Donutta's Blogs

Why I'm jaded

Published: Sat 11 Oct, 2008 | 68 Comments

It's been brewing in me for a while.  In fact, it reached a level where I actually quit working here at NZGamer.  But now, it's reached boiling point.  I hate "gamers".  I hate gaming publications that focus on "true gaming."  I hate everyone who seems to think that the same excrement with a new coat of polish is revolutionary and worthy of praise.  In short, I hate most people that will probably read this blog.  Go ahead, give me your one star rating already.

 

However, I shall explain this mentality that I have.  I was recently reading an issue of Hyper, and they were listing the games of the future along with a score on their hype-o-meter.  I noticed an entry for Wii Music and they basically said that it was a complete waste of time and that anybody who cared for the future of gaming should avoid this "shit".  Excuse me?  They then go on to gush about Resident Evil 5 and Far Cry [Insert Number Here] and rave about how these titles are so wonderful.  It was here where I just closed the magazine and gave up completely.

 

I can't accept a world that wants a walled garden.  I can't accept a mentality that has its blinkers on and considers gaming to be something particular, and when there is a possibility of change, they freak out and stick their heads in the sand like it's not happening.  The comments about Wii Music particularly struck me as something that was spewed forth from someone who needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

 

Concerned at where the "game" is in Wii Music?  You shouldn't be.  The very concept of game -- as promoted by Aarseth -- is one that was should be throwing in the bin.  Rules, regulations, goals, scores: games don't need this.  What games need is to inspire the curious child in all of us.  If Wii Music gets at least one child interested in playing an actual instrument -- the same way Wii Fit has inspired many to get outside and start enjoying life -- then it has done more for the industry than any game since perhaps Tetris.  It will have taken the medium and used it as a constructive inspiration rather than a deconstructive waste of time.

 

Don't understand?  Let me explain.  When you sit down and you rank up the kills in Call of Duty 4 or nailed that really hard solo on Guitar Hero, what have you really achieved.  Despite what some little flashing logo at the bottom tells you, you have achieved nought.  All you have done is spent a few hours immersed in a virtual reality.  Unless you are one of the very few people that is good enough to earn money doing this -- and that is less that 1% of the people who game, let alone read this -- you haven't done anything constructive.  With very few exceptions, unlike books, there is nothing to be learned from video games.  There are no deep underlying messages, nay warnings to be found in video games.  It's still all dick-waving oneupsmanship that it's been since the late 1970's.

 

There is nothing to be excited about in the prospect of Resident Evil 5.  It's still the same old, lumbering dinosaur it's been since 1996, except they've made it look prettier and they've set it in Africa and ruffled a few feathers and raised a few eyebrows due to the possibility of institutionalised racism.  It's a 12-year-old game that looks a bit better and nothing more.  But gamers are gushing over this.  Why?

 

Because -- and this is the key -- gamers are immature.  They are still trapped in their boyish fantasies where gore and guts rain supreme and it's cool to destroy something rather than create.  Gamers are fueled by the same core than causes little bratty boys to kick over someone else's sandcastle.  Carnage, death, destruction, blood, guts, gore: they want them all.  Only to a gamer are games like Rampage and Carmageddon not something to cringe at with embarrassment.

 

Gamers are also shallow creatures, obsessed with the visual regardless of the depth that lies beneath.  The new Silent Hill game -- part of a series that has brought true value to the medium of video games -- might bring a new, thought-provoking narrative with it (not unlike the protagonist/antagonist affair from Silent Hill 2), but when you read message boards all you get is a bunch of gamers whining about how the graphics look "soooo last gen".  Give me a break.

 

Ultimately, it is this attitude, so prevalent on the Internet where people can hide behind the mask of anonymity and allow their reptilian senses to prevail, that has turned me off even reading about video games.  Oh, I still enjoy them -- right now I'm having a blast with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All Play (what a mouthful!) for the Wii, and after watching some Pixel Junk Eden in action, I think I might experience that as well.  

But what I refuse to do is to get into pointless discussions with people who have the mentality that the Xbox 360 is by far the best console because it has a robust online structure, fantastic graphics, and plenty of "hardcore" games.  Gaming should be more than that.  Gaming is more than that.  But whenever companies such as Nintendo come out and try something truly experimental and out of the box, the ostriches do what they do best.  When Electroplankton came out, reviewers were confused by it's refusal to adhere to the "rules" of gaming, bemoaned the ability to save your progress (Lord knows, we have to have something to show for the time we spent, right?), and then tried to quantify it with 6.0 scores.  That's like looking at the Mona Lisa and going: "Um... I say 7.8."

 

Gamers are desperate to hold onto gaming.  They want it to be theirs.  They are like a spiteful little child who will not share his possessions with others.  They don't want the industry to branch out, experiment, and see what is truly possible with the medium.  No, they simply want the next experience where they can point a gun at someone's head, virtually pull a trigged, and then scream "owned" down a headset.  Anything that doesn't present this opportunity, even if it wishes to peacefully coexist with what gamers desire, is seen as a threat and is instantly pointed and screamed at in a similar fashion to how the body snatchers identify someone not yet assimilated.  It's truly pathetic.

 

So, I say to you all, have you immature, boyish fantasies.  Continue to waste your free time in virtual fantasies pretending that you are a member of an elite special forces.  Shun experiences that dare to try something new.  It's all fine with me.  I'll be here in the corner picking up what you have so thoughtlessly tossed aside, and in it, I might find some real value.  I might not find the experience itself as rewarding as, say, writing a book, but I might find inspiration in these experiences to do something with my life other than spend it with the curtains drawn closed so that I don't have the sun glaring on my screen.  Who knows, I might even go outside and let that same sun bask down on me.

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