"How come guys are attracted to girls that know about videogames?" - PaJamieez's Girlfriend
The simplest answer: If you know about videogames, you're one down ass chick!
The thought out answer:
Women like my girlfriend often wonder about the attraction male gamers have towards girls with knowledge in the subject. Usually because as a woman, she receives an unusual amount of attention when she talks about beating Ocarina of Time or the difficulties she went through playing Call of Duty with her brother. According to her, the attention at first is welcome, but quickly degenerates into being a bit creepy and eventually leads to a negative experience. Personally I too was enamored by her knowledge of the subject. (Luckily I was able to pass it off non-nonchalantly hence why we're together.) But why all the hoopla over the subject? Well girls, I'm about to explain it to you from one gamer's perspective.
Guys that play games, and continue to do so have been playing games since childhood, and gaming was a completely different culture back then. More akin to reading a book, much of a videogame's appeal was the extensive use of imagination. They were able to pull you into a world and keep you there depending on the amount of imagination one possessed. And great games, really great games gave you another level immersion that touched with a boy's sense of adventure. The Legend of Zelda for instance, was not just pixels on a screen. For many like myself, it was a dangerous quest filled with wonder and exploration. We weren't simply controlling Link, we WERE Link. Often, when a guy talks to a friend about videogames, it's often comparable to war vets comparing battle scars. We hold dear to the games we love because the experience that great games give us connect to that old childhood sense of accomplishment. The experience is so close to us, that our interactions with can instantly create bonds. When two men talk about it, bonds are instantly formed, strong bonds. The friendship between Pez and I was initially based on our love for Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. I now play a role in his up and coming wedding. So when a girl talks about gaming, she inadvertantly creates a bond.
The strength of this bond however, is clearly underestimated by the opposite gender.
"But it's just a videogame right?"
Wrong... maybe today, with games boasting increadible graphics, imagination is hardly used and our experience with them is a bit more shallow. Many would disagree with that statement. However, our feeling for videogames since childhood has never change. Females, you've unknowingly opened the floodgate. By saying that you've beaten Ocarina of Time, you've unknowingly threw a Pokeball and right now we're trying to be your Charmander. The idea that someone other than a male can understand the trials you've been through as a child or that a potential partner can understand how dramatic it was when you lost Aerith to a sword wielding maniac is one that is most desired.
Obviously, there is a catch here and the catch is that women might not understand gaming all that much even though a guy is thoroughly convinced that she is. Maybe she didn't play the game, or perhaps she heard of this story from another friend or her brother. It's too late now, because the girl that brought up her videogame knowledge has initiated this bond. Ladies, don't be afraid. We just like you it's nothing to be creeped out about. You should be happy that you can connect with us at this level! Most girls struggle with how to connect to their man. I just gave you the konami code.
I CHOOSE YOU! -- PSP!I feel bad for my PSP. Before my hour long commute to work this morning I had a decision to make: PSP, DS or COWON Portable Media Player. It's a tough decision because that hour is precious! Like the last two Persona games, deciding what to do has several benefits! I could boost my expression with the COWON or I could increase my understanding with the DS. The PSP however, is kind of collecting dust and I don't know why? Maybe the console on portable aspect doesn't grasp me, but it seems as if games on console should be made where you can sit down for a longer period of time where as portables should have a pick up and play aspect. One example that really sticks in my head is my play time with Final Fantasy Tactics and Big Bang Mini (man that game is awesome). I've played both to completion and really enjoyed them! The difference between the two games is where I play them, and not how good they were. It turns out that I played Final Fantasy Tactics mainly at home, and rarely on the go, unless I was staying over night in a different location or waiting for someone in the car for extended periods of time. On the other hand, I never played Big Bang Mini at home! When did Big Bang Mini get some play time? -- On those long train rides back and fourth from work!
Just Kidding DS... Of course there are tons of exceptions to this idea, most of which are mainly aimed at the game design. Lumines for Instance was with me 24/7 untill I maxed out the score count, and there was a time when I'd miss a train or two playing Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles on my way home. It's not to say that PSP is lacking in quality games, because it's not. With great original titles like Patapon, Loco Roco, Work Time Fun, The Monster Hunter Series, the PSP has alot to say and deserves to be heard. However, try playing Patapon while switching trains in a crowded New York City Subway and you're destined for orphaned patapon children or a verbal smack down from the boss cause you're thirty minutes late. Games like Patapon require your full attention and lack on the spot saving because it's a rhythm based game. Even with the quick sleep option, some of these games are so engaging that putting the system to sleep is a bit difficult or when forced to cut it short leaves you unsatisfied with your gaming session.
