You Forgot About the Gamers

Right now videogames are transforming faster than ever before. Yes, huge strides have been made since Atari where an entire game consisted of a dot and two short lines but ultimately not a lot has changed. We have taken a controller, moved things on screen, and tried to complete some task we feel is worthy of our time. Even the change from 2D to 3D wasn’t about changing the way we play as much as making videos match the world we live in.

            As some point though, this wasn’t good enough anymore. Personally I was happy with 2D gaming and am loving the return to that style found in many recent Nintendo releases; but the masses were not. First we had the Wii with its motion control. I love the Wii, but I don’t love the motion control. I feel like the games are designed to fit that, and instead of adding creativity, it actually shoehorns them into something they shouldn’t be.

            If you are wondering how I can love a system but hate the way it controls most games, I would say it’s because they haven’t really messed with the classics. Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 barely use the motion control. Yes you shake the controller to spin but I actually like that, because it feels natural. Paper Mario, Monster Hunter, Mario Kart, Mario Party, and lots of other games use the classic controls that I love and so I stand by it. I even love the rail shooters that use the perfect shot but this once again isn’t really using the motion control.

            Now Microsoft and Sony are both pushing for motion control and I ask why. They all say the same thing, to appeal to the causal gamer. I hate that answer, because I feel like it’s a slap in the face. I stuck by videogames when they weren’t “cool.” When people who played them were nerds, and when you actually had to figure out how to beat the levels yourself. No I’m not really old enough to remember the glory days of the arcade when you really had to take a beating for your love of games but the point is I am a gamer. I like to spend 100 hours playing a game and in the last moments lose everything in a fit of rage. I love the feeling you get when you are so close to dying that your body starts to move like your on screen character. I love when you and a friend start to freak out because there is just no way you can win and then you just make it.

            I love games and it worries me that they are no longer about a challenge. They are no longer about the gamer; they are about little kids, or grandparents in nursing homes. I know there are still some good games out there but they are becoming harder to find and it frightens me. I don’t think there has been a difficult game since Battletoads. I think that was the peak and while that game bordered on ridiculous, you felt something when you beat it. Today games are too much like a movie, you put them in, you “interact” for a few hours and you’ve won. I hope this new attempt at 2D games by Nintendo brings some heat, or this might be the last generation of systems I own.