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| relaxing now! |
Honestly do you remember a time when you were young and gaming? No internet sites for it, no predetermined ideas or goals, no real cares? Everything was about discovery and interacting with a fresh medium that you were enjoying. I remember enjoying the demo of Bubsy 3D...... freakin' Bubsy! Sure I still had some type of an opinion. Mario bros couldn't hold me for long at all, and Turok 2 was just a game for getting lost in, but I was still easily pleased and just kept trying anything and everything until it worked. Spyro made me a gamer and I really loved it and sunk some serious time into everything about it. However that didn't stop me from just being a careless fun little kid gamer and enjoying whatever I touched. It was a simple and fun time without much negativity or influence and I never cared what a game had until I dove into it and found myself hooked or just distracted. Compared to now... now I feel a bit bitter about Last of Us being praised as the best thing ever when it was merely an awesome 3rd person shooter adventure with a well crafted cinematic narrative. I can't stand to see people carelessly praise Tomb Raider when it offered nothing new and in fact took away nearly every sense of freedom and interaction the genre would usually offer. I will probably also be stating until the end of time that Modern Warfare was horribly overrated back in its day, and I still don't understand why its taboo to say anything bad about it despite how the rest of the series is a pinata to the internet now. Meanwhile I feel fear for Wolfenstien's sales when it hits eventually this year because I want it to be proof that amazing corridor shooters with depth can be successful, but meanwhile its not getting the marketing or trust it deserves. I mourn Starhawk's sales defeat because it failed to do similar for online shooters. I feel a tad bit too sensitive whenever someone bashes Killzone and leaves out the details that make it great like excellent gunplay. I also question whether or not I should look into Destiny because Activision's name is stamped on it.
Ok so I'm probably overgeneralizing myself here as I'm not really this bad most of the time, but these thoughts are more of a thing now than they ever should have been for a fun little hobby. Yet I can see where each of them stems from, and it all makes sense and is a part of me. I care about what I love, and I'm kind of getting these emotions out of love and care that goes into a hobby that you learn deeply about across years. Though of course now that I pay $60 for a new game that doesn't help much either. Its the same reason I harp on the decline of the FPS genre, and felt so relieved to see Sly 4 fill the gap in 3D platformers enough to give it GOTY 2013 for basically just executing typical genre staples of its kind so well. I do it out of love for those game styles, and because they gave me fun where it lacks a bit now. However its not like the fun itself is dead... otherwise I wouldn't even be a gamer. I simply seem to have that "mature" mind to seek out and analyze things and I know certain things aren't as fun as they could be. I analyze stuff to figure out what works, what doesn't, what angers me, what makes a fantastic game, to think about the consequences of having or removing X or Y features, and to wonder whether or not my money is supporting a good group that puts entertainment first. Years ago I was buying whatever looked good off any source that had a good deal to sell it, and sinking up to a month of time on the game or even more, fooling with cheats and finding every single scrap of replay out of each heavenly game. Don't get me wrong, I still had opinions and could tell that Battlefront 2 was a sloppy sequel, I knew something was terribly wrong with Spyro Enter the Dragonfly without learning about its history or dev team, and I know I like Mario 64 much more than Super Mario World. I have also always had an odd distaste for the mainstream games.... not trying to sound like a hipster, but its true. The big popular craze game is often the one I could never get into. Instead I went with the cult hits, the secondary winners, or even loved games nobody ever heard of (maybe more on this another day and in another article). However now I just seem to over-do the opinions a bit too much. Sometimes I get ahead of myself. Sometimes I overlook something, or don't give it enough attention because I turned my head up it too early over something silly. I hear "Okami is like zelda" and it loses my interest... but then I hear its like spyro and suddenly there's a huge conflict of interest there. Meanwhile back in 10-year-old land I would have spotted a wolf on the cover, look to the back of the box to see if I could really play that role, and it would be a target wish list item and turn out to be a great game rather than some internal mind struggle that risks ruining the magic with walkthroughs "to be sure". Meanwhile I finally got to play Shadows of the Colossus, which should have turned out just right by every indicator known to mankind, and a game I was personally recommended for years and years on end.... but before even the first major piece to it I was bored with the game and found the set-up counter-intuitive and convoluted. Good thing it was free on PS+.
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| really guys? |
Then there's not just how this effects good games, but how it effects ones I'm more disappointed with. I get angered at the thought that someone out there is out around praising the newest Tomb Raider.... why? Why is it a bad thing that somebody is finding enjoyment with a game? Well I think it comes from a crusade-like mentality. In this expensive big budget industry where people rarely do creative things, there is sort of this odd tension to wanting the weaker expensive titles leveled out rather than being praised through the roof. I don't want Tomb Raider to sell its ridiculous target numbers because I seen what COD:MW did with that to the FPS industry.... but does that justify hating love? No, it does not, it just means the industry is full of idiots and I should aim my attention towards that. Thankfully I really do aim more at the industry when I talk about this sort of thing. Still its hard to resist the urge to question another's opinion when they run around telling people how incredible and bar raising Tomb Raider was with all its 1 hour of player input cinematic adventure gameplay.... and that's a problem not just with me, but with the majority of the internet gamer community out there with other games. We seem to throw up toxic and vile hate over high scoring titles and praise that we don't quite agree with. How often do you see a positive COD or GTA view getting bashed for it? How hard is it to come out and say "I love angry birds!" on a big gaming site and expect to get away with it free of any complaints? Maybe the new Devil May Cry and Bioshock infinite also fit here. Its tough, because they've become games where its so ok to hate that apparently somebody that likes it is worth pitchforks and torches over. Sometimes we need to just be more loose and relaxed, and remember that games are for joy and entertainment and different people will find different things to love and praise.
