DoctorWelch

Hey guys, apparently everyone likes our game because it's so scary...but market research shows us that the game is actually scary, and I don't like being scared. Therefore, we are going to make the game less scary...you know...because I said so.

By far VI, and I say fuck IX. I liked VII and VIII way better than IX and I don't really know why. I think it may have just been that I hated the characters and the aesthetic of IX. Just seemed too cartoony and childish, but that might just be me. In terms of gameplay I pretty much played all those games so long ago that I though all of them were fun in their own way, it was really the stories and characters and such that made one stand out from the others.

You're what?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Here's the simple solution to everyone's problems with burning out on this console generation. ONLY PLAY GAMES YOU WANT TO PLAY! That's it. It's that simple.

About 3 years ago I realized that no matter what I was going to do in life, it was going to involve games. So for the next two years I basically played every major release you can think of, including all the major releases from earlier in this generation. Over those two years I truly enveloped myself in gaming like I never did before. I have played games since the NES, but I never took the time to truly dissect them and learn about the industry and games I love. Being 21, I would in no way call myself an expert on the history of gaming, at least not anywhere close to the dudes here at GB are, but I would say I know more than the average person who plays games.

More to the point though, I feel that I am thoroughly versed in this generation. I've played almost all of the good games, a ton of the mediocre games, and even a few terrible games. At a point though, I had to realize I wasn't getting anything from playing the games I didn't like. There was a time at the start of those two years when playing through a terrible game would have been a learning experience, but I've reached the point where I feel like I can talk intelligently about games. I can tell why I think a game is good or bad, why I liked or didn't like it, if I think you should buy it or not, and any other number of things. That was pretty much my goal, and I think I've accomplished it more or less.

In the last year, I realized I no longer "needed" to play every game. I think it sort of hit me while I was play L.A. Noire. I suddenly realized not only was I getting nothing out of playing it, but I didn't really like it either. It was basically the point where I decided I'm only going to play games I really have a desire to play. Since then I think I've played (other than for review purposes) Gears 3, Mass Effect 3, Arkham City, Dark Souls, and that's pretty much it for new releases. This is coming from someone who wants to be a game critic, not necessarily as a paid job, but as a person who can intelligently converse about games in deep ways.

In conclusion, I feel like there are a lot of people who play games that feel almost like they have a responsibility to play everything. Like if they don't play everything they will be missing out. I say stop with that attitude. If you're playing games for the sole purpose of entertainment. Play the shit you want to play, and if nothing new is coming out that interests you, well than I can guarantee you there's games you probably own that you'd love and still haven't gotten around to playing. Dive deep into Street Fighter, Starcraft, or DOTA. Go back and play all the Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star, or Atlas games. Have you played ever Mega Man, Mario, Zelda (like you said), Metroid, Doom, Halo, Half-Life? There is no reason to just give up on a medium you seem to like so much. You have no responsibility to play games, just play the awesome ones you really want to play. It's not like it has to be all or nothing.

THERE"S SO MANY AMAZING GAMES OUT THERE< I"M EVEN HOLDING DOWN THE SHIFT KEY TO TYPE MY SYMBOLS! GO OUT AND PLAY THEM DAMMIT!

Did anyone get any Street Fighter 4 Arcade Editions from that sale a few days ago that they don't want?

Learn to control your emotions young padawan.

No, but seriously. Just learn to walk away, and calm down. Occasionally I get mad as well, but only when I feel really cheated by the game, or if the other players are being assholes. Even so, I used to get super mad at people who just cheesed in Starcraft because they weren't actually getting better at the game, they were just getting cheap wins. You just have to realize that in the grand scheme of things it's much better to take the loss and learn from it. There really is no point in getting angry over something so trivial, especially when you aren't really playing for anything super important other than your enjoyment and to improve.

GET THE FUCK OUT!

Ahh, I'm just kidding. We're nice here at GB...or are we?

Fuck beer...that is all.

Basically anything that attaches your writing to you and gives it a date would be a start. In the US you are the copyright holder of anything you write at any time, the problem is always proving that you were the one to write it. I would say it would be a good idea to post your writing to a blog without linking it to anything, or keep it in google docs or something. That way it is at least a little more tied to you concretely.

Are you maliciously coming to GB for the soul purpose of creating topics that have already been discussed to death on every video game website ever? I mean, I wouldn't mind all these topics if they were well thought out and a relatively decent length, but like 5 sentences just isn't going to cut it.