I am the proud owner of a Playstation 2, XBox, Gamecube, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance. I do not own a Playstation 3, XBox, Playstation Portable, DS, or (god forbid) a Wii, and I like it that way.
Maybe it's my advanced age; as people get older, they tend to resent change. I've been excited for each new iteration of gaming systems since the heyday of the Atari 2600. But this is the very first time an entire generation of consoles and handhelds have left me pretty much cold.
I love gaming as much as I ever have, goodness knows I have a huge collection of games that will prove that. And as I keep up with what is going in the current gaming environment, I have seen many games (several many years in development) that look really good. But no game that would provoke me to buy a next generation system. I have several reasons for this.
If I were to get a PS3 or XBox 360, I would (if I wanted to get the most out of the incredible graphics, which often seem a micro step up what the PS2 or XBox) have to get an expensive high-definition television. So if I pay 300 for a new system, I would have to pay at least 300 more for hi-def. I wouldn't HAVE to, but I suppose it would be highly recommended, as I would lose the inpact of the very slightly better graphics.
Games for those systems are also averaging 60 dollars, and I'm not sure why. Is it because every damn game has to have a multiplayer online option, or extra time is needed to put in achievements and trophys? Is that what the extra 10-20 is for? Of course, I don't give a shit about these things; in my day I just games didn't need all these extra bells and whistles, even as recent as the last generation. Maybe the kids today get hard-ons for online multiplayer or achievements, although they could simply bullet points on the back of the game box.
Games seem to have become much more complicated in the last 3 to 4 years, and so have the new systems. I had always enjoyed console gaming much more then computer gaming because you didn't have to be a computer expert just to get a game running. I always liked the fact that you could just pop in the game disk and bam! you were ready to game. Now you need patches and updates and DLC in order to enjoy many video games. Maybe they just get rid of the "video" and just call all games "computer" games now.
Let's not forget the XBox 360s 'red ring of death', which Microsoft swears has been almost fixed, but I have heard quite the opposite. XBox Live has been touted as the greatest thing ever to happen to gaming, but if wanted 16-year-old boys yelling and swearing at me, I would have taken a job as a high school teacher. The PS3 is now half the price of it's ridiculous original asking price of $600, a step in the right direction, but in my opinion, there are only a dozen or so games that I would waste money on, unless you are really into first person army games (I'm not), in which case you have about 200 games to chose from. Who says originally is dead.
As for the Wii and DS, there are thousands of games to chose from, if you are a child or soccer mom. And the amount of shovelware Nintendo has allowed to be put out for these systems could fill a suburban in-ground pool owned by a family with two and a half kids and a dog. Waggle a wii-mote or sqiggle a stylus, it's the in thing to do!
What do I know? I'm just a grumpy guy who doesn't like change, and perhaps the gaming industry has to change radically in order to keep with the young un's whose attention span has become shorter and shorter. Maybe games and systems need to evolve and add more and more extras or teens (and soccer moms) will go back to tweeting. Or is tweeting already so last week?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Lights, Quarters, Action:The Video Arcade Experience
The era of the video arcade was a great time, one that many young game players of today will never experience. Most video arcades are gone now, lost to the mists of time, and although they still exist (there is one a few towns over from), it is a pale imitation of the splendid places I frequented as a young geek.
There is nothing wrong with playing games on a console, far be it from me to argue against that. But I truly miss the magic, yes I said magic, of the video arcade when it was in its heyday. The demo screens of the upright cabinets flashing interesting bits of gameplay so they could steal your quarters away (sometimes 2 or 3 at a time), almost calling to you, come play me, it'll be fun. The smells, surprisingly in my memory lacking of B.O., although in my mind I may be romantisizing it; the smells were clean, maybe a little ozone in the air from arcade machines working 12 hour shifts. There was the matallic rattle of quarters, of course, and the omnipresent beeping and booping.
