What is up with video games these days? Just about every game on the lists of top game reviews are all the same. First-person shooters. Geez. Is this what we have become, a bunch of virtual gun toting,bomb throwing, law breaking, blood thirsty thugs.
I can't remember the last time I woke up with the idea in my head to go get a hooker, get it on with the hooker, kill the hooker, rob the hooker, steal a police car, get away. I mean I believe in capitalism and there is definitely a market for this type of game, but does every game have to be of this genre? OK I exaggerated there are of course other types of games. Games such as The Sims are kinder and gentler but get boring pretty fast I find. Then you have what I call the puzzle games which are very cool such as Pop It, Bejeweled, and the timeless Tetris. Guess what? These games don't make the list(not to mention bore factor is higher than the Sims). These games are really only good for killing short periods of time.
So what can you buy and have fun with? I prefer racing games. Any type of auto racing is fun to me. I'm especially fond of the Gran Turismo series (although I'm not going to go and shell out $400 on Playstation3 to play latest version). Racing games are getting better all the time, and yet do not bring the popularity of the shooters. A fine example is the game called Grid which is very similar to Gran Turismo series of games. You start with enough cash to get a low end car, you race a few races earn cash to supe-up your car and before you know it you are racing like a virtual pro. Oh yeah, before I forget, the leading games in this genre are(that's right you guessed it) illegal street racing versions(such as Need For Speed).
Another alternative to the shooter is real-time strategy games. My favorites in this genre include the Command and Conquer series. not much gore but enough action and explosions to keep me interested. And believe it or not my teen aged step-sons love to play all the games in this series(because their mother and I will not by the mindless violent GTA series of games for them). Recently I bought World in conflict modern strategy game that did not hang around on best games lists too long. It's very involved and the eye candy is phenomenal and that's on my mid-level laptop.
Well I guess the point being made is that although there are many types of game genres out there, all the hype seems to be focused on the first person shooters. I am not an expert or guru of any kind, I am a game enthusiast. An enthusiast holds onto his money because the gaming industry is remaking the same games over and over and over. Another and even bigger point is that most of these games go against my personal values. I would like to see cutting edge technology games that have a positive messages, and that look great and keep the player coming back for more. When was the last time this happened?
In closing I would like to say that this post is only meant to get people talking. We would be grateful for any comment or debate that you would offer. So come on and join the conversation. Maybe we could cause some change we could not only believe in, but invest our money and time in.
No comments:
Post a Comment