Anyway, over the last couple of weeks there's been a lot of shit going on in the world of gaming. Almost every day on every site people have been talking about this GamerGate stuff which basically involves a lot of people flinging shit and not really getting anywhere, at least not that I can see at time of writing this article. Not that the whole issue about women in games and honesty of gaming media isn't a topic worth discussing but there's so much bile involved. If you take a look through my recent posts then you can even see that it was starting to get to me, where I'm guilty of blogging about all the bullshit and actually getting quite angry about it. Usually when I rage at stuff it's not REAL rage but this whole situation was getting my pantaloons twisted.
But then I took a step back, stopped reading these fucking "news" sites and forums and I loaded up a game. I played that game for a good few hours and you know what? I had fun. The drama over the course of the last two weeks made me forget for just a second why I love this medium and why I play video games. So in a way of kind of getting myself back on track with what I'm here for and to look a bit sappy on the internet, I thought I'd write this post today about just why I love gaming so damn much.
Gaming is a thing I've been doing since I was 4 years old starting with the Megadrive then going a generation or two backwards before eventually getting my hands on a SNES and subsequently a Saturn/PS1 etc.
As a person I enjoy challenging myself and gaming as an entertainment medium fit that bill entirely. I could watch a movie or read a book and I enjoyed it, sure, but books and movies never quite gave me the same sense of satisfaction that a game did. When the characters in a book or a movie succeed, that's because it was written for them to succeed while in a game it felt like the characters success was based on MY input. Sure the stories were basic and/or shitty but the challenge was there and that's why I personally enjoyed them the most.
Gaming evolved and things started to change, the visuals and technology was getting better and developers were getting better at writing stories. As I got older games stopped just being about beating a level or overcoming a boss battle but they were affecting me emotionally as well. Not only that but there was such variety and every experience I had in a game was a memory made either alone or with friends and they are memories that I cherish.
It's not so much like that now though, over the years I think the game industry has become just a little bit shittier by hitting the mainstream. Games aren't about innovation and experiences any more as much as they are about making safe shit for the lowest common denominator that will make the most sales.
But that doesn't mean gaming itself is shit, I still love the fuck out of video games. Nowadays I use them to relax after a long day of work. I can just sink into a chair and enjoy a game or if I play a shitty one and can come onto this blog and tear it a new asshole so even lowest common denominator bullshit has its place. Gaming is also that one hobby that all of my friends had and it's that one thing that has kept us all together despite me being halfway across the globe from most of them. I've heard about lots of people falling out of contact with each other but within my circle of friends we always try to make a little time to have a game of something with each other or collectively get excited or rage at latest gaming news, and that's great.
Don't take this post as an indication of me going soft. If someone posts something stupid or a game sucks I'm still going to get on my soapbox and yell, tough love and all that. But games journalists are always going to be shit, they always have and there's always going to be massive dickholes shitting up a given space but just don't forget to enjoy a fucking game once in a while, will ya?
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go play some Transistor, that game rocks!
1)) Lion King is insanely smooth. Like insanely smooth.
ReplyDelete2)) First console ever was Mega Drive? Explains so much about the rage! (j/k)