This is a controversial subject and it may just turn the videogame industry upside down, shaking it to its very core.  However, now is the time to speak out.  This has been bothering me for many years and it's about time I had the chance to speak out on behalf of a minority that has been wronged against since the beginning of games.  That minority being of course; people with really blonde hair and really long last names.

 

Day 2

 

With The Last Guardian trailer being shown at E3 I'm hearing a lot about previous titles from the same team.  When I had a PS2 I played and enjoyed ICO, but never played Shadow of the Colossus.  It's been a game that I've always wanted to play and I figured I'd give it a shot and finally test out my backwards compatible PS3.  I thought I'd share my impressions of the game as I play it.  Right now I'm assuming it's as awesome as everyone says it is and that they aren't suffering from what I call Goldeneye Syndrome.  I once may have convinced my friend to drop a lot of money on an old 64, Goldeneye, and a few controllers telling him we'd play it all weekend.  We played for about 10 minutes before I admitted that it's not that great of game anymore.

Every now and then I come across a game that gives me a new found appreciation for the videogame medium.  I never really know exactly what it is I am looking for in a game; I just know when it happens.  It is these moments that make the medium of videogames special, because no book, movie, show, painting, or song can deliver these same experiences.  There might be better games out there, maybe I didn't play them, maybe I just didn't understand their genius, but here is my list of games that made me love games.  Hopefully you can suggest some other games that gave you that special feeling in your uh...brain.

Super Mario World
I had played games before this, but a combination of both myself and the games not being advanced enough prevented me from really loving them.  I remember starting Super Mario and marveling at how graphics couldn't possibly get any better.   I put countless hours into Mario unlocking secrets and defeating Bowser multiple times. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I had done all there was to do in Mario. That was until one magical day when I was bored out of mind during a bus ride home and I removed the instruction booklet from my backpack.  In it I saw it passively mention that all the levels with red dots had 2 ways of beating them...my mind was blown.  The bus ride took the usual hour and a half but seemed liked both an eternity and a millisecond at the same time.  I ran up my driveway, went directly to the basement door and played the entire weekend.  The only red level I hadn't found the secret on was the level on the bridge where you had to fly under the finish line and get up on the other side in order to get to the secret hidden finish line.  This inspired me to check all the ghost castles and gave me countless new hours out of what I thought was a totally defeated game.

                Being a 27-year-old male I am still surprised how consistently I have to defend the honor of video games.  I dream of the day when video games aren't looked at as the lowest rung on the entertainment ladder. The hierarchy of entertainment goes: Physical Activity>Books> Radio> Movies> TV> Videogames> torturing small animals and/or children.  We gamers are only kidding ourselves that we are legitimate. The gaming industry grosses just as much money as movies or books, yet both of those are seen as intellectually superior.  Why is that? Politicians, non-gaming media, and most of the nation see videogames as ...games.  Hillary Clinton is never going to say that she thinks books are demoralizing today's youth.  FOX NEWS isn't going to run a story about how reading is making people fat.   The only real national attention games garner are 15 second blurbs portraying them as the next soon forgotten tickle me toy, or the seedy underbelly of today's youth.  Being late to the party has left video games as the accepted scapegoat for cultural backlash.  The thing is like a lot of gamers, I love playing sports, reading books, watching movies, listening to music, and watching TV.  All of these forms of entertainment have their strengths.  I can remember the feeling I had the first time I hit a homerun, and the first time I made a winning basket.  Just as clearly, I remember the first time I knocked out Mike Tyson and the first time I dominated in a 16 person Halo LAN party.  These are all great feelings, but truthfully none of them really accomplished anything.  I didn't solve world hunger; I didn't save anyone's life.  Just because they weren't actual accomplishments doesn't take from the enjoyment I experienced while partaking in these events.  These were legitimate pleasurable moments in my life and looking back neither making the winning basket or beating PunchOut is better or worse.  They are just different.
                So why is the image of videogames so low and how do we change this?  I've learned that pointing out the inconsistencies in peoples beliefs does no good.  For instance, whether you are reading a book or watching TV, you're doing the same amount of activity.  Yet, I've been told countless times by people attempting to impress me, "I don't watch TV, I'd rather read a good book."  On one particular occasion I asked my friend which book he was reading he said that he was reading the Twilight series because his wife likes it.  Somehow in his head me playing videogames or watching TV is a waste of time, but a 32 year old man reading a series of books meant for 13 year old girls is completely acceptable.  I'm not saying that him reading those books isn't acceptable, I'm just saying videogames are just as, if not more, acceptable. There is also a generational gap that videogames have to overcome if they are to be accepted. When staying at my Grandma Anna's she would say, "You're always playing those videos.  They are going to rot your mind.  Why don't you come play a game of Scrabble?"  While Scrabble is definitely a good tool for expanding my vocabulary, knowing the definition of AA has been just as beneficial in life as knowing where the first whistle is in Mario 3.  The point is that both Scrabble and Mario are fun games that challenge the brain in different ways, yet one is still seen as being made for Cheetoh loving, basement dwelling, lifelong losers. 
               I've come to this conclusion.  We as gamers can't actively change the opinion of videogames in America.  We can write as many angry blogs, forums, or tweets as we want, it just won't help.  What we can do is relish the role.  Seize the stereotype and make it our own.  The only way to make people accept something new is to make them feel that they are stupid for not understanding it.  The next time someone wants you to explain to them why gaming is a legitimate source of entertainment, brush them off.  Tell them that they won't understand.  Make them feel stupid and inadequate.  Say things like, "How can I put Bioshock in layman's terms." Or, "Let's see if I can dumb down for you why Final Fantasy is awesome."  Speak to them slowly and loudly, like I do for some reason when I'm talking to someone who doesn't speak English.  Make them ashamed for not knowing the Contra cheat code.  Speak as if YOU are the intellectual.  Tell them that some people will play Call of Duty and some people will forever be playing tinker toys.  Act as if you are from the future and they are still cavemen drawing animals on the wall.  If we can't show them how great games are we will have to make them want it. Our story is like the The Emperor's New Clothes.  They are the emperor and we will be the clothing salesman.
     Let me know what you think.