[Rant] What's Wrong with Video Games These Days?

It's been my observation that gaming became too serious. The rise of the FPS, and realism in general, has lead developers away from creating games that are fanciful flights of imagination. I'm not saying such games don't exist - Okami, Professor Layton, Katamari Damacy are shining examples in their field - but overall, games lack the same whimsy and charm they did even just five or six years ago. No, of course a Tom Clancy game isn't supposed to be charming, but just the same, it feels as if there's a kind of saturation taking place, a gaming algorithm which states that for each title that truly captures the heart and soul of our imaginations, like Metal Gear Solid, we must slog through six, cookie-cutter titles such as Crackdown or Killswitch.

Perhaps it better allows us to appreciate the true milestones of creativity, but so many games have a grim, forboding mood now - and that's not what I personally seek. I like a little whimsy in my gaming; a game can be realistic and still possess an upbeat charm. This is the difference between Burnout Paradise and Gran Turismo: one is meant for having fun, the other is meant for being pretentious without leaving your armchair.

Maybe it's a super-conscious move on the part of developers (and audiences) who believe that as technology becomes more sophisticated, so too must the subject material. For the longest time, gamers were forced to use a lot of imagination to accept a game on its own terms because there was just no way to reflect reality. Seriously? Floating blocks, magic mushrooms, invincibility stars, enemy turtles? We bought into it! Realism has its place - remember how your jaw dropped repeatedly during Resident Evil 4? - but I like the lighthearted stuff too. Dead Rising took the same formula, pushed it over the top, and became a loltastic thrill.

But when you see all these titles - Rainbow Six, Gears of War, Halo 3, Team Fortress, Call of Duty, etc. - and they all seem like the same game with different paintjobs, that's what's wrong. If I want to see that kind of grim depiction of warfare, violence and mankind's bleak outlook upon itself, I'll watch the daily news. Video games are supposed to transport me away from that shit, not reinforce it.

Maybe we just take ourselves too seriously now, maybe we think we've come this far and now we're too good for some of the stuff that provided gaming sustenance over the past years. It's okay for games to be silly. That's part of their charm. I think it's why I prefer Pokemon over Halo: Instead of a gun, I get a giant, fire-breathing dragon. That's pretty cool.

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