To me, each screen was like a looking glass into another world, a world that I, for the price of a shiny quarter or perhaps ten, could be a part of for a short while. This feeling still exists even now with the multitude of console video games I possess now, and is part of the reason I play them to this day. The feeling was much stronger then, either because of my youth, the relative newness of video games, or because I was surrounded by others who also shared my addiction.
Strange thing is, then, as today, I am a 'lone' gamer. I don't mind playing video games with others, even complete strangers in arcades, but I had just as much fun playing with myself (yeah, hardy har, snigger all you want), as playing with others. I never got very far in any one game, either because I did want to spend tens of dollars mastering one game, or the bright lights of other cabinets beckoning me. Or I have ADD, could be that. Squirrel!
Thing is, I spent as much time watching people play arcade games as playing them myself. And, if you wanted to watch most if not all of an arcade games gameplay, get behind an asian person and watch him play. I kid you not, I have seen the ending of games I would not in a lifetime finish. I don't know if they try harder or it's a cultural thing , but thanks to the nice asian fellows who allowed me to watch over their shoulders as they played. I would have missed a lot of cool stuff otherwise.
As a young man uninterested in sports and basically a friendless loner, the arcade was a wonderful place to hang out. I never found it to be a den of sin, as many adults may have thought at the time (and God bless my parents, for never thinking that.) It was, and always will, a great part of my life. I still love videogames with all my heart, but the loss of arcades took that bit of joy I got from wiggling joysticks and slapping buttons, trying to beat that end boss that just won't die, dammit. And I admit that this is painfully cliche, but it was a simpler time. Games have become too complicated,a subject I will rant on in a seperate entry, I assure you. Thankfully, a lot of this simple=fun equation has come back in the form of downloadable games (I know, I own none of the new systems and don't care to yet, but I still read gaming mags and internet gaming sites)and I always have retro compilations to fall back upon to get a little of that magic back (thanks Capcom! Thanks Taito!)
But seeing row upon row of arcade cabinets, worlds upon worlds inn which I could be a hero, for just one day...that day has long passed. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and I will never forget. RIP, arcades.
There is nothing wrong with playing games on a console, far be it from me to argue against that. But I truly miss the magic, yes I said magic, of the video arcade when it was in its heyday. The demo screens of the upright cabinets flashing interesting bits of gameplay so they could steal your quarters away (sometimes 2 or 3 at a time), almost calling to you, come play me, it'll be fun. The smells, surprisingly in my memory lacking of B.O., although in my mind I may be romantisizing it; the smells were clean, maybe a little ozone in the air from arcade machines working 12 hour shifts. There was the matallic rattle of quarters, of course, and the omnipresent beeping and booping.
To me, each screen was like a looking glass into another world, a world that I, for the price of a shiny quarter or perhaps ten, could be a part of for a short while. This feeling still exists even now with the multitude of console video games I possess now, and is part of the reason I play them to this day. The feeling was much stronger then, either because of my youth, the relative newness of video games, or because I was surrounded by others who also shared my addiction.
Strange thing is, then, as today, I am a 'lone' gamer. I don't mind playing video games with others, even complete strangers in arcades, but I had just as much fun playing with myself (yeah, hardy har, snigger all you want), as playing with others. I never got very far in any one game, either because I did want to spend tens of dollars mastering one game, or the bright lights of other cabinets beckoning me. Or I have ADD, could be that. Squirrel!
Thing is, I spent as much time watching people play arcade games as playing them myself. And, if you wanted to watch most if not all of an arcade games gameplay, get behind an asian person and watch him play. I kid you not, I have seen the ending of games I would not in a lifetime finish. I don't know if they try harder or it's a cultural thing , but thanks to the nice asian fellows who allowed me to watch over their shoulders as they played. I would have missed a lot of cool stuff otherwise.
