Recently it's becoming harder and harder for me to find a game that is fun. Ironically, that has as much to do with how games are made nowadays as to my economic situation.
You see, I'm basically poor in what I'm gonna call "gamer standards". I don't have readily access to international currency, nor the means to acquire new gadgets, new hardware, or new software, without at least waiting for some relative or close friend to travel abroad and bring me stuff, if I ask real nicely (thanks Hugo Chavez!).
How does that even tie into gaming? Well, my hardware is massively outdated. And I just don't see a point in buying whatever crappy hardware they're trying to market here as the second coming, when in reality I know that piece of crap video card came out 4 years ago and is obsolete by today's standards.
That has forced me to either not even look at new releases (other than in videos) or look around for the best games of yesteryear.
Nowadays, if you don't have at least a dual core processor (which I don't) and some 2 Gbs of decent RAM with at least 512mb of GOOD video memory (good clocking and memory bandwdith included), you basically can't even look at new releases without your computer throwing a hissy fit.
Which is exactly what happens to me.
Oh how I yearn to play some Battlefield Bad Company 2, with all it's multiplayer glory, along with a clan of international players, all having a nice time on a ventrilo server, while fragging the crap out of each other.
And even if I managed to get a decent computer, I can't buy the games. Well, I can, but they won't be "original" and I wouldn't be able to play them in multiplayer, so really, what's the point? I'm talking about piracy.
Piracy in this country is so widespread, so blatant, that it makes me hate this country.
This is but one of thousands of pirated software stands in my country. You see why noone buys original stuff?
Piracy is so bad, it has driven the legal market out of the country for good. It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to find an original game in a store in this country. At least new releases. Yeah, I might find Ford's Mustang Challenge 2004 or whatever in some obscure shop in the capital but not the good stuff.
You must be wondering by now, why do I say I'm starting to hate games?
Because of the diferentiation between casual and hardcore games is becoming blurrier each year.
First of all, my definition of casual and hardcore games might be different than yours, so let me clarify.
To me a casual game is a game that can be played by everyone, no matter if they have played games before, or how old the person is.
Take Guitar Hero for example. This is an intuitive game, it's easy to grasp the concept. Everyone can play this. And although there is a hardcore part to this game, most gamers will agree it's just another casual game.
Now a hardcore game is a different kind of monster. It requires a lot of thinking, or fast reactions, reflexes and strategy changes. It requires you to devote a certain amount of time, more often than not, a long amount of time, to be decent at it, let alone good.
It contains a meta gaming portion, be it hidden content, social inclusion, strategy forums or even for the most hardcore of gamers, clans, leagues and tournaments.
They have complex mechanics, and hidden rules that you've got to figure out by trial and error, rules that make you superior to those who forgo this knowledge, be it out lazyness or just ignorance.
Basically, if a game is targetted towards casual gamers, most of the time I can play it. Because they make them like that. Casual gamers don't have killer rigs, nor the drive to fine tune their system to handle the good stuff.
Games for casual people are like a one night stand. You get them, you have fun for a while, you laugh, you enjoy, but ultimately, you forget them. Unless they surprise you 9 months later... but luckily games don't do that, most of the time.
Let's take these new lego games for example. Lego Harry Potter, Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones. There are a lot of them. They're as casual as it goes.
They're fun for a while, a couple hours at most, but then, as a hardcore gamer, you burn thru the content so fast, and it becomes so easy for you that you go through the game in a few hours tops. You basically do all the content that's included in 2 or 3 sittings.
And that's not fulfilling, at all. You feel like you wasted that time after you go through the game. I mean, you HAD fun while playing, but after you're done, and you think back on it, you can't help but think to yourself "god, that game was short, so short in fact, it wasn't that enjoyable".
On the other hand, we have the hardcore games.
These games are where the good stuff is at. They're hard, they're challenging, they're fun, they're long, they have complex stories that suck you in, sometimes they make you think back on your life, or how life works. But most of them need a monster of a computer (compared to what I have). And since I can't do multiplayer on most of them because of the latency, and I can't crank up the visuals, I'm not even enjoying the full experience.
So again, I'm feeling like I didn't get all there was to get after I play them. Since all I do is single player, I burn through games at an astounding rate. And the single player portion of most games nowadays is extremely short. Heck, some of them don't even HAVE a single player, some are all multiplayer. And usually these are the ones that look the most fun.
So I'm left with games that are hardcore, but old. Which is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong.
Games like Diablo 2, Starcraft, DotA (a Warcraft 3 map mod), Sacred, Titan Quest, etc. These are all "hardcore games" by my definition.
Some of these games have an important multiplayer component, one that is practically impossible for me to enjoy to the fullest.
It's because of the latency of a bad connection coupled with the fact that servers are halfway across the world and I share this connection with 4 other computers at times, or even dying communities.
These are all games that I love, and these are not the ones I hate. Unfortunately, these types of games are few and far between.
I hate the new games. I hate how developers are selling out to casuals, how each new game gets dumbed down more and more each year.
I do have a theory though, that might explain why so many gamers feel like this.
It's the experience. We, as hardcore gamers have accumulated so much experience and knowledge of hundreds, maybe thousands of games, that we take some stuff for granted, or breeze through things that make others look at us and say "Um, did play this before?".
And I'm not trying to be a showoff, but that has truly happened. I notice things, I intuitively discover secrets, and instintively know where I'm supposed to go, or what I'm supposed to do, to the point that people around me say "How did you know that?" ... I don't know? I ... just do?
Which makes me hate new games that are becoming easier and easier. Casual games are a breeze. And the new supposedly hardcore games, are just becoming easier, be it because of my experience playing games, or developers flat out making them easier, at least in the single player portion of the game. Remember, most of the time, I don't do multiplayer.
