Sep 22 2008
Monday: It’s Game Time!
For those that know me, this next bit of information is redundant, but for those that don’t… I’m a gamer! Not a “hard core” gamer like so many n00b pwning, head shot firing pimply faced teens like to declare themselves, but I am a gamer. I’ve been playing games since I was 6ish and I’m 33 now, so yeah I’ve played my fair share. I haven’t played everything, mind you, but I have played a bit.
Video games have come a long way since their inception. From a blip bouncing between paddles on the table top console at the pizza parlor to HDR lighting and hi-def graphics blurring across the plasma screens in living rooms, games have found themselves part of our culture’s fabric. With more and more people playing online games through their web browsers and countless people purchasing consoles for them and their children, video games are hard to miss. The industry brings in billions a year and midnight releases of games like GTA or Halo sell millions in the matter of hours. Horrible movies are based upon video games, and Saturday morning cartoons provide 30 minute animated commercials for them along the lines of He-Man, GI Joe and Transformers did back in the 80s. With that all being said, I can’t figure out why video games are still seen by the mainstream as a “kids passtime” or the last bastion of pimply faced basement dwellers that surface for Mountain Dew and the freshly microwaved Hot Pockets that Mom made.
I’m not proposing something as stupid as marching for gamer rights, but I’d appreciate some sort of recognition that isn’t condescending. I’m an adult, I have a job, I’m happily married, and I play games. In fact, my wife and I both play games. We grew up with Atari and Nintendo and have just never given up the time killing fun that video games provide. Give us our dignity dammit! I can’t wait until the Nintendo generation is running things… well, at least someone that grew up with Mario is running things. So many damn gamers are slackers. Er wait, dammit! I can’t even take us seriously because the people that tend to represent the culture are either testosterone fueled frat boys or World of Warcraft gear grinding basement freaks. It is sad. It is sad when someone that is proudly from the video game playing population is equally ashamed of it. Self loathing at its best.
What would make me feel better about my gaming? Well how about for starters news outlets stop using sensational headlines and poor article writing when it is referencing video games. I’m tired of reading “Gamers kill each other” and the story is actually about meth addicts that killed each other and one of them owned an XBox 360. Quit portraying us in such a bad light.
How about all those people that declare games worthless but secretly waste hours at work popping ballons on Pogo.com? Quit acting so high and mighty and embrace that which you are… a gamer.
The stereotypes that give gamers a bad name, don’t think I forgot about you. Put down the controller for an hour, log off for a change and act like a productive member of society. If I see another “gamer” representing the culture on TV like they just crawled out from under a rock I’ll scream. If I hear about someone else getting stabbed waiting in line to get the midnight launch of anything I’ll probably blow a gasket.
Maybe I’m just being selfish, but for once I don’t want my Christmas list to be looked at like a 13 year old’s wet dream. I just want to play games and have people spare me their judgement. That judgement could be so much better used on Alaskan Governors. Thank you very much.
This week’s game releases you should check out:
- Lego Batman (All Platforms)
- Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway (XBox 360, PS3, PC)
- Samba De Amigo (Wii)
- Wario Land: Shake It (Wii)
- Kirby: Super Star Ultra (DS)
And finally, here’s a video to make you smile or grimmace, depending on how much you like to drum on Rock Band 2