As a young man uninterested in sports and basically a friendless loner, the arcade was a wonderful place to hang out. I never found it to be a den of sin, as many adults may have thought at the time (and God bless my parents, for never thinking that.) It was, and always will, a great part of my life. I still love videogames with all my heart, but the loss of arcades took that bit of joy I got from wiggling joysticks and slapping buttons, trying to beat that end boss that just won't die, dammit. And I admit that this is painfully cliche, but it was a simpler time. Games have become too complicated,a subject I will rant on in a seperate entry, I assure you. Thankfully, a lot of this simple=fun equation has come back in the form of downloadable games (I know, I own none of the new systems and don't care to yet, but I still read gaming mags and internet gaming sites)and I always have retro compilations to fall back upon to get a little of that magic back (thanks Capcom! Thanks Taito!)
But seeing row upon row of arcade cabinets, worlds upon worlds inn which I could be a hero, for just one day...that day has long passed. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and I will never forget. RIP, arcades.
Friday, May 15, 2009
I'm Getting Too Old For This Shit
I went to Best Buy today (RIP Circuit City) looking for new XBox, Gamecube or Game Boy Advance Games, and noticed that there were very few of any types of these games left. There were only 2 Gamecube games left. Two! Of course, these games are being phased out for the current gen systems, but it still made me sad. All the systems I mentioned have been "dead" for years, so it makes sense to make room for all the Wii and DS shovelware so Nintendo can another 100 million. I still play those systems daily, however. And for the moment, I could care less about any of the current generation systems. The amount of games I would care to play of the current generation, I could count on one hand.
I guess what annoys me is that for the first time, I am pretty much ambivalent about current games. I love videogaming as much as ever, but the future of gaminbg no longer seems exciting to me. HD graphics, online gaming, DLC, and waggling a controller all mean dick to me. Is it my age, perhaps, as I look down the barrel of 40? Maybe. I am definately old school. The phasing out of the last generation feels like a great loss to me, and the future does not look bright to me.
I am sure I am in the minority in this, and if I want to get games, I can still get them used at Gamestop. PS2 is having new games made for it, but less face it, the system has one foot in the grave. It's one of the best systems I have ever owned with some of the best games I have ever played, but it's days are numbered.
The torch has been passed. I just wish it had been passed to something worthy. Maybe time will change my view, meanwhile I'll enjoy the past,and lament for it also.
I guess what annoys me is that for the first time, I am pretty much ambivalent about current games. I love videogaming as much as ever, but the future of gaminbg no longer seems exciting to me. HD graphics, online gaming, DLC, and waggling a controller all mean dick to me. Is it my age, perhaps, as I look down the barrel of 40? Maybe. I am definately old school. The phasing out of the last generation feels like a great loss to me, and the future does not look bright to me.
I am sure I am in the minority in this, and if I want to get games, I can still get them used at Gamestop. PS2 is having new games made for it, but less face it, the system has one foot in the grave. It's one of the best systems I have ever owned with some of the best games I have ever played, but it's days are numbered.
The torch has been passed. I just wish it had been passed to something worthy. Maybe time will change my view, meanwhile I'll enjoy the past,and lament for it also.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Taking Turns and Grinding Away
Being the old fuddy-duddy that I am, and being a lover of RPGs, I'm really not sure what to think of the new crop of RPGs coming in. For instance, it seems that a lot of the new RPGs have done away with an overhead map, meaning you just go from place to place, town to town in a very linear fashion. This dicourages a lot ofr exploration, which is one of the fun factors of RPGs. I also don't care much for controlling the main acharacter and then having AI for the other characters in your party. Sure you can tweak the AI of the party members to do what you want, attck aggressively, heal or just stand around whistling, but that often seems like too much work forme, and besides I would rather control the characters myself.
