How do you view Video Games?

#1

Someone mentioned this in my Introduction thread, and I thought this would be a good topic I might do a blog for soon. Basically it is what the title says. How do you view video games?

I’ll start this off by how I view them. Every game I play is just another art form to me. No matter how good or bad the game is, I can still appreciate that someone spent countless hours, probably lost tons of sleep, and drank a tanker truck full of coffee to get the game done.

Now that doesn’t mean that I buy every game. I think that when it comes to buying games it’s a little more touchy, because I’m obviously not going to pay money for a game that looks like someone slung a cowpie on the computer screen and said “give me 60 bucks”. However the game has to be aesthetically pleasing, I’ve heard all the arguments that graphics don’t matter; but let’s be honest here…they do.

When I was kid playing the NES, SNES, Genisis, and all of them as they evolved, I would look at the blocky pictures and say “holy crap look how realistic it is!” Back then we didn’t think we cared as much, but as games have evolved, the graphics are getting better, and if the game looked awesome, we weren’t as mad that the graphics glitched because at least the player looked good doing it!

However, back in the day(god I feel old) the controllers were much simpler, so gameplay was only as hard as the controller could make it. There were many “clunky” games back then, but clunky back then, and clunky now are COMPLETELY different, I’ll explain.

For those of you who grew up in the N64 era, think of trying to go back and playing Goldeneye 007. That game was monumental for FPS games and we all know that we thought it looked amazing and loved it. But if you go back and look at Goldeneye now, the first thing you think of is nostalgia, and then get aggravated that the controls are so hard to work with. To me, I would consider Goldeneye a super clunky game control wise, but back then…holy crap it was amazing, because we had nothing else.

Basically to sum this up, I try and hold on to my original view of Video Games. I look at the art in them and appreciate that someone spent so many hours to give me this game world. To many people get mad that their F2P game sucks, and with the evolution of the internet we are all critics now. Sure, I can put in my suggestions to change it, now that we can patch and change games, but in the end, we all should try and hold on to that little feeling we used to get as kids when we got a new game and just appreciate that we were playing it.

Sorry this was so long, but I feel like this is an interesting topic I think all of us gamers can(or can’t) relate to.

#2

I’m going to move this to the uncategorized section. The essence of what were are all about is video games. This is most defiantly not off topic. :wink:

#3

You’re on it tommy. I just did that heh, sorry.

#4

Game controls is something I’ve actually never had trouble adapting to. I just mentally accept that’s how the game is played and by the time I’m an hour in I mostly have a master of it. Look at Resident Evil and it’s god awful tank controls. Most of us played it, most of us liked it and we just accepted the controls, the limited saving and very limited inventory system. When I think about using the N64 controller for games like perfect dark… man. I’m pretty sure that used the D pad to move and you used the single analog stick to aim.

We could talk about this for hours.

#5

I agree. Gaming is an experience similar to watching a movie, going to see a play, or looking at art on a wall. The mission of the game developer is to deliver an experience that makes the viewer feel something. That might be scared, proud, accomplished, determined, etc.

I love when a game goes out of its way to deliver that experience. I don’t feel it’s necessarily tied to budget but there’s definitely a trend in these huge budget games to deliver a huge experience over a very large playing area with deep story and emotion. Budgets facilitate better voice acting, larger worlds, better writing, more depth in character customization, and more. Indie games generally have a steeper hill to climb but that’s not to say they can’t evoke emotion. There are plenty of examples of this which I won’t go into here.

Overall, yes, I agree with you. Games are absolutely an artform and when I sit down to experience a game I ready myself to appreciate the work, creativity, and decisions made.

#6

This. My favorite game of all time still remains Metal Gear Solid 4. The only game in the history of games where the ending made me choke up and nearly cry. For the record, there isn’t much that makes me feel that way. When something nearly brings me to tears, it ranks high in my book :stuck_out_tongue:

#7

The Last of Us

#8

The whole MGS series is some of my favorite games. It would be hard for me to pinpoint 1 favorite game, but MGS would be up there for sure. I think MGS 3 was my favorite. Really looking forward to The Phantom Pain.

#9

Yeah I super looking forward to Phantom Pain as well. I need to play the Ground Zeroes game too. Is Phantom Pain going to be for PS3? Kinda sucks since I don’t have a PS4 yet.

#10

Yeah Ground Zeroes was fun, just short, but you probably knew that. I think Phantom Pain is going to be on PS3, but it was also released that it will be on PC! It will probably look fantastic on the PC. Can’t decide if I’m going to get it on PC or PS4 though.

Also Ground Zeroes is supposed to be released on PC this December as well, maybe you can get it for cheap on Steam!

#11

Good call! PC is always a better choice for me :smile: although I need to work on upgrading my GFX card asap. Still rocking the old school GTX560 V_V

#12

I view them as a way to have fun. I’ve been gaming for a while now and I have enjoyed them. I’ve even worked at Gamestop (the most stressful job I’ve ever had) to work with video games and talk about them.

I admit that money restrictions have kept me from enjoying the latest and greatest, but I play them when I can and look forward to future innovation. Ultimately, when I play a game, I’ve grown to simply ask myself the following question, “Am I having fun with this?”

#13

The great video game paradox. Either you have money to buy all the games but no time to play them. Or you have all the time in the world but no money to buy them. Can also be applied to life in general.

#14

I’ve come to realize that either A) I’m getting older and don’t have as much time for games or B) So many games are coming out so fast now that I can’t seem to keep myself updated on them all.

I remember when I was little it seemed like games took forever to get released. Is this just me? Or is it with the new invention of “patching” that game companies are pushing out unfinished games and then fixing them later?

#15

I think that “patching” has helped and hurt games. Although, I believe the benefits outway the drawbacks. When I was a kid the game you bought at “Toys R Us” was the game you got. No extra levels, not additional gear, and no bug fixes. The game had to be on point, there was no fixing it later. With the advent of DLC etc. there is a whole new layer added, games can have more content, user feedback can shape the shape and form of the game. The drawback is that games can ship with problems because there is a safty net of “we can patch that after launch”.

I would hope that the QC of games has changed not because of industry laziness, but because they can tweak the game with some real feedback from the field.

I personaly would rather have my games now and deal with some bugs. It seems like when I was younger there were some great games that never got finished because devs ran out of money…

#16

It is the battle between developer and publisher. You have to meet the deadline for release and for example EA will push you to release and fix it on the go. Ofc now they have realized people will not buy those shitty games with bugs so they are changing that model.