Aliens take over Earth. Ants enslave human begins and force us to dig tunnels. A cruel tyrant ascends to a throne covered in his victim’s blood.
Video games offer us hope. Even when the future seems dark, the player can turn on a flashlight and make everything brighter. The player can thwart evil and restore balance to the game world. The player can solve any problem.
But video games should remind us violence and aggression cannot solve our problems. Our world needs this reminder.
Filed under Video Game Misc., Video Game Trends
I am not going to think about video games.
Wow! Look at that massive billboard for a Mario game.
I am not going to think about video games. I am not going to think about video games.
I wonder if this fellow subway passenger minds that I’m staring at a Zelda poster behind them. I mean, it’s not like I’m staring at a stranger or anything. I’m not crazy.
I am not going to think about video games. I am not going to think about video games. I am not going to think about video games.
This flight is boring. At least I can read about a video game that barely interests me in the in-flight magazine.
Filed under Video Game Misc.
The video game knows I wanted to buy more in the store. The game know I have regrets about my shopping last week. It taunts me, and it tests my resolve every time I near the store.
I try to look away, but the game beckons me to gaze at it, to long to buy it, to play it. It dazzles me with bright colours, fancy packaging and maybe even a neon green discount sticker. I understand what’s happening, and I decide not to buy more games now. I hold my head high and look straight ahead at the road before me.
I walk down the road that isn’t filled with a love things but a love of other people; no matter who they are. I’m on my way down the road while reflecting on how grateful I am for this life. This isn’t the time to think about buying more games.
Filed under Video Game Misc.
That’s when they made games that had real substance. There were no crazy colours, no mind bending alternate realities or fancy buttons. Everything was simple and straightforward, as it should always be.
I remember that buying games was less complicated too. Why, in my day, we walked five hectares through hail sleet and snow just to buy a game, and we were better off for it. Can’t we have those days back?
Filed under Video Game Misc., Video Game Technology
It started like a wonderful day. I rolled a large brown ball, perhaps it was a walnut, up the hill. Then I rolled what looked like a giant green cabbage up the hill. However, my good time went downhill after that.
Like Sisyphus, I was rolling a boulder, or beehive this time, up a hill, and it kept tumbling down after me. Sometimes the beehive rolled backwards, and while turning around to get it, I would inadvertently hit it, pushing it faster down the hill. Worse yet, sometimes the beehive fell off the cliff and cannon-balled into the water. Before I had the privilege of pushing the beehive up hill again, I had to move it out of the water and nudge it along the beach.
Then the video game laughed at me. Day changed to night as I failed to push the beehive to the top. Night changed to day. The game was showing and telling me: “Look, you are so slow that nights and days are flying by while you fail again and again.” Or at least that’s how the I interpreted the day changes. I could have an overactive imagination.
I felt better when I reached the top of the hill. I had prevailed! I was happy to never see that beehive again, and the laughing stopped.
What made feel better after all the pain and torture? The beehive excited a bear who jumped up and down, sang a song and danced. Yes you read that right; it was a dancing bear that made my day.
By the way, I was playing Okami. I recommend playing it to, at least, take in the beautiful world. I’ve warned you about the beehive though.
Filed under Video Games I Play
I was thinking about the long-winded Victorian era novels titles I’ve seen. I also saw long treatise titles, from centuries ago, appear in library catalogue searches while I was in university. These experiences informed this post.
1. In which the player leaves his hometown, travels on horseback on an epic quest to retrieve, with keen interest, the stolen sword of Gammalot, defeat the hideous fire-breathing dragon and rescue the allegedly fairest damsel in distress.
2. In which a mustachioed plumbing tradesman, along with his brother and mushroom friends, travel into a fantasy world full of evil, fanged henchmen, while cleaning coal out of clogged pipes and with a particular focus on saving an honourable princess.
3. Ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration, the developers, of this particular piece of interactive game displayed on an electronic device designed for watching, invite you, if you so desire, to partake in amusing yourself, your friends and family by playing Carnival Games.