It's hard to resist games like Shin Megami Tensei: Revelations Persona, and the remake of Shadow of Memories on the PSP. (Two games that I happend to miss in the last two console generations.) And I will infact, end up purchasing them. It's sad however that I'm mostly going to play them at home, when a perfectly capable PS2 can play the same games on a bigger screen. The aspect in which portable game designers have to consider is the play time actually spent on the road, and how much excitement and allure one can pack into 25 - 30 minutes of gameplay without stifling quality. I think developers are getting the hint though, Echochrome, is a recently released puzzle game that's deep, innovative, and portable! On the horizon, Holy Invastion of Privacy, Badman! What did I do to deserve this?'s dungeon creation / tower defence game play and the Little Big Planet Port's custom user level design look as if they can guide the Playstation Portable to be a true portable game player! 1 Comments
There was once a time when Nintendo’s official statement on why DVD’s can’t be played on the Wii was believed. “We only want to focus on the games.” Reggie said with a confident smile. This isn’t the first time however, that Nintendo has left it’s users without multi-media functionality. Only until recently has the Nintendo DS allowed users to listen to MP3’s. While other consoles such as the PSP, PS3/PS2, X-Box and the 360 have been offering a multimedia experience for years, Nintendo has always stuck by its all about the games mantra. Have they really been so keen as to focus on just the games, or have they become the evil they once resented? Nintendo’s focus on the casual gamer market has led Nintendo away from the multi-media experience scene and has created a whole new market, the Life Assistance Genre.
The Life Assistance Genre is unique because most of the time, those programs are actually games. Brain Age, Wii Sports, and Wii Fit provide an entertaining experience while providing mental and physical exercise. However, the line between entertainment and functionality is starting to blur. Games like My Life Coach “… a game that gives anybody concerned about their well being the willpower they need to change their habits and find what they want in a motivating and fun way…(ign.com)” hardly qualifies as a game. Nintendo is riding self created wave of Life Assistance with it’s creation of the Wii Vitality Sensor, which is intended to track heart rate and pulse which will create a whole new flood path for health related games. With Nintendo products increasing in functionality, the question that needs to be asked what will separate your DSi from being your therapist, or your Nintendo Wii from becoming a an EKG meter? More importantly, how is this all about the games. Most gamers won’t really give a damn about the latest trends in Japanese clothing courtesy of My Ultra Cool Outfit Selector With Vitality Sensor Support.
Has Nintendo’s about the games mentality *EDIT* <strike> may have </strike> turned them into the very concept they have for years shied away from <strike> for years? </strike> *End of Edit* It’s hard to believe Nintendo when they say they’re totally about the games when games like Wii Fit’s Yoga Fitness is hanging around. Also, the in house focus on more traditional games such as Super Mario or The legend of Zelda has offered little to no innovations and instead presents rehashed concepts that have been used over and over again. I don’t see the shift in focus as a bad thing for gaming, as I can see that there is so much potential in the Wii for truly immersive gameplay in games such as Silent Hill Shattered Memories or No More Heroes II, and who couldn‘t use a little help with social ineptitude? Good for you Nintendo, I guess you’re still all about the games after all! Now… can we stop playing games and start watching Blue-Ray?
I was standing in line at the cafeteria during work today wondering why I have to eat a salad rather than a really juicy angry Whopper for lunch when the idea struck me like Dragon Punch Motion to the face. Who the hell is that guy?! No, not the guy in front of me touching the lettuce with his bare hands or the guy wearing the a little toolight to be salmon button down. I'm talking about the guy in the Street Fighter II Intro....
THIS GUY
Is he the reason why DJ had to sit out for a couple of games?!
Little is known about this street fighter. In all the games of the series he only appears once, punching a random guy as the camera pans above buildings to the familiar Street Fighter II logo we all grew up with. Does the lost fighter have a back story? Is it Ken in his early years or another street fighter character doomed to live in the shadow of his more popular peers? Capcom does not say, however I like to invent side stories for guys like this in videogames.
His name is Jack. Forced to live on the streets, he had to fight for everything he had growing up in the rough alley ways of Seattle. First he fought for food, and then for his life. After standing over a would be mugger, his hands still holding the bloodied wallet he tried so desperately to defend, Jack realized that he had a knack for fighting. So like anyone with a talent and a hungry stomach he takes to the underground arena where a guy in a funky mask and with a long claw on his hand takes people like him and feeds him to the lions of would-be street fighters. Things are starting to look up! Jack can afford a room at "the Y," he picks up a girlfriend, and most of all he's not hungry anymore. Then suddenly, after punching a would-be Jamaican Club DJ in the face ensuring a quick and perfect victory, another weird person in a business suit takes his girl friend away. Jack does the only thing a guy can do in this situation...
He asks the landlord for a rent extension... AND THEN goes after the girl.... The rest is history! I know... it doesn't make sense, just roll with it
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