Video Game Confessions0

Hi everyone. I’ve been pretty sick the last few days so I haven’t really been in the mood to write much. I’ve mainly been sitting around the house playing video games. But it occurred to me today that long ago there were two games I swore I’d never play. But in my sickly state I was playing both today. I could think of no better place to confess then Breadcrumbs.

The first is Guitar Hero or anything like it. I guess I had a snobbish attitude that I was a gamer not a try hard musician. I even knew a person who was learning to play an instrument but gave it up to dedicate more time to Guitar Hero, how sad is that. Some people even tried to convince me that it was a good way to start learning the basics of how to play a real guitar. This stupefied me; it’s a fucking game controller! Not a real instrument! You are playing a game not learning a skill! I felt like the only sane person in a world of morons.

But not long ago one of my housemates purchased a Guitar Hero game and I couldn’t help but give it a try. In the first fifteen minutes all the hatred I had towards the game was justified. Awkward controller, stupid menus and no real game outside of “press buttons when told”.  But within the next thirty minutes I couldn’t help but notice some good points. The songs were some great classic rock songs that I love. I found watching people play the game was just as much fun as playing, and I couldn’t wait for my next turn. That last one is a big one and it’s proof of a good game. It reminds me of playing classic games like Sonic or Mario with friends. You would be playing through sharing the one controller, playing “a life or a level”. You couldn’t help but hope your friends would stuff up, just so you could take control again. So my point is that putting my old prejudice aside I have to come clean and say that I really do enjoy the game and I finally get the appeal. It’s fun to jam along with some classic rock tunes but what makes it so good is definitely the group aspect. If you get a group of friends together for a few drinks this game will not only give you some good music but is lots of fun to share. So does this make me a bit of a sell-out? Yes, but you should see me jamming to Hotel California.

Now the other game I swore I’d never play is the very popular World of Warcraft. For those who don’t know it’s a free roaming, fantasy role-playing game that spans a giant world. I know that sounds right up my alley but the difference between this game and other fantasy RPG’s is that this game is completely online. This means there is an annoying ongoing monthly subscription. But the game allows you to meet up with friends in the game and tackle quests, bosses and exploration together. It has a very large social component to the game with a big emphasis on teamwork and cooperative game play. Now for people who know me I love games but I am also a very social person, but for some reason melding the two has never had any appeal. I guess that when I sit down to play a game it’s to have “Rowan Time”. That is quite different to another kind of “Rowan Time” but what I mean is that the quiet solitude of jumping into a game can be relaxing and a way to escape having to interact with people. It’s the same thing if you work a job where you talk to people a lot and on your lunch break you go sit away from people and enjoy the peace. This has been a big reason I’ve never really been into online gaming even when people beg me to come play. It just seems really tiring.

Also the whole monthly subscription payment would make me feel obligated to keep playing even if I don’t really feel like it. Plus some of the horror stories you hear about WOW and people who play it can be a little off putting. You know the ones about kids who die at their computers because they can’t leave the game alone for ten minutes to eat something. Or even just how some players let the game take over their lives and play it pretty much every waking moment. If you’ve seen the South Park episode “Make Love Not Warcraft” you know the people I mean.

A couple of week’s back some friends from work convinced me to give the game a shot and join their group. Peer pressure, it’s a good excuse for anything. The game really is heaps of fun with so much to see and do. In fact there is too much and I have to get over my normal gaming hang-up of “Do everything”, because WOW can’t be played that way. Plus being a really solid, well-made game it’s easy to see how people get addicted. I think I’ll keep playing for a while, it doesn’t cost much and it is nice to be part of a team for a change. I’m still getting used to the whole social side, especially when you’re in the middle of a quest and someone pops up and asks you to cross the planet to join them with no warning at all. I guess that’s the same as being friends with Rodger.

So I think that’s about it, I better get back to playing this thing (oh crap, it begins). I wonder what else I might do that I said I never would. I remember swearing I would never go skydiving. Gulp.  Anyway I’ll leave you all with this clip for the new World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm. Which is being released on the 7^th of December. Even if you’re not a WOWer you have to admit that this clip is pretty damn cool.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq4Y7ztznKc]

See you next week.

Rowan