The other day I got to thinking about the past and the memory of the blog arose. I decided to check it out and was shocked to see that more than two years had passed by since my last post. Two years! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was writing about the new Plants & Animals record, but as it turns out, time seems to move quickly as you get older.
So, here I am, two years older, yet not much wiser. Instead of doing something, anything, I have neglected to do anything really constructive with my time. Can posting in a blog really be considered constructive? Maybe, but probably not. I have decided that I'm not going to continue with the YouTube channel, but I am going to start updating this blog again. In any case, for me this blog feels like it's something, and something is a lot better than nothing. Now, don't misunderstand; I have been a contributing member to society these past two years. My contribution may not have amounted to much, but I am working. I'm not just some leech, attached to actual hard working citizens and sucking them dry. Where is this coming from? I guess I feel the need to justify myself, as this blog - and the whole YouTube video blog - started out to be about video games and other forms of entertainment. Though video games have changed, I feel that there is still a certain stigma attached to gaming culture as a whole. I should know, I often regard a lot of Gamers as lazy, unwashed layabouts. First, I need to digress to the term gaming culture. When did video games become a culture?
Sometime in the year 1990 my older siblings bought a Nintendo Entertainment System. It wasn't exactly the newest, coolest thing in video games at the time, but it was certainly the most popular. I suppose it was also the most affordable, as my two older siblings were able to afford one. I'm pretty sure that Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt were still the included games at the time, and these two games were my introduction to a whole new world of entertaining distractions. My younger brother and I would play these games for hours. As we got older, we acquired more and more games, usually from older cousins and other family members. Each new game became more in depth and absorbing. A turning point was with the game Dragon Quest, or Dragon Warrior as it was titled in North America. I would play the game for hours on end. It also opened the door to Dungeons & Dragons for me, but that's a story for a different day.
Video games offered a unique escape for my brother and I. The Nintendo was setup in the basement- away from my parents, my older siblings, the outside, and natural light. It was a time when we could be fully immersed in an interactive story, and it was awesome. Not only that, but the games would spark inside of us a new form of creativity. When we were done playing Super Mario Bros., we would be drawing and designing our own unique levels on reams of paper. At some point, we starting creating a new universe of unique life forms that battled giant space monsters, inspired by the game Metroid. Video games were our raison d'être when we were kids. My brother and I only had a Nintendo, but our best friend, Frank, had a Super Nintendo, and fortunately, we spent a lot of time hanging out and playing games.
As cool as video games were for us and Frank, we were certainly not cool. Not by any means. This wasn't true for just us. Most people thought that Gamers like us were nerds or geeks or square. For most kids my age, video games were just another toy. It was something to keep them distracted for an hour or so, and that was it. Not for us. When we played a game, we made sure that we found every secret, every item, and every collectible. Of course, we usually had our issues of Nintendo Power handy to help us through each stage or level. Even remembering and writing all of this can make me see that, yes, we were nerds! But, we didn't care. Games were awesome and we loved every moment of it.
These days, though, everybody plays video games. Gaming has transcended from being something that only nerds or geeks do, to an acceptable past-time and even a viable profession. It is now a culture. But, it baffles me. The people I see and talk to these days who call themselves "Gamers" are not what I would consider to be a true Gamer. Maybe you think I'm being elitist, and maybe I am, but I really don't like most Gamers these days.
Gaming has changed so much over the years, but it doesn't feel like people play games because they actually like the game. I talk to people every day who are playing games like Grand Theft Auto, or The Last of Us and all they can say is that the game is awesome. When I ask questions like, "What makes it so awesome?" or "What do you like most about it?" all they can ever respond with is, "Y'know ... it's just awesome."
Maybe this lack of defined response is more a testament to our failing education system, but I often get the feeling that folks are playing these "awesome" games because they are being told that they're awesome.
Maybe it's just me, but I still like to play games because they're fun, engaging, and I just love every part of it. It's in the characters. Perhaps it starts with a hero who witnesses all of his friends and family murdered before his very eyes and places it upon himself to seek justice.
It's in the story. It doesn't always have to be original. Maybe an evil villain is hellbent on world domination, but if you don't stop him, no one will.
It's in the game play. Sometimes it can be predictable, but that never seems to matter as long it's fun. You just know for a fact that the Princess is going to be in another castle, but you'll be damned if you don't knock that bridge out anyway!
Gamers these days are too concerned with their gamer score. I get asked on a weekly basis "What are some games with easy achievements?" Are you kidding me?! If that's why you're playing games, there is something terribly wrong with you.