What would your list of video game titles done in Victorian style look like?
Filed under Video Games I Want
You might need to update your graphics card if the video game doesn’t start. The update will cost you $50. Enjoy your day.
Filed under Video Game Technology
“I want to play this video game for five more hours.” This is the refrain of the person who wants to game, but he or she is not an addict. You might think, though, that this quote suggests an addictive behaviour.
You might picture someone sitting on a couch with Cheetos stained fingers. In the other hand, the person clutches a frosty Big Gulp, sporting a pronounced couch groove and sunless skin. This couch potato description might be true in some cases, but one should not assume this about people who play video games. One should not store negative imagery about gamers in one’s head and drew upon these images at will.
Instead, I see the plea to play for five more hours as an acknowledgment that video games are wonderful and engrossing. They are so wonderful that one wants to spend more time with them to enjoy everything they offer.
However, it’s probably not very wise to stop everything and play for five straight hours. Don’t stop living your life and loving others. Find a responsible way to make time for games.
Filed under Non Gamers, Video Game Misc.
Jenny woke up just like any other day: she rubbed her eyes and grabbed her schoolbooks. As she stumbled around her pink room, she remembered it was both the weekend and her birthday! The fog in her head cleared, and she rushed through her bedroom door into the hallway. And there, sitting on the floor, was a gift from her parents.
She knew what inside the gift bag. After all, she had announced her dream gift to all her friends and relatives. She had even taped a photo of her dream gift on the fridge. Everyone knew she wanted “Pink Pony Rancher 14” (“Now with Cuddly Bunnies.”)
How often she had rehearsed this moment in her dreams, and now she was living it. She opened the gift bag and found a box, a final obstacle. As she opened the box, her parents hovered into view hoping to catch a glimpse of her smile. She ripped open the last piece of bubble wrap and inside was “Super Awesome and Violent Super Hero Adventure Romp 2”.
“We ordered it online,” her father said, “That’s the one you wanted, right sweetheart? We don’t know much about video games.”
Jenny smiled and thanked her parents. She valued loving others more than any toy or game. She tried to appreciate the value of a gift she didn’t ask for, and the love she had received.
After the house fell silent, Jenny sneaked downstairs to play the game. After turning around to check that her parents weren’t watching, she fell in love with the game and played for hours.
***
Jimmy woke up, rolled out of bed and landed on his head. He ignored the pain because he had no time for anything as “weak” as pain. His eyes stung like someone had sprayed them with lemon juice, but he ignored this feeling too. He had more important things to do.
He was about to drive his motorcycle to the gym where he trained as a wrestler, but then he remembered the special day. It was his birthday! So he threw on his favourite heavy metal band t-shirt, combed his long black hair and lifted weights for an hour.
Then he rushed out of his bedroom door to find the bag his girlfriend had stuffed with his gift. The bag was black, of course, and featured a skull and crossbones on the front. But Jimmy paid little attention to these details, including the address on the box, as he thought about the video game he was expecting. He knew what video game would be inside the box because he’d begged his girlfriend to get the latest superhero adventure.
He ripped open the shipping box, and the neon pink game case almost blinded him . It was “Pink Pony Rancher 14”. Claire, Jimmy’s girlfriend, craned her neck around the corner to see his reaction. “That’s the video game you wanted, right? I ordered it from this new video game warehouse website.”
Jimmy felt stung and stood still for a couple of seconds. Yet, he nodded and smiled at Claire because he knew their relationship and the love they shared were more important than any video game. “Thank you sweetheart,” he said. Then they went out for dinner to celebrate Jimmy’s birthday.
When they returned home and Claire had fallen asleep, Jimmy tip toed downstairs to the living room. He turned on his console, and with a deep sigh, gave the game a shot. After a couple of minutes, he turned around to make sure Claire wasn’t watching. A big smile overtook his stubborn lips as he combed the hair of his pony, Mr. Cuddles.
Filed under Silly Video Game Inspired Fiction
Video Games Nebula 