Gone are the days where your party would take a turn, then the bad guys would take a turn, etc. I know RPGs need to evolve, as Japanese RPG makers are scolded for NOT evolving, and thus the boring western RPGs are taking over. By boring I mean overly complicated, as most western RPG are huge open worlds where you can tweak every damn thing in your character, party, weapons, on and on. it's too goddamn complicated. For instance, in the critically acclaimed Morrowind, there were a thousand different options for what you could do, I got completely lost within 30 minutes of walking around the land, and got killed by some pissed off bitch with a stick.
I stopped playing after that and haven't played since. I don't fucking care how awesome Oblivion is, if it's like Morrowind, I'm not touching it.
Basically, I miss the simpler days of japanese RPGs that had good stories but were not unbearably complicated. It seems that I am not alone in this thinking, as the Nintendo DS seems to have remade, or will remake, every Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, at least twice, as well as remaking many other old-school JRGs, many of which have never even made it overseas. As the DS is the most popular gaming system in the world, this is telling.
For once in a very long time, I could care less about a new Final Fantasy (number 13. Well, besides FF11. I detest MORPGs). The game seems to take every bullet point western RPGs have and place them in a Japanese setting. This may be out of necessity, but it still makes me yearn for the days RPGs were simple AND fun.
When I first played Final Fantasy on the NES, I was blown away and played it until I finally finished it. That will never happen again, and I am sadder for it. For myself, and for generatoins of video gamers to come.
Gone are the days where your party would take a turn, then the bad guys would take a turn, etc. I know RPGs need to evolve, as Japanese RPG makers are scolded for NOT evolving, and thus the boring western RPGs are taking over. By boring I mean overly complicated, as most western RPG are huge open worlds where you can tweak every damn thing in your character, party, weapons, on and on. it's too goddamn complicated. For instance, in the critically acclaimed Morrowind, there were a thousand different options for what you could do, I got completely lost within 30 minutes of walking around the land, and got killed by some pissed off bitch with a stick.
I stopped playing after that and haven't played since. I don't fucking care how awesome Oblivion is, if it's like Morrowind, I'm not touching it.
Basically, I miss the simpler days of japanese RPGs that had good stories but were not unbearably complicated. It seems that I am not alone in this thinking, as the Nintendo DS seems to have remade, or will remake, every Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, at least twice, as well as remaking many other old-school JRGs, many of which have never even made it overseas. As the DS is the most popular gaming system in the world, this is telling.
For once in a very long time, I could care less about a new Final Fantasy (number 13. Well, besides FF11. I detest MORPGs). The game seems to take every bullet point western RPGs have and place them in a Japanese setting. This may be out of necessity, but it still makes me yearn for the days RPGs were simple AND fun.
When I first played Final Fantasy on the NES, I was blown away and played it until I finally finished it. That will never happen again, and I am sadder for it. For myself, and for generatoins of video gamers to come.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Goodbye Old Friend
As many people who enjoy and play videogame already know, the magazine Electonic Gaming Monthly has ceased publication. I had been reader of this magazine for almost 15 of it's twenty years, and still consider it one of the best magazines about my favorite hobby. I was shocked and saddened when I found out earlier this year that EGM was gone. It actually felt like part of my childhood had been stripped away, even though I am almost 40.
No particular reason was given as to why EGM ceased publication, at least none I could find, but it's pretty easy to figure out. The horrible economy had much to do with it, I'm sure, even though by all indications the magazine was doing quite well. So much information now being now found on the internet is another factor. Magazines are becoming archaic. Of course I am also to blame;witness this blog. But I miss the feeling of a magazine in my hands and turning the pages. The internet is in some ways better than a magazine (you can show video of games,, for instance, and can get up to date information),but it's just not the same.
It's just not that I'm old and still getting used to getting plugged into the interweb, it was the simple fact that EGM was, since I started reading it, an excellent, well-done, and informative magazine cut down in it's prime. I believe the magazine could have lasted another 20 years easy.
And call me niave, but I never expected EGM to be there one month and gone the next. To be honest, I don't believe the writers did either.
RIP, Electronic Gaming Monthly. You will be missed.
