Hardcore Haven 08.04.06: The Rise of the Casual Gamer
Posted by Joel Beggs on 08.04.2006
How Sony has managed to airbrush MY greasy face out of THEIR bigger picture.
I've never felt so rejected in my whole life.
Sure, things have been bad before. At some time or another the girls, the friends, the pets, the job, the money, the prospects and even the hookers haven't been there when I needed them. But that was okay, because the games were always there. No matter how much the world at large would try and hold back a role-playing, asthma-suffering, grammar-fixing stud like myself, there would always be a trusty box waiting for me in my dingy room, beaten-down old controller begging for me to let loose my inner demons. There were other worlds out there, bigger, better and more accommodating worlds. Worlds that nobody else could ever hope to know about or understand. Those worlds are fast disappearing. Soon there will be nothing left for my kind.
This final refuge has slowly but surely been turned into a family friendly, socially demanding place. The companies that have nurtured and fed us for so long have come to find that antisocial types who live with their parents are not the most reliable sources of income. It is this search for the extra dollar that has managed to alienate those proud few who have chosen to alienate themselves from everything else. Paradoxical, huh.
In one way or another Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have collectively dragged gaming into the mainstream and populated our worlds with people that, quite frankly, I want nothing to do with. Behind every 1-UP Mushroom and oversized sewer pipe lurks a family member, a snot-nosed kid or some random old person to bring us back to reality. Each company has unveiled its own vision of how they plan to draw in even more new gamers. And as we all know, every time a geriatric picks up his first stylus, a hardcore gamer loses his best decepticon t-shirt in the wash.
Over the next few weeks we'll have a look at the big three, see what they're doing to attract the mainstream to their products and how diehard gaming types are slowly but surely being squeezed out of the picture.
What better place to start than with…
Sony
Sony, more than anyone, has robbed us of our hardcore havens. Gamers flocked to the Playstation in huge numbers, drawn in by its huge library of games (some of them good!) and countless exclusive titles. All was well in the lives of gamers everywhere until some Sony bigwig, slumming it with the little people in his local supermarket, presumably caught sight of himself on the store's security monitors. This debonair decision-maker, with his flowing golden locks and fancy pants, obviously liked what he saw so much he felt the need to install such cameras in every single house in the world.
Sony's EyeToy camera has proven itself to be a great success, but it certainly wasn't the hardcore gaming community eager to jump and dance around in the comfort of their own homes. The sad truth is, long-time gamers in general aren't equipped with flowing golden locks or pants that are even remotely fancy. We shy away from anything even remotely reflective, lest this sad truth be allowed to hit home.
The EyeToy camera was easy to set up and even easier to play. The sweaty old game pad could be left on the shelf, as in-game menus were navigated with little more than a flailing of the arms. Kids all over the world marvelled at being able to see themselves on the television and took great delight in exciting pastimes like VIRTUAL WINDOW WASHING and VIRTUAL PLATE SPINNING. Any hardcore gamer with the camera in his house was forced to endure the sight of his own grisly visage, oily and terrifying, losing game after game to people who had barely seen a Playstation in their lives.
This is not the end of Sony's mad dash for familial acceptance. All of you in America, consider yourselves lucky, for you lot have never known the pain of coming home and finding your precious Playstation in the hands of your twelve year old sister and a coven of giggling, pre-pubescent girls.
Singstar is Sony attempting to make karaoke cool. They've handpicked songs that could only appeal to the youngest and oldest people in the house. Titles such as Singstar Pop, Singstar Party and Singstar Anthems give a fair indication of who these games are being aimed at.
I want to kill monsters, drive really fast and accumulate piles of virtual wealth.
I don't want to worry about hitting the high notes in "Take On Me" or run on the spot for five minutes straight.
The bad news is that more and more people are becoming hooked on this peripheral-obsessed way of gaming. Parent's no longer heap derision and scorn onto their game playing offspring. Why would they, when they're having just as much fun as anyone else as they jump and sing all over our beloved pastime. Things can only get worse as well. Sony have already confirmed a high-definition camera for their Playstation 3, and with it comes even more exciting new possibilities for all of us to cram in front of our televisions and do…stuff. This, along with fresh, downloadable Singstar content, will be one of the cornerstones of Playstation's future. The days of hiding away in the farthest corner of the house and immersing yourself in an epic, interactive story will be long gone.
Melodrama, or chilling portent of things to come? Sony, it appears, have something up their sleeves for everyone in the family. Good news for Sony‘s accountants, but bad news for any self-respecting gaming aficionado forced to play the role of singing partner for lil' brother and sister. Dedicated gamers should not be chastised and spat on for their anti-social tendencies, they should be celebrated for their commitment to the cause. We are fierce, determined virtual warriors. Forcing us to air our pasty faces, flabby bodies and squeaky voices in a public arena completely demeans and undermines the great feats we're capable of.
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Sony's peripherals have turned playing Playstation into a bona-fide family activity. Microsoft and Nintendo have their own visions of the future of gaming, and in no way do these visions fit in with the time-honoured traditions of man VS machine. Check back next week to see how Nintendo is attempting to change the face of gaming as we know it, and why loyal gaming enthusiasts just don't satisfy them any more!
