This week, I appointed myself "President of the Video Gaming World." I've never worked for a video game company, I have zero programming skills and I was only four when I got an Atari 2600. I figure I am perfect for the job. I begin my tenure with a State of the Union address.
My friends, we need to face the facts: the video-game industry is in peril. The games just aren't what they used to be.
There was a time when games on the personal computer were the most dynamic and diverse games on the planet. Everything from realistic flight simulators to first-person shooters to real-time strategy was available, and every game had a new, interesting take on things. The creativity is gone. All we have now are Half-Life clones, World War II games and world-class drek. I am sure it is only a matter of time until "Sim Cardboard" is developed and released.
Sadly, Sega dropped out of the hardware business last year. The Sega Dreamcast, while not the most technically advanced system, had the best games available. It was developer-friendly, too. I would wager that Sega had the highest good-game-per-drek-game ratio on the market. Unfortunately, the video-game industry is mainstream now and the best stuff available no longer sells. Rest in peace, Sega.
The Microsoft X-box has had a disappointing launch. Halo, a game that had been in development for four years, was shallow. Bill Gates, you have the superior hardware, where are the superior games? I am sick of waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
Playstation 2 is the best thing out there right now. It has the most good games available. In fact, it has the most games available, period. But, like the original PSX, the PS2 has so many terrible games that finding the good ones is like trying to find a passionate student at Ball State. Sure, they're out there, but you've got to look pretty hard.
The Great Satan - Nintendo - has left me unimpressed with the GameCube. I will confess, Super Smash Brothers Melee is fun, but it is also a rehash. Does Nintendo have any original ideas left? Do we really need another Zelda game? Can a new Mario Kart truly eclipse the original? Quite frankly, Nintendo is as bad as MTV. The company is selling us the same games with jazzed-up graphics. Their games are for little kids.
Worst of all, however, is the state of video-game arcades. The arcade used to be a refuge for guys like me. They were dingy holes in the basements of shopping malls. The lights were dim and the people inside were hiding from the outside world. The atmosphere was utopian.
Now the "video arcade" is a "family amusement center." Hell holes like Gameworks and Block Party are too flashy and too well-lit. They welcome the mainstream culture through their gates, while turning away the geeks by filling their "arcades" with extreme-sports simulators and driving games. Of all facets of the video-game industry, the video arcade has become the least creative and most tragic.
Games like Street Fighter II were competitive. They offered those of us who can't play sports a chance to beat somebody in something. Arcade side-scrollers, like Double Dragon, offered us the chance to discover new worlds as our hand-eye coordination improved. The arcade games today may have three-dimensional graphics, but they have one-dimensional plots.
A shallow video-game industry for a shallow culture. How appropriate.
Write to Ben at bbmcshane@bsu.edu
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