No particular reason was given as to why EGM ceased publication, at least none I could find, but it's pretty easy to figure out. The horrible economy had much to do with it, I'm sure, even though by all indications the magazine was doing quite well. So much information now being now found on the internet is another factor. Magazines are becoming archaic. Of course I am also to blame;witness this blog. But I miss the feeling of a magazine in my hands and turning the pages. The internet is in some ways better than a magazine (you can show video of games,, for instance, and can get up to date information),but it's just not the same.
It's just not that I'm old and still getting used to getting plugged into the interweb, it was the simple fact that EGM was, since I started reading it, an excellent, well-done, and informative magazine cut down in it's prime. I believe the magazine could have lasted another 20 years easy.
And call me niave, but I never expected EGM to be there one month and gone the next. To be honest, I don't believe the writers did either.
RIP, Electronic Gaming Monthly. You will be missed.
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Download Generation
Downloading stuff is all the rage right now. Music, movies, books...and videogames. Pulling electrons from the ether and assembling them into entertainment. It sounds cool, and in some ways it is, but I just don't know about it. I'm from the generation that needs and wants a physical object, such as a disk with the information on it. It makes me feel safer, somehow. Whereas if I were to download something, I would be afraid of it getting lost somehow, back in the ether. Call me old school, or just old, I'm not part of the download generation.
Downloading is becoming a big thing in videogames, with entire videogames able to be downloaded to hard drives and downloadable content (or DLC) for games that are sold on disk. I have to admit that downloadable games have their good points; mainly that games that would not have a chance of hell of ever being published because they are too quirky or not a sequel, can be distributed electronically at a fraction of the price. These games are the indie films of the gaming world, and that is a very good thing as developers fall back on sequels and blockbuster games that need to guarenteed they will make back the cost of developing the game, which is averaging 20 to 30 million and only getting higher. The downloadable/indie games are needed if there is to be any creativitity and imagination left in games.
What really bothers me is DLC. It allows game makers to be lazy, either by releasing patches that fix bugs that should have been fixed before the game was released, or by adding stuff that should have been in the original gane to begin with. Sometimes the DLC is free, and sometimes you have to pay for it. So let me get this straight:I pay 60 dollars for a buggy game and then pay an extra 10 for an extra level or new skins? You know what:fuck you and your game.
I long for a simpler time when you had a cartridge or a disk and that was it. Granted, I'm still not sure how they become games when inserted into the game system, could be some kind of weird gaming magic mojo for all I know. But you still have a physical object that own. If you download something, what exactly do you own? Air? Electrons? And you don't have to concern yourself with downloading more crap to your hard drive to fix bugs or race an extra track.
Still, I'll try not be completely negative. Indie games are good and a balm to the sting of expensive videogame sequels. It would be nice if they could be on disks though. In a kinder world...
(And yes, the irony of these words being in cyberspoace and not typed on paper is not lost on me. But who would read my rants if they were typed on a typewriter at home? Not that I expect these blogs to be read either. Ranting into the dark void, I am.)
Downloading is becoming a big thing in videogames, with entire videogames able to be downloaded to hard drives and downloadable content (or DLC) for games that are sold on disk. I have to admit that downloadable games have their good points; mainly that games that would not have a chance of hell of ever being published because they are too quirky or not a sequel, can be distributed electronically at a fraction of the price. These games are the indie films of the gaming world, and that is a very good thing as developers fall back on sequels and blockbuster games that need to guarenteed they will make back the cost of developing the game, which is averaging 20 to 30 million and only getting higher. The downloadable/indie games are needed if there is to be any creativitity and imagination left in games.
What really bothers me is DLC. It allows game makers to be lazy, either by releasing patches that fix bugs that should have been fixed before the game was released, or by adding stuff that should have been in the original gane to begin with. Sometimes the DLC is free, and sometimes you have to pay for it. So let me get this straight:I pay 60 dollars for a buggy game and then pay an extra 10 for an extra level or new skins? You know what:fuck you and your game.
