I'm a geek. If you got a problem with that, stop reading this post now. With the disclaimer outta the way, I'm gonna talk about video games. I love me a good shoot-em up game, but I also love multiplayer and point 'n click games. Whatever the era may be, I can find one video game I love. Why is that so hard for others?? When did culture's judgement of a good video game boil down to what the graphics looked like? Or even what gaming system it's on? Bare with me as I ramble.
It really bothers me when all gamers judge a video game on is the way it looks. The way it sounds. I'm gonna take the ever so popular "Call of Duty" games for example. Just recently, the predictably hyped up "Modern Warfare 3" was just released. Not being a hardcore fan of the "CoD" franchise, this may be a biased opinion, but what's the big deal? Is it that it looks all nice and shiny? I mean, I may be completely off base and totally stupid in this field, but isn't this new game just the exact same thing as the others only maybe with a different story line? What keeps gamers coming back other than a love for the franchise? They wanna see if it can out do the last game in the looks department. And seeing a commercial for it every single time I watch a video on Blip TV I'll admit, the game does look sharp. But there's guys running around with guns, crap exploding, and more guns. Why does this look familar?? (koff koff "MW2" koff koff)
Another thing that bugs me about these games are the fads they unleash. I'm gonna take three game series for example. "Halo", "Grand Theft Auto", and "CoD" once again. I'm gonna say once again, I'm not hardcore fans of any of these franchises so I'm probably a moron in this field, but I know enough to at least think I should be talking. Let's start with "Halo". I remember when "Halo: ODST" came out. Every "Halo" fan was going crazy. Then "Halo: Reach" came out. Every "Halo" fan was going crazy. But what happened to poor "ODST"? He was forgotten, hidden in the shadow of the new shinier "Halo" installment. Now, "Halo 4" will be released soon. What do you think will happen to "Reach", if it hasn't already happened?
Now let's talk about "CoD" once again. I don't really remember when "Modern Warfare" was released, but I remember when his sibling "Modern Warfare 2" came out. At the very beginning of this year for school, we had to make a small poster of things that would be remembered from 2010 (i.e. the Gulf oil spill, Haiti's earthquake) and things that would be forgotten. I put down "Modern Warfare 2" on the list of things that would be forgotten. Sure enough, one game crazed nerd came up to me saying "Man how can you say 'MW2' will be forgotten!?" I simply replied "Black Ops." "MW" had been forgotten, and his younger sibling would soon go the same way as "Call of Duty: Black Ops" had recently been released. And now, as stated earlier, "MW3".
Now the "Grand Theft Auto" series is a bit different. This is one modern series that I've noticed is praised for more reasons than just graphics. Each game seems to have its own fan base, regardless of age or primitive graphics. Considering how each game has different stories and characters, you can choose which one to follow, and maybe all of them. Now that "GTA5" is coming out (which I THINK will be a continuation of "San Andreas") a new fan base will be built.
Now I've ranted and raved about wanting bigger better and prettier, let's talk about stations. Why is there such a competitive nature between gaming consoles? Each console can be great for it's own reasons and it's own library of games. My all time favorite video game is "Hotel Dusk: Room 215", a mystery adventure on the Nintendo DS. Now, granted, the DS doesn't exactly have a winning catalogue of games, but every once and a while you can find a gem. And "Hotel Dusk" is the mother of all diamonds, because this game is as close to perfect as it can get. So love your consoles, and we'll love ours. Just give the other ones a try sometime.
So, I find that the craze of gaming is just a fad upon a fad upon a fad upon a fad. Each new releases hype is short lived, and all it has become is a race for better graphics. I'm telling you honestly, I would sooner play "Contra" on the Nintendo Entertainment System or "GoldenEye" on the N64 before I would play "CoD" or "Halo". "Contra" and "GoldenEye" may not be very appealing at all by today's standards, but the gameplay and overall fun of the game just makes them replay worthy enjoyable little suckers. And the fact that these things are left behind in the dust of the fads makes them even more satisfying to discover. So that's enough of my geeky rants. Good friggin' night.
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