Hey. It's me again for another simple fact of life. Now I know what you're thinking: "why are you talking about video games when you tend to talk about more serious and down-to-earth topics"? It's simple. To me, video games are part of my life. They've helped me blow off steam and feel better after a bad day. However, it's becoming the total opposite now. Let me explain this to all of you. If you're a gamer, you probably know what I'm going to be talking about. If not, I'll explain certain things to you so you understand.
For starters, most video games these days have trailers that look better than the actual game. For this problem, I'm talking about graphics, or for you non-gamers, how the game looks. In most trailers nowadays, the games look spectacular and almost photo-realistic. When the game is released, you'll find out very quickly that the developers were pulling your leg. The game looks less photo-realistic than the trailer. Now this makes me sound like a graphics whore, but I'm not. In fact, I'm not really pissed off that the game doesn't look as good as the trailer, but instead I'm pissed off that developers are falsely advertising their game just so they can make more money off of it. Seriously developers. Just be honest. Most of us true gamers care about what the game has and what it's about than how it looks. Just focus on the in-game features and the content rather than try to sucker us in with a shiny new graphics engine. That's not how it works.
The next problem is that most gamers these days are all about elitism, or the act of thinking they're far superior to another in a game. This mostly occurs online. I should know this, as I've been treated like shit as a newcomer by someone who was much more skilled and had played the game longer than I have. If you've ever played a game online, You'll hear the term "MLG" a lot to describe one's play. For those who don't know, MLG is an acronym for Major League Gaming, a pro gaming league where players compete for money and such. This not only shows they're cocky, but using MLG shows they have no taste in gaming, as MLG players are snobs and a bad role model for other competitive gamers, such as the ones in the Electronic Sports League, or ESL. Back to my original complaint. Gamers these days feel the need to feel superior to another and it just seems like fun has been replaced with elitism. It's ridiculous.
Another problem is how video games are being released these days. Back in the day when I was about 7 or 8 years old, a new game would be worth maybe about $20. That's pretty cheap, even for lower income budgets. Nowadays, video games are being released at $60. Now it would make sense to some because new technology means bigger games. However, these new games aren't complete. Let me explain here to those who don't know what I'm talking about. When I was a kid, video games were complete. You got the whole game in its case. Nowadays, video games are coming out incomplete. For example, you've completed all levels/missions in a game, and you think you've beat it. Then you realize the developers are going to release a shorter game to add to the game you just bought. Back in the day, this was known as an Expansion Pack. However, these came out 2 years after the game was released, giving the player more time to enjoy the game, and on top of it, they were half the price of the original game, if that. Now these expansions are released a week after the game was released, and they run for about the same price as the game itself, if not more. Basically, the developers went from saying "enjoy our game, and if you still like it 2 years from now, we'll give you more to add on to it at half the price" to "fuck you. Give us all your money".
I guess I'm done ranting now. I know I may have missed a few problems with video games today, so if I missed one you guys know about, leave it in the comments so everyone can read it. Also, sorry about my lack of posting. I've been focusing on work and other things. I'll see you guys in my next blog post. Take care, and keep living.
