Gildermershina wrote:Lifelong gamer here, and I reject the notion that being a "toy" is a bad thing. Games are an interactive medium, and as such, the better the interaction, the better the game. Problem is how do you define interaction. MEtal Gear Solid is interactive, it just happens to be interaction that unfolds in an entirely linear story. You play through a section and you are rewarded with another long story cutscene. Super Mario Bros barely has any story, so it's all about the gameplay, all interaction. The reward of playing Mario platformers is that playing Mario platformers is inherently fun.
I too am a lifelong gamer, I think in previous posts both in this and the old forum that has been clear. I was never advocating that being a toy is bad. One of the things I hate is hearing developers talk about moving games towards movies. I always think "no it is supposed to be a game, I want it to be a different experience. If I want to see a movie I watch a movie not play a game." I love Mario and Sonic and Zelda (Link to the Past, although Majora's Mask is my personal favorite), I think FFVI is the best in the series (FFIII when it was originally released here in the states) and of course have made my love affair with the sublime Crono Trigger known every chance I get. I also believe however that you can create art while still keeping the game fun. Look at Mario Galaxy, that game is one of the most fun I ever played and the art direction is fantastic. The environments are breathtaking, the colors are so vivid, it just looks alive. GTA IV certainly doesn't make this list for art, its drab city environments where it puts everything through that coffee colored lens filter to make it gritty and real is not good art direction, but it weaves a story that makes some poignant comments on immigrant culture in the U.S.
As far as being too old to play video games, we have had this discussion before. I know that in all the families I have seen the parents have both had some free time to do whatever they want. Some of them did play video games, but if the baby started crying they got up and played the role of parent. It is insulting that you would say something like this:
stephaniewazhere wrote:Usually as a person matures they loose interest in video games anyway, but if you just had a baby and you are ignoring it because you are playing video games, that is a shame
It looks like you are telling me video gamers can't be good parents because we will ignore our kids to "get one more level" and that is insulting. Also, have you done any research into your claim that people lose interest in video games as they grow older because studies done by the NPD Group (a market research firm) for the ESA have found that the average age of a gamer is 35 and they have been playing for 12 years. Also 25% of all gamers are now over the age of 50. Here is a link to the information, and that page has a link to the rest of the research.
http://www.theesa.com/facts/gameplayer.aspsharinganerror wrote:Personally, I think very few games compare to art, Metal Gear being one of the most likely series.
The Metal Gear Solid series (specifically 4, I am assuming that is the one you are referencing) are barely games, more on the line with interactive movies. I have played all 4 games, although never any of them to completion, and I don't get the big fuss over them. I think the stealth gameplay has been outdone by other games (Splinter Cell comes to mind), the shooting system always seemed awkward, and the story makes no sense at all. In fact I don't even think Kojima has done his best work on Metal Gear, I loved Zone of the Enders. I mean I can get what he is trying to do in the MGS games but it just isn't for me. The only one that has really even been that original and groundbreaking was MGS. I guess not knowing what other games you have played it is hard for me ot judge but to say only MGS comes close to art seems a little off-putting.
Gildermershina wrote:The original Legend of Zelda really scares me when I play it now, because it's so hard, and the world is so empty-feeling. Ocarina too. But you're right, Majora's Mask is so utterly dark in a way that no game since can match (except perhaps indie platformer Braid). Having to reset the timeline repeatedly, watching all your hard work be erased over and over and over, screwing up the townspeople's lives over and over and over until you find the right combination. Actually, come to think of it, all the Zeldas have been quite dark...
Again, love Majora's Mask, but I think I can come up with a few games that I think were as dark as it. I think both BioShock and Fallout 3 were pretty grim and dark in their own right. I don't know if they were actually as dark as Majora but they were close. Admittedly I have yet to get into Braid, I downloaded it and Shadow Complex (retro Metroid style game, I refuse Metroidvania since Metroid did it first) at the same time. I finished Shadow Complex then felt bad that I only got to the last hour or so of Super Metroid so I went back to play it again and have yet to really sit down and play Braid. I intend to play it, the few minutes I played were fantastic, but I just need to remember I have it on my hard drive next time I sit down to play.
