our lives.

(via The Daily Dot, image via RalliSport Challenge)

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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