Since a very young age, I’ve looked to the medium of electronic arts/digital media for hope, inspiration, and most of all–fun. Virtually all video games, if you don’t count Minesweeper, used to unwaveringly be copious amounts of fun. The drawback, of course, was that they were all practically the same.
Either you were playing Super Mario Brothers or you weren’t. And if you weren’t, you were playing Tetris or Centipede or some other horrible excuse for a waste of time. Gradually, video game creators took into account that everyone who wasn’t “fucking retarded” was playing side-scrolling adventure games.
It really does look this good.
Sooner or later, everything became a side-scroller like Mario, but with guns, or fists, or whatever device served the theme of the game. But all of these games were inevitably the same. There were no core differences except for the subject matter that separated a Simpsons game from Streets of Rage.
They thought they had the market figured-the-fuck-out, and then suddenly it all changed. Nobody knew what they wanted anymore and the video game clusterfuck began.
Some wanted virtual reality. Some wanted old school side-scrollers. Some wanted to choose their own adventure, and some wanted Tetris.
When I look at what video games have become today, I feel like a frightened geriatric desperately searching a dark room for something familiar.
...and tits.
A younger me expected the future of gaming to be nothing but virtual reality. But an old and wiser me doesn’t even want to have to move from my ass-imprinted sofa to put the fucking game in, let alone to play it.
As the video games evolve, as does the subject matter. For a younger me, it was always about rescuing a Princess. An old and wiser me doesn’t give a shit about a Princess; I just want to see how many innocent civilians I can murder before the cops mow me down.
It’s not a healthy attitude to have–especially when you’re not playing a video game. (JK?)
I can’t get enough of these new experiences, characters, and stories that developers allow me to enjoy–and I’m never satisfied. Games can either be like crack or heroin. When it’s crack, it’s the most fun you’ve ever had and you’re pissed off when there’s no more. Your dealer gave you the best he could and didn’t even charge you a price comparable to what you’ve paid for lesser quality shit. And when you’re done–you’re angry.
When it’s heroin, you’re just passing time until the next one. Right now, video games are my heroin. I love the feeling, and it makes my dick hard, but I’m only really passing time until Heavy Rain is released next week.
The innovation, detail, and attention that went into Heavy Rain for PS3 blows my mind–and I can’t wait to play it. The demo drove me fucking nuts and now I’ve got bugs crawling under my skin.
Despite its criticisms, I remain delightfully optimistic that it will be one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. And then, surely, it will become crack. I’ll play for hours and hours, go days without food, wind up pissing myself, finish the game…
…and then I’ll be angry. Circle of life.
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I usually agree with what you post here, but in this case I must say that I do not share your views.