I long for a simpler time when you had a cartridge or a disk and that was it. Granted, I'm still not sure how they become games when inserted into the game system, could be some kind of weird gaming magic mojo for all I know. But you still have a physical object that own. If you download something, what exactly do you own? Air? Electrons? And you don't have to concern yourself with downloading more crap to your hard drive to fix bugs or race an extra track.
Still, I'll try not be completely negative. Indie games are good and a balm to the sting of expensive videogame sequels. It would be nice if they could be on disks though. In a kinder world...
(And yes, the irony of these words being in cyberspoace and not typed on paper is not lost on me. But who would read my rants if they were typed on a typewriter at home? Not that I expect these blogs to be read either. Ranting into the dark void, I am.)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
It's too big!
The big thing with videogames now is the term 'open world'. It's where you are free to do just about anything you want in the game world. Examples of this are the Grand theft Auto series, Elder Scrolls:Oblivion, and the recent Fallout game. In these games there are hundreds of things, maybe thousands of different things to do, decisions to make. You have the ultimate freedom.
For me, this freedom sucks.
I make enough decisions in the real world. What show should I watch? What do I eat for lunch? Do I have to go to work today? In a video game, the only real decision I want to make is, what bad guy do I shoot next? I don't really want to think all that much in a video game.
I played Elder Scrolls:Morrowind on XBox, excited to start an epic journey, only to be confronted by dozens of different missions and decisions. I wandered around the huge landscape, got completely, utterly lost, and ended being killed by a peasant by accident. I gave up. I may try the game someday,when I'm not looking for fun.
Everyone says ES:Oblivion is an awesome RPG, which is really big, man. The game looks cool, but after Morrowind, I'm not sure if I want to waste 500 hours of my life playing it.
Western RPG, which are becoming more popular than Japanese style RPGs, are famous for being open worlds. JRPGs are too linear, some say, they don't give you an EXPERIENCE, they follow a storyline too closely for that. Well, fuck that, I want the story, I want the linearality. If I want create a story, I'll write a story, and writing a story is HARD.
So in my book, open world games suck, linear games, like JRPGs and most FPS, rule. That's my choice and I'm sticking to it.
For me, this freedom sucks.
I make enough decisions in the real world. What show should I watch? What do I eat for lunch? Do I have to go to work today? In a video game, the only real decision I want to make is, what bad guy do I shoot next? I don't really want to think all that much in a video game.
I played Elder Scrolls:Morrowind on XBox, excited to start an epic journey, only to be confronted by dozens of different missions and decisions. I wandered around the huge landscape, got completely, utterly lost, and ended being killed by a peasant by accident. I gave up. I may try the game someday,when I'm not looking for fun.
Everyone says ES:Oblivion is an awesome RPG, which is really big, man. The game looks cool, but after Morrowind, I'm not sure if I want to waste 500 hours of my life playing it.
Western RPG, which are becoming more popular than Japanese style RPGs, are famous for being open worlds. JRPGs are too linear, some say, they don't give you an EXPERIENCE, they follow a storyline too closely for that. Well, fuck that, I want the story, I want the linearality. If I want create a story, I'll write a story, and writing a story is HARD.
So in my book, open world games suck, linear games, like JRPGs and most FPS, rule. That's my choice and I'm sticking to it.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Games are for Children
For a long time, a very long time, videogames have been seen as "childrens' toys". For a long time, they were. But in the past 10 years or so, the medium has matured, and not just in the level of violence (which will always be a sticking point for those who still think of video games as kids play), but in storylines, plot and characterization . More games have been made with the 'M" rating than I have never seen before. I consider this a very good thing, as video games need to mature. There are books for adults, movies for adults, why can't video games be for adults as well as for kids?
