Video Games: an Autobiographical Retrospective
Recent months of my life have been largely (perhaps disproportionately) concerned with the world of video games. There are several very easily identified reasons for this.
1. I have more money than I need to meet my needs
2. For the first time in my life, I actually personally own consoles
3. This holiday season has seen possibly the best series of quality video game releases in history
So. As my thoughts begin to wander, they tend to wander toward pixels and mechanics and skill atoms, and it occurred to me that Video games have had a tremendous impact on my life in both an educational and culturally defining way, not to mention the sheer time investment. I think thats AWESOME.
This year has seen and will continue to see some spiritual successors to the so vastly influential experiences of my childhood. The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Contra, Castlevania and others.
Playing through some of the older versions of these paragons has brought me quite a bit of personal satisfaction and maybe even some closure.
Or the countless times I failed to get past the first level in Contra without that floobing cheat code
The hundreds of times I would visit the "secret level" in order to have yoshi (the coolest mount a child could possibly hope for) and the Cape that made so many things possible, most importantly: Falling more slowly. That level became something of a crutch for me, and was often insufficient to compensate for my childish timing, lack of understanding of level structure, and amateur jumping abilities.
Entire days of my life were spent in front of a friend's 64 attempting to soak up the joy that simply radiated out of this game. However, no matter how many times I tried to make it through, I would inevitably become stuck with a puzzle that required a tool i didnt know i had or how to use.
All of these memories contained a great deal of distress along with the triumphs. However, as I grew older, I grew wise. Games contained within them the tools to gain mastery, and as I approached my gaming maturity I attained the skills I had lacked all my life.
Around the time that the 6th generation of consoles were released, and my newfound talents coming into fruition is exactly the time that worthy continuations of these IPs stopped being produced. I could play Devil May Cry 2, and Grand Theft Auto. I could hold my own in Halo matches, then Halo 2 matches, as well as make a considerable dent in final fantasy X before I grew tired of JRPGs in general. Smash Brothers held no fear for me, and Everquest changed the way I lived with my brothers and imagined games.
Perhaps I improved because my brother owned the consoles necesary to play some of these games, or perhaps I was simply arriving into my own(d?), but the fact of the matter is that my triumphs in these never had the same sort of quality as the games of yore. and that brings us to the present.
Its 7th generation. Sony has made the most baffling economic tosser I've ever witnessed, Microsoft is licensing quality IPs into attractive games while cultivating one of the most important indie gaming movements to date. Meanwhile, nintendo is kicking their asses with their soccer moms and I.
Super Mario Galaxy retails this week in North America. I kicked bowsers ass once more this week in Mario 64, and cannot properly describe how eager I am to do it again in outer space. For every Z+A long jump failure that sent me off into the abyss 10 years ago, I will feel that much more awesome about the triple jumps that break me free of gravity next week. Maybe its a platformer for you, but its a vengeance and an atonement for me. Not just with Mario, but to some extent most of the games I'm buying this year. Damn, It's a good time to be me.
An independant podcast that will get you excited about videogames too: NoobToob
An Academic feeling blog that examines Game Design in abstract mini theories: Lost Garden
An obscene Australian who gives excellent hilarious video reviews: Zero Punctuation
A charity service hosted by Penny Arcade that provides games to hospital children with your Donation: Child's Play
Comments
I'm not as much of a video game hero as you are, but I've definitely reconnected with video games myself in the past couple of years. It astonishes me how much video games have improved in the short span of time its been since our childhoods and it makes me very excited for the future to see where we end up next!
You're absolutely right. Several people just in my personal acquaintance have stories similar to mine. I wouldn't say this makes it generalized into the universal however, since gamers still occupy a minority niche (though this is changing quite rapidly these days) and the majority of those gamers are quite new.
Teens now coming into video games being weaned on the DS and WarioWare will have quite a different experience than I did. There are not only games that are more easily played by preteens, but entire franchises designed to be played by preteens. This was certainly not the case 20 or even 10 years ago.
I'd be very interested to hear your first experiences with gaming! what was your first pokemon? what are some memories you cherish?
Video games get better faster than designers sometimes, but in another 10 years I imagine we'll be somewhere equally as incomprehensible to us as our present wouldve been to the 90s. (what a sentence!)
Purchasing thousands of dollars of software for the local library makes you a video game hero in a way i probably wont ever be. thats pretty damn awesome
Nice personal gaming exposition, Matt!
Ah, the joys and effects of arts and entertainment on our lives.
Yeah, I'm trying to think of _Some_ video game character that may have had an impact on your life... but the name escapes me :o lol
but i dont, and i wont. but this is almost as good.