This is just a rant, nothing more, but really, are games becoming so easy now? or am I just jaded, by the lack of possibilities of this country, the restraints of a crappy government?
Can't wait until I move out of this hell hole of a country, to a place where I might actually enjoy my hobby to the fullest again. Get access to technology a fair price, maybe a decent internet connection.
I'll write again later when it happens, but for now, thanks for reading my rant, I hope you enjoyed it, and made you think, about stuff.
Which is exactly what happens to me.
Oh how I yearn to play some Battlefield Bad Company 2, with all it's multiplayer glory, along with a clan of international players, all having a nice time on a ventrilo server, while fragging the crap out of each other.
And even if I managed to get a decent computer, I can't buy the games. Well, I can, but they won't be "original" and I wouldn't be able to play them in multiplayer, so really, what's the point? I'm talking about piracy.
Piracy in this country is so widespread, so blatant, that it makes me hate this country.
This is but one of thousands of pirated software stands in my country. You see why noone buys original stuff?
Piracy is so bad, it has driven the legal market out of the country for good. It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to find an original game in a store in this country. At least new releases. Yeah, I might find Ford's Mustang Challenge 2004 or whatever in some obscure shop in the capital but not the good stuff.
You must be wondering by now, why do I say I'm starting to hate games?
Because of the diferentiation between casual and hardcore games is becoming blurrier each year.
First of all, my definition of casual and hardcore games might be different than yours, so let me clarify.
To me a casual game is a game that can be played by everyone, no matter if they have played games before, or how old the person is.
Take Guitar Hero for example. This is an intuitive game, it's easy to grasp the concept. Everyone can play this. And although there is a hardcore part to this game, most gamers will agree it's just another casual game.
Now a hardcore game is a different kind of monster. It requires a lot of thinking, or fast reactions, reflexes and strategy changes. It requires you to devote a certain amount of time, more often than not, a long amount of time, to be decent at it, let alone good.
It contains a meta gaming portion, be it hidden content, social inclusion, strategy forums or even for the most hardcore of gamers, clans, leagues and tournaments.
They have complex mechanics, and hidden rules that you've got to figure out by trial and error, rules that make you superior to those who forgo this knowledge, be it out lazyness or just ignorance.
Basically, if a game is targetted towards casual gamers, most of the time I can play it. Because they make them like that. Casual gamers don't have killer rigs, nor the drive to fine tune their system to handle the good stuff.
Games for casual people are like a one night stand. You get them, you have fun for a while, you laugh, you enjoy, but ultimately, you forget them. Unless they surprise you 9 months later... but luckily games don't do that, most of the time.
Let's take these new lego games for example. Lego Harry Potter, Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones. There are a lot of them. They're as casual as it goes.
They're fun for a while, a couple hours at most, but then, as a hardcore gamer, you burn thru the content so fast, and it becomes so easy for you that you go through the game in a few hours tops. You basically do all the content that's included in 2 or 3 sittings.
And that's not fulfilling, at all. You feel like you wasted that time after you go through the game. I mean, you HAD fun while playing, but after you're done, and you think back on it, you can't help but think to yourself "god, that game was short, so short in fact, it wasn't that enjoyable".
On the other hand, we have the hardcore games.
These games are where the good stuff is at. They're hard, they're challenging, they're fun, they're long, they have complex stories that suck you in, sometimes they make you think back on your life, or how life works. But most of them need a monster of a computer (compared to what I have). And since I can't do multiplayer on most of them because of the latency, and I can't crank up the visuals, I'm not even enjoying the full experience.
So again, I'm feeling like I didn't get all there was to get after I play them. Since all I do is single player, I burn through games at an astounding rate. And the single player portion of most games nowadays is extremely short. Heck, some of them don't even HAVE a single player, some are all multiplayer. And usually these are the ones that look the most fun.
So I'm left with games that are hardcore, but old. Which is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong.
Games like Diablo 2, Starcraft, DotA (a Warcraft 3 map mod), Sacred, Titan Quest, etc. These are all "hardcore games" by my definition.
Some of these games have an important multiplayer component, one that is practically impossible for me to enjoy to the fullest.
It's because of the latency of a bad connection coupled with the fact that servers are halfway across the world and I share this connection with 4 other computers at times, or even dying communities.
These are all games that I love, and these are not the ones I hate. Unfortunately, these types of games are few and far between.
I hate the new games. I hate how developers are selling out to casuals, how each new game gets dumbed down more and more each year.
I do have a theory though, that might explain why so many gamers feel like this.
It's the experience. We, as hardcore gamers have accumulated so much experience and knowledge of hundreds, maybe thousands of games, that we take some stuff for granted, or breeze through things that make others look at us and say "Um, did play this before?".
And I'm not trying to be a showoff, but that has truly happened. I notice things, I intuitively discover secrets, and instintively know where I'm supposed to go, or what I'm supposed to do, to the point that people around me say "How did you know that?" ... I don't know? I ... just do?
Which makes me hate new games that are becoming easier and easier. Casual games are a breeze. And the new supposedly hardcore games, are just becoming easier, be it because of my experience playing games, or developers flat out making them easier, at least in the single player portion of the game. Remember, most of the time, I don't do multiplayer.
This is just a rant, nothing more, but really, are games becoming so easy now? or am I just jaded, by the lack of possibilities of this country, the restraints of a crappy government?
Can't wait until I move out of this hell hole of a country, to a place where I might actually enjoy my hobby to the fullest again. Get access to technology a fair price, maybe a decent internet connection.
I'll write again later when it happens, but for now, thanks for reading my rant, I hope you enjoyed it, and made you think, about stuff.
