Last Wednesday, I noticed an unusual bombardment of the evils of the world and the negativity that infests our daily lives. The world is by no means perfect but we all are relatively desensitized in order to handle the usual problems we deal with everyday and the bad news constantly at the top of the docket in the news. However, with the news of a person who used Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to train for mass-murder, the sad news of Adam Sessler leaving G4 and my fellow PixlBit writer Angelo Grant feeling that IGN is bad for gamers (along with other non video game related things like my friend complaining about the lack of diversity in television with me over Facebook), I had to take a step back and do something positive because I had by this point became rather glum and depressed. To quote one of my own tweets, "Need some positivity right now. Listening to my 70s Summer Breeze mix while writing some video game announcement news." That was no mistake either. I purposely chose to write up the Uncharted 3 GOTY and Resistance trilogy story because those were positive stories. Also, listening to America, Seals and Crofts and Ambrosia will always mellow you out.
Alright. It wasn't perfect but it was a step in the right direction.
Something I think we all need to remember though is while there's plenty of things we can have issues with in the video game industry, there's just as much and probably more positive things we can instead discuss about video games. We need to know about these negative stories and Angelo is entitled to express his disdain for IGN or any video game website but let us not forget that video games are games. They are a form of entertainment, created so that we may enjoy them. I'm not saying that they aren't art and only entertainment. That's something I've already discussed in a previous blog and is tangential to this blog. The point is we are supposed to have fun or have some sort of positive reaction from playing and experiencing video games. That's always the bottom line. Even when a game like Silent Hill scares the hell out of you, that's supposed to be good if you like being scared. Braid is enjoyable if you like being challenged to solve circumstantial puzzles. RPGs give you a feeling of accomplishment level by level after doing the same type of random battles over and over. No matter the technique, games are meant to be enjoyable.
The topics that usually get the most focus tend to be stories like the Vita memory cards price points or Nintendo's failing 3DS sales. I am guilty of this as well as I've said before that the Vita memory cards will prevent some from getting the handheld and Nintendo had this coming since it launched the 3DS with a sub-par lineup of games. However, lets instead talk about how the Vita's launch lineup was actually really good or how the 3DS now has some amazing games both to look forward to and out now. Konami may be struggling recently but their re-release of The Simpsons Arcade Game is awesome! There are still some bad games out there like Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Ninja Gaiden 3 but we are playing some of the greatest games ever made right now. Skyrim, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Journey, and that's just from the past 6 months.
Sure, it was a Call of Duty clone but it was a GOOD Call of Duty clone.
I'm not saying that the game industry is better than it was before or worse. I'm not even saying the industry right now is ideal. What I am saying is despite all of the online passes, overpriced accessories, and gender issues we have to wade through, the state of video games is still good. If it weren't, it wouldn't be worth discussing or fighting for. So it wouldn't hurt to showcase that more rather than less. Forget about how bad the ending was for Mass Effect 3, what about the entire rest of the game? Wasn't that so cool?
Sometimes we need to sit back, relax and pop in a game we know we'll get enjoyment out of. Whether that means getting headshots in Call of Duty, getting the best time on a track in Trials: Evolution or getting immersed in the cinematic experience that is Uncharted 3, lets enjoy our games and let's not let other approaches that we don't agree with or other people's irresponsible actions get in the way of that. I had $25 to play with this weekend and I went to GameStop and managed to buy five games with that. Tomb Raider Legend was a short game but the controls were better than they had ever been. Forza Motorsport 2 may be a realistic racer, something I'm not really into, but this title is determined to help me into it with numerous assists and I am willing to give it a shot. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 may be old and missing courses when compared to the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game but its pretty and the create mode is so robust I can make a golfer look exactly like me (except for the hair; developers need to learn how to do wavy hair. Wavy, not curly). Madden NFL 08 is also old and the weapons system is weird but the game is solid and I can't wait to take my custom team, the Los Angeles Outlaws, to the Super Bowl. Their colors are brown and gold and it needs to be a real team now! After my PC version of Marvel Ultimate Alliance crapped out on me, I now have the 360 version and while repetitive, it's tons of fun and this version has Colossus! Happy Gaming to you all and I'll sign this entry the same way I sign all of my personal emails.
Peace and Love,
CoLoRWinD
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