Video games are a unique medium, in which the player is in control of how the game and the story plays out. Sure you are often on a set path, but the fact is that you are the hero/heroine, and what you do wrong or right effects the game positivily or negatively. This experience should be experienced by any age, young or old, without the stigmata of others saying 'grow up', games are for kids.
As I mentioned, video games have been taking great strides in maturity, as those have been playing video games, like me since the atari 2600 have gotten older but still enjoyed our, in my belief, unique hobby. That is why I am frankly pissed at Nintendo's unwavering stance to make video games only for kids and neglect, and almost put a stigmata on those who with houses, jobs and kids but still enjoy video games as a hobby.
Nintendo has marketed the DS and the especially the Wii as game machines that the 'casual gamer' can play. That has worked very well so far, but there has been a glut of simple games, many aimed at children; worse many of these games are not very good. Yet, they sell well, because of the 'gimmicks' that the DS and Wii have:the touch screen, and the Wii remote. Children love gimmicks. They love waving their arms, love tapping on things.
this would not bother me so much if I did not feel that Nintendo is not adding and growing to the medium of videogames, instead, they are making videogames take a giant step backward. While the PS3 and the XBox 360 have games that try to improve, evolve and mature the medium, Nintendo does the opposite, infantalizing and stunting video games, which as a whole are trying to be as viable and important as movies as storytelling mediums. There is a ways to go yet, but Nintendo sure as hell isn't helping.
To be honest, as a lover of all things videogame, Nintendo to me is an embarrassment to the industry at this point. To underscore this, I will only say this 'Wii music.'
It is a sad state of affairs when the company that jump-started the videogame industry in the 80's is now the company dragging it back down. Nintendo is doing quiet well, but for quiet some time now, they have cared for nothing but themselves. Like an evil Pied piper, children follow them, their eyes glued to the hypnotic back and forth sway of the Wii remote.
If you diagree with this blog, and I'm sure many do, please email me at grumpygamer@yahoo.com. No swearing please, that would be childish.
Video games are a unique medium, in which the player is in control of how the game and the story plays out. Sure you are often on a set path, but the fact is that you are the hero/heroine, and what you do wrong or right effects the game positivily or negatively. This experience should be experienced by any age, young or old, without the stigmata of others saying 'grow up', games are for kids.
As I mentioned, video games have been taking great strides in maturity, as those have been playing video games, like me since the atari 2600 have gotten older but still enjoyed our, in my belief, unique hobby. That is why I am frankly pissed at Nintendo's unwavering stance to make video games only for kids and neglect, and almost put a stigmata on those who with houses, jobs and kids but still enjoy video games as a hobby.
Nintendo has marketed the DS and the especially the Wii as game machines that the 'casual gamer' can play. That has worked very well so far, but there has been a glut of simple games, many aimed at children; worse many of these games are not very good. Yet, they sell well, because of the 'gimmicks' that the DS and Wii have:the touch screen, and the Wii remote. Children love gimmicks. They love waving their arms, love tapping on things.
this would not bother me so much if I did not feel that Nintendo is not adding and growing to the medium of videogames, instead, they are making videogames take a giant step backward. While the PS3 and the XBox 360 have games that try to improve, evolve and mature the medium, Nintendo does the opposite, infantalizing and stunting video games, which as a whole are trying to be as viable and important as movies as storytelling mediums. There is a ways to go yet, but Nintendo sure as hell isn't helping.
To be honest, as a lover of all things videogame, Nintendo to me is an embarrassment to the industry at this point. To underscore this, I will only say this 'Wii music.'
It is a sad state of affairs when the company that jump-started the videogame industry in the 80's is now the company dragging it back down. Nintendo is doing quiet well, but for quiet some time now, they have cared for nothing but themselves. Like an evil Pied piper, children follow them, their eyes glued to the hypnotic back and forth sway of the Wii remote.
If you diagree with this blog, and I'm sure many do, please email me at grumpygamer@yahoo.com. No swearing please, that would be childish.
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