I consider myself a hardcore gamer. I hate it someone claims to be a hardcore gamer, and uses that authority to bash a game without fully understanding it.
I started gaming when i was around 6, and I'm 26 now. In that 20 years I have seen the changing trends of the industry, the winners and losers of each of the console war since 8-bit era. I have played hundreds of games. Maybe even finished 70% of them. But I don't consider this as my credentials for being a hard core gamer.
Being a hardcore gamer isn't about the number of hours that you play, your level in WoW, how many heads you've PWNED, how many head shots you've done, or how many combos you know how to perform. Being a hardcore gamer is about enjoying video games too much that it has become an integral part of your life.
Videogames are so integrated in my life that I have actually made real world decisions because of videogames. When I was in highschool, I wrote my research paper about the effects of videogames. In picking a course for college, I chose BS Computer Science, thinking that I will become a videogame programmer. Recently I made a Wii Music video for my girlfriend for her birthday (which she enjoyed by the way).
This comes to the game I want to discuss, Wii Music. I'm going to say it right now, Wii Music is by far one of the best games I have played (not the best, but one of the best). My criteria for this judgement is two things 1) innovation, and 2) fun factor.
I can hear the screams of the "hard cores" right now, "Innovation?!! That game looks more backward than a PS1 game." Innovation is not about its graphics or sounds. It is about bringing something new. FF7 was innovative, it was new for me to see a final fantasy unfold in a 3d world. Secret of Mana was innovative, it was the first RPG that I could play with my brothers. Super Mario Bros. was innovative. It was the first time I saw a videogame (for some people this would be, this is the first time I saw a person and not just a block as my character). Wii Music? Sure, have you seen any other game that lets you create your own music? Sadly innovation in games have become scarce. Can you remember a game with in the last 2 years that offered something genuinely new?
Wii Music is not a rock band rip off or a guitar hero wannabe, or a poor man's bemani game. Sure it will feel like it at times, the core mechanic is the same, do something at the correct time to produce music, but you will soon realize that you are not bound by this core mechanic. You are free to add notes or remove notes as you desire. In so doing you do something the other rythm game will never let you do. You create your own music. It may sound good, or it may sound horrible, but one thing is for certain, that music was created by you and no one else. This I think is the major difference of Wii Music over other rythm games. Don't get me wrong, I love guitar freaks, guitar hero, drum mania, DDR, and hopefully Rock band when I have enough money to buy the whole set. For me this major difference is what makes Wii Music fun.
Funfactor, this criteria is a subjective as it can be, and I will concede that not everybody will enjoy Wii Music. But truth of the matter is, I am having fun with Wii Music for the following reasons 1) I get to create my own music, 2) I get to understand the different combinations of insturments and its effects on the music (did you know that a flute and a piano sounds beautiful?), most of all 3) I am slowly understanding music and its intricacies. (I recently realized that rests was as powerful as the notes themselves).
My message is simple. Do not bash a game without understanding it. Give the game a chance, if you don't enjoy its core mechanics then maybe its not for you. If it is unplayable for whatever reason, then go, bash the game all you like. As hardcore gamers, we have a responsibility to understand the game, and provide accurate analysis for our fellow gamers.
I started gaming when i was around 6, and I'm 26 now. In that 20 years I have seen the changing trends of the industry, the winners and losers of each of the console war since 8-bit era. I have played hundreds of games. Maybe even finished 70% of them. But I don't consider this as my credentials for being a hard core gamer.
Being a hardcore gamer isn't about the number of hours that you play, your level in WoW, how many heads you've PWNED, how many head shots you've done, or how many combos you know how to perform. Being a hardcore gamer is about enjoying video games too much that it has become an integral part of your life.
Videogames are so integrated in my life that I have actually made real world decisions because of videogames. When I was in highschool, I wrote my research paper about the effects of videogames. In picking a course for college, I chose BS Computer Science, thinking that I will become a videogame programmer. Recently I made a Wii Music video for my girlfriend for her birthday (which she enjoyed by the way).
This comes to the game I want to discuss, Wii Music. I'm going to say it right now, Wii Music is by far one of the best games I have played (not the best, but one of the best). My criteria for this judgement is two things 1) innovation, and 2) fun factor.
I can hear the screams of the "hard cores" right now, "Innovation?!! That game looks more backward than a PS1 game." Innovation is not about its graphics or sounds. It is about bringing something new. FF7 was innovative, it was new for me to see a final fantasy unfold in a 3d world. Secret of Mana was innovative, it was the first RPG that I could play with my brothers. Super Mario Bros. was innovative. It was the first time I saw a videogame (for some people this would be, this is the first time I saw a person and not just a block as my character). Wii Music? Sure, have you seen any other game that lets you create your own music? Sadly innovation in games have become scarce. Can you remember a game with in the last 2 years that offered something genuinely new?
Wii Music is not a rock band rip off or a guitar hero wannabe, or a poor man's bemani game. Sure it will feel like it at times, the core mechanic is the same, do something at the correct time to produce music, but you will soon realize that you are not bound by this core mechanic. You are free to add notes or remove notes as you desire. In so doing you do something the other rythm game will never let you do. You create your own music. It may sound good, or it may sound horrible, but one thing is for certain, that music was created by you and no one else. This I think is the major difference of Wii Music over other rythm games. Don't get me wrong, I love guitar freaks, guitar hero, drum mania, DDR, and hopefully Rock band when I have enough money to buy the whole set. For me this major difference is what makes Wii Music fun.
Funfactor, this criteria is a subjective as it can be, and I will concede that not everybody will enjoy Wii Music. But truth of the matter is, I am having fun with Wii Music for the following reasons 1) I get to create my own music, 2) I get to understand the different combinations of insturments and its effects on the music (did you know that a flute and a piano sounds beautiful?), most of all 3) I am slowly understanding music and its intricacies. (I recently realized that rests was as powerful as the notes themselves).
My message is simple. Do not bash a game without understanding it. Give the game a chance, if you don't enjoy its core mechanics then maybe its not for you. If it is unplayable for whatever reason, then go, bash the game all you like. As hardcore gamers, we have a responsibility to understand the game, and provide accurate analysis for our fellow gamers.
3 comments:
you're a nerd.
dude, when you say video game has affected your life so much, i never believed it until i read your blog. if video games can make you write with much passion, then, fuck yeah, you're a hardcore gamer. thanks for the info, i now know what to give you for your birthday.
like, whoa, dude! i knew you loved video games but i didn't know it was such a life changing experience :P amazing!
anyway, i think wii music is cool, too :D
Post a Comment