Honestly, if the game editors and reviewers of today took a moment to look back on the ways videogames were rated and judged back in the 90s, they would probably feel that the rating systems of that time were inconsistent. But I wouldn't agree with them.

I don't have any dusty old game magazines or articles of any sort lying around (all lost to time), but I vaguely remember how videogames used to be treated. Of course, games didn't encompass nearly as many things as they do today (or maybe that's up for debate?), but for what it was that we had, people were more appreciative. I'm not privy to the different game rating systems of all these different game websites (most of which I've either never visited, or don't know exists), but I know that in all present day matters there is always an incessant desire to "beat out a competitor," even if the party you're trying to "beat out" isn't even interested in being hyper-competitive. Superiority complexes abound these days, and instead of simply enjoying what one has, they will lunge at every opportunity to try and "defeat" an "opponent" - it's pretty psychotic, lol.

A "Fun Factor" rating category, estimating how much "fun" you can have with a game. I don't recall any direct quotes from old videogame reviews, but one thing was, both the reviewers and the readers would be genuinely excited about what each new game would boast. You can place a videogame on a much higher pedestal of value, or you can similarly enjoy a game without forgetting to realize that when all is said and done, it's just a game. I'd sound pretty ridiculous if I tried to downplay the reasons behind why people are so apprehensive when it comes to videogames, but that in itself is a large problem. It's okay to carry along in the common veins of appreciation and depriciation concerning what games you do and don't like, but it becomes pretty akward when every other moment you're taking your games very seriously. But it's to be expected. Game deveopers go out of their way to provide a sublime gaming experience, and in turn people are driven to delerium concerning what it is that they approve of and disapprove of in videogames - they're blown stupid by their games, lol...

When I try to rationalize why I want a game, I try to gain a good slew of reasons behind why I might have FUN with it. Isn't that all that matters, in the end? People waste so much time trying to find "potholes" in the story plots and canon of their favorite games that it's pathetic. Casual games have become highly popular simply because most people don't care to spend their time trying to wrap their brains around what the "bigger" games have to offer. These days, a short while of browsing around the internet will lead you towards a multitude of browser games that you can enjoy on the fly, which is a good deal when you consider that most of what they put out on the market concerning games MUST come off as highly disturbing to most young people. The ESRB is there for a reason...

Having been "indoctrinated" by games from my youth, I can appreciate a wide variety of them. That's why I can stand to shop online on the Playstation Network over my PS3 and not feel very bewildered about what is presented to me. But this isn't to say that I don't find anything wrong with gaming today.

Everyone has several different definitions of "what's fun." I have a pretty broad list of those myself. But I still became a "recluse gamer" with the rise in gaming's standards. It's not that I wouldn't enjoy the latest Call of Duty game, or Halo 4, or any of the other popular shooters, among other less flamboyant games. Between pirated stuffs and what you can get that's Retail, I have over 16,500 games, which went up by three (the Dark Souls DLC not counting) this past birthday of mine. I'm not hard to please, and that fact doesn't make me feel ashamed at all. I'd rather have an eventful evening of loose-minded fun with my games than spending too much of my time making a huge deal out of them.

But this is fallacious where it is. If someone loves something immensely then more power to them concerning the enjoyment of it. I just don't see the point in all the needless bitching and flaming over what games are "better" than others. Sure I have my own bias concerning what things I believe to be "superior" to other things - we all do. But people who argue over the internet are inherently ridiculous, lol...



I'd spend more time "getting lost" in my games these days if I treated them how I did back in the late 80s on up to the PS2 era. But, however frivolus it may sound, I am always afraid of the idea of "losing myself" in anything I do. It might be unecessary, but even I sometimes feel that "too much" is too much...

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Music of the Moment







Vagrant Story (PS1)...