I've never been the type of person to throw my controller, scream at the display, or vow to never play games again in the heat of the moment after getting reamed in multiplayer, slapped around by AI, or experience a hard-lock, among other scenarios. That's not to say I don't get angry at games, but its usually some form of frustration instead of seething anger. In the past, I would mitigate my frustrations by turning down the difficulty or I would simply taking a breather. Some games I would never end up returning to after taking said breather, which is very unfortunate because of the 1) waste of money 2) shame of wasting money on entertainment that was made for the masses, which I had trouble completing let alone enjoying 3) the inevitable purchase of another title to fill that videogame void.

Sometimes its not even the difficulty, but the "gamer ADD" that a lot of us are now experiencing. There are way more titles--that are actually good--than any one enthusiast can enjoy; not even the GiantBomb crew sees everything good that is released, so how is a 9-5'er or college kid supposed to take it all in? I've found myself dropping great games prematurely because of the "promise" of the newer games. They are, in fact, greener.

Games are faster these days, lasting 6-10 hours. Games are easier and are meant to be beaten. Games hold your hand and lead you down a rock lined path filled with pretty things to a memorial wall. It's a good walk: nice air, breezy, and very relaxing. This pleasant promenade has whittled away at my vigor, and when I put myself on a path that leads out into a field with rabid skeletons chasing me and a dragon flying overhead, I freeze... and die, many times.

I can't speak for all gamers, but I have become placid. Then I bought Dark Souls.

At first, I only played about 1 hour before shutting it off (hint, that's as long as the quicklook was.) As soon as I ventured into unfamiliar land and was owned (constantly and from every direction) I began to have buyer's remorse, which is strange because I knew exactly what I was getting into. I kept at it and fought my urge to "just quit." I didn't hate it, but I looked down and saw Gears of War 3 waving me in: "Come on, let's kill thousands of baddies, no problem, no worries." I said no, I have souls to lose.

After many hours, I became numb to the failure. Souls weren't experience to be tightly guarded, they were hot potatoes--get rid of them as fast as you can. Death became just a part of the game, I even used it to my advantage to fast travel. Eventually I became so good at failing, that I started to win. That's when I came to the realization that Dark Souls wants you to fail to succeed. Dying is going to happen, it is a must. Failing allowed me to see the path to victory and because of my numerous failures, the victory tasted even sweeter.

After a week with only Dark Souls, I became a videogame king. The enemies that proved so hard only a few days prior were now my bitches. I was unstoppable and... uncaring. I no longer let my emotions ruin what was actually a great experience. At that moment, I knew. I had become Thomas the-mother-fuckin Tank Engine of videogames.

Now everything is easy. I throw in Gears of War and laugh. I put everything on hard now and steam roll. I even tried some Super Meat Boy and had a great time. No game can escape my new found indifference.