I think honestly this could be best expressed personally with a subject I'll probably begin bringing up more often... super obscure games. One of the inspirations for this article, beating Alpha Prime and then later re-watching a Jimquisition episode on the evil of hating other peoples favorite games began to make me realize a lot on how the two went together. I remember just not understanding how someone could hate Alpha Prime.... I didn't really defend it either as it isn't much of an amazing game on the critical spotlight, but on a gamer to gamer basis it fullfilled that sense of fun and sent me on an action packed nostalgia fueled adventure in space with fantastic corridor shooter flare. So I loved this game, was baffled at the hate it got from several people out of what few even knew it existed, and yet I couldn't find myself actually defending it beyond telling stories on how much fun I had with it. I shrugged off the hate pretty well, loved the game, and this kind of moment made me see just how stupid it looked to hate on the game with such intensity. Just chill out and let it be, its not a crime someone likes it and it certainly wasn't quite as horrible as they were perceiving it, it was some random obscure game... if they left that page they'd probably never remember it existed. I then went a step further and turned up with a new question on myself: why am I constantly ranting about the FPS genre decline when I could have been finishing Alpha Prime sooner? Why was I off ranting and hating on a subject I could have been using to put a big grin on my face as lovely industrial techno rock ran through my speaker as gun battles played out? Don't get me wrong, I'm never done with the argument and disappointment in the FPS industry as it stands now, and we do need fresh games in the style of older corridor shooter. However I also realized I need to lighten up sometimes and think that I already have my games... they're just old and need to be played with some space in between them. Gaming is about fun, and when I let the corporates, the haters, the disappointments, and the fears stand in the way of that.... I'm the one that loses out. If I ever had any particular stand out skill with gaming or maybe even life itself, it is adaptation... but sometimes I don't show it. I've still loved some of the newer games out there, I still get through some of the crap put out, and I'm able to endure and adapt through common complaints and obstacles because of how easy I adapt. Sure Killzone Shadow Fall was a clumsy mess that would have been far better with more raw gunplay and static health bars, but honestly I got through it and loved it. I also went beyond that and mock the haters because they got stuck on simple gunfights and survival rounds while I went through some trial and error to adapt to it and come out swinging through and having a blast. I could speak similar about how I enjoyed Modern Warfare 2: It was a bit different and not exactly my style but it was good enough that I could find its relate-able grounds and have some good times and laughs with it, and even if I become bitter about it.... hey Alpha Prime still didn't go anywhere. Or I could plug in my PS2 and pop in Turok evolution or Timesplitters, and pull a "sit down, shut up, and game" sort of motto. The games I love and praise and cherish didn't move out or modernize over time, they stayed as data on a disc and I can feel free to go and play them. I can even research some games of that era and style that I missed out on giving me new experiences in the same routine I loved. Want another "mascot" 3D platformer? I wonder how much scaler is going for on Ebay. Want another old school shooter? I'll wait for the summer sale and grab the quake set that I still haven't played. Meanwhile just being angry that the industry isn't making a game I want that doesn't exist doesn't actually get me very far. At best case scenario I'll inspire some more thought into my cause, but honestly is it worth the time wasted?
With all that being said and done, I'm not exactly talking about giving up or promising a change of ways here. Its just a part of being human and growing up, and a part of being big with the hobby. Its also another way to look at adapting.... you simply can't afford to be an "ignorance is bliss" gamer and a hardcore gamer at the same time right now. Publishers are bullying things through that shouldn't be, tacking DRM on games in places you wont want them, and games simply aren't as experimental and free feeling as they used to feel unless your only looking at digital markets from indies and no name brands (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). You can't go placing random $60 everywhere, and even if I decided to bargain bin everything I'd still miss out on multiplayer, pay for something with horrible modes that aren't clear cut on the box, or risk bumping into DRM crap that would have been easily avoided if I spent 10 minutes online learning about the game ahead of time. I also now just feel better about supporting the games that do something special and stand out, something else that would be missing out completely if I just waited and bought whatever looked interesting under $20 used. Its also an age in which where consumers and developers are also just naturally on a closer level with each other, even if some choose to ignore it. If you communicate and get your opinion out there, it really does stand a chance of being heard or making a difference.... and that's the sort of thing I hope to accomplish a lot when I often talk about how much better the shooter genre used to be. However I'm not rendering this whole article as some useless discussion that went nowhere either. I guess what my main message and the point of this article and reflecting upon myself is that sometimes you just need to relax. Sometimes looking too far into something, or being too worried over it, just isn't worth it. Its also just not worth it to get angry over it, as again... you just dig yourself a bigger hole for yourself even if the topic at hand is seriously provoking. Say what you need to say, and then continue to follow wherever the fun really is at, because at the end of the day that is the spirit of gaming. Sequel turned into a F2P scam? Go play the first game, look for influenced better games, or escape to another genre. Publishers being jerks? Don't buy from them, there's plenty of good guys still left and even if your favorite game ever is held hostage... you'll be fine, I'm in that situation to yet get amazed quite a bit at what is out there in recent times. You don't need to be miserable, troll forums, or argue with everyone on the blog... that's just not a healthy habbit nor is it what this hobby was about. Losing track of that makes you just as guilty as money grubbing publishers, or maybe even worse. Just relax, and go have some fun.
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| Keep the fun times up and rolling |
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