Why Gamers Need to Chill Out

It drives me crazy. I feel like no one can just like a game for the sake of liking it. Nowadays you have to justify your enjoyment of a video game just so you won't get trolled on the gaming forums. Why does it need to have cutting-edge graphics? Why does the story have to be complex and engaging? Why is a multi-player feature a requirement for a game to be "good"?

When I was a kid, my love for video games was at an all-time high. If someone had a system at their house, I would be playing it. I constantly nagged about getting our NES hooked up just so I could play Super Mario Bros. or Legend of Zelda. My friend Nick had a treasure trove of games that we would play through repeatedly and cycle through them over the months.

And we loved them all.

We didn't need to understand all the mechanics and rules. We loved it because we were having fun. Isn't that the point of video games in the first place? To escape the world around you and to challenge your brain and hand-eye coordination instead of wasting your time playing sports with your neighbor across the street? I've come across people who vehemently despise a game for XY and Z reasons. Is your anger really worth directing toward a piece of plastic?

Sometimes I'll like a game just because it lets me play a favorite character. Batman and Friday the 13th for the NES aren't on any top 10 lists, but it didn't matter to me. I got to be Batman and see Jason throw axes at me.  People dumped on Tomorrow Never Dies for PSX because it wasn't Sony's GoldenEye. I still have a blast playing it. I got to be James Bond. That was enough.

When you're little you don't give any thought to the technical points of video games. Let's say the controls aren't particularly tight for an example. You'd just accept it for what is. It was like it was a part of the game, just like the number of lives you had or what abilities you were given. Looking back at Ghostbusters for the NES, it's absolute bullshit that you have to press B or A (can't remember which) repeatedly to move up 22 FLOORS of stairs while avoiding ghosts that attack. If you had bought the ghost protection suit, you could take nine hits before losing. If not, you had three hits until you die. Either way, you were up shit creek.

Here's a video of the game:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9c-0H4P2-E

Keep in mind that this guy is using a rapid-fire feature on his controller to move that fast. But my point is that my friends and I accepted it as part of the game. It was wall-punching hard, but our brains just told us to grow some balls and tough it out. And when you finally did beat the game it was that much more satisfying.

I won't say that there are games that I liked as a kid that I don't enjoy anymore. Friday the 13th is a terrible game. Ghostbusters was a much better game on the Master System. Batman for NES still kicks ass. But I'm not jaded. That's what separates me from the raging zealots that plague the internet. If I like a game, then I like it. I won't explain myself because the answer is self-explanatory.

I have fun.