Favorite Gimmicks in Gaming? Anyone?

“You know what the SNES needs? A mouse!”

I started another inflammatory article earlier today about game reviews, but part of the way through I decided to stop because I need to take a break from being all angry about the blogging industry and start promoting fun discussions. So instead I’m working on this article that I haven’t come up with a topic for yet, but I’m sure it will come to me as a write this. I’m thinking maybe something about music in games, but that’s been done before. How about something more abstract, like “Best unexpectedly fantastic video game”? Eh, nah. I would talk too much about Fragile. Maybe “Best game featuring food”? No, that’s just stupid.

Oh, here we go. Let’s do “Favorite Gimmicks in Gaming”.

Contrary to popular belief, it didn’t start with the Wii. Gimmicks have long been a part of gaming from the dawn of the NES and the Power Glove, DDR-pad thing, and R.O.B. Some have been cool, and some have been dumb. Some have succeeded, and many more have failed. In the middle, however, are the things we grew up with. Our stupid guilty pleasures that we maybe played with as a kid and hence have a soft spot for now. For me, that thing (err– collection of things) is anything that incorporates real world elements into games.

I know it’s stupid, but I just love the idea of breaking the fourth wall in a gameplay sense. It brings me closer to an experience when I can teleport little figurines into the game a la Skylanders, or wander around collecting puzzle pieces for 3D images with StreetPass. I love that stuff, and I always have loved that stuff. Animal Crossing’s in-game holidays, Mario Galaxy’s Mail Toad sending you letters, and even simple things like Pokemon Gold/Silver’s real time day and night cycle. I’m an absolute sucker for that shit, and I’ve wasted many dollars because of it.

One of my favorite examples comes from a game I haven’t actually played yet- Boktai for Gameboy Advance. In it, you fight vampires and evil demons using a light blaster gun thing that’s powered by the sun’s rays. Seriously. You literally have to take your Gameboy Advance outside and gather up real life sunlight (with an in-cartridge sensor) to use in the game. No surprise that something so awesome was crafted by Metal Gear Solid series designer Hideo Kojima, but unfortunately the game’s sequel on DS simply used the internal clock to measure whether you were playing at night or during the day. No more sun gathering for that one!

So yea. That’s a thing I’m a sucker for. What are you guys suckers for? Sorry I can’t do some in depth article for you today. Just not angry enough, I guess. This coming week keep your eyes on the main site and maybe I’ll pop in with some angry-people comments for you guys to argue over and stuff to help make me more internet famous.

In the meantime, it’s healthy discussion time!