Grown-up Gamer

I was extremely lucky to start playing video games in 1985. (Or 1988 I guess...as its difficult to grip a controller as a newborn.) With the resurgence of gaming, thanks almost entirely to Nintendo, games burst through its marginalized niche and became a thing the entire family could enjoy. I got to watch gaming grow up and become what it is today.

Recently however, I've noticed I don't have quite the boner for any and all games as I used to. Age and experience caused me to develop this thing called 'taste'. I realize it takes more than high production values, crazy graphics, and tig ol' bitties to make me play a game now. I like to see things like 'integrity' and 'emotional resonance'. I'm expecting video games to finally sack up and act like every other medium.

A lot of folks my age are also into the indie gaming and art game scene. I understand the frustration with many mainstream games and big production companies pushing people (often huffing and puffing) into these other movements. And yeah, they absolutely have their merits. I don't consider a broad condemnation of the mainstream viable--especially because broad sweeping gestures are often the mark of laziness, cynicism, or BEING FUCKING 14 YEARS OLD (Was that irony just now? Hmm.)

When games are clearly presenting themselves in a way that says "Isn't this FUCKING AWESOME?" I have to roll my eyes. That feels utterly dishonest. Let ME make the decision about whether this is awesome or not. Show me that the main character can air-juggle an opponent using only their nipples and Oscar Wilde quotes, THEN I'll think the game is awesome. There are a few exceptions of games that can get away with this idea, because either they present it with a sense of humor (see No More Heroes, Bayonetta, and Devil May Cry) or they really MAKE you feel like the badass you're playing as (God of War, Zone of the Enders 2, Devil May Cry again..)

I can no longer abide JRPG bullshit. If I see one more goddamn overconfident, socially retarded hero or badass with a mysterious past--I'm going to vomit into a french press. If I see one more goddamn incapable healing chick, super peppy kawaii never-shuts-up motherfucker, or hey here's a robot because hey here's a robot (bonus points if you know what that's from), I am going to punch a building in the head. I understand that a lot of folks play these types of games for the familiarity that these characters (and storylines) possess. It's like, "Okay, when is my town going to be destroyed?" "When is what's-her-tits going to get kidnapped?" "What do they call 'fire' and 'ice' magic in this one?" "When is--" and so on and so on. How about another out-of-left-field ballpunch like Aeris's death or KEFKA FUCKING WINNING midway through the game!? Oh...uh...spoiler alert... Point is, I think those games are selling their audiences short when they aren't surprising them. After all, when do we discover the most about ourselves? Maybe that's asking Densetsu No Buraiken: Blazing Ether to do more then it's ever trying to do from the get-go.

It would require more research to do a broader more sweeping criticism of games-as-of-today...but there you go. THEY YOU FUCKIN' GO, MAN.

Now I'm off to make a lesson plan I mean probably play guitar.

DAK