Your Views on Games Are Stupid and Don’t Mean Anything
Continuing my series of “article titles that make people click on them”, I’ve got a point to make today that I think is really important. You see, like the best of us, I always get into arguments about video games with friends or with Internet demons. Usually it’s Nintendo-related, and at the end of the day the bottom line always remains the same; “I think what I think and you think what you think and who cares.” We can argue day and night about why Skyward Sword isn’t the worst game in the series, or why Mario doesn’t need a story to be important, but the overall conclusion to the argument never ever changes. It’s always a “live and let live” sort of ideology.
Which is great, right? The fact that we have such respect for each other’s beliefs and we are understanding enough human beings to realize the triviality of arguing about video games is wonderful! Except that we don’t. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one person who- when faced with the opportunity of gaming related debate- simply stated outright that opinions on these things aren’t important, and everyone should just enjoy what they enjoy.
It’s something that everyone claims to know, but no one really puts into practice. Heck, if people simply stated outright that they didn’t want to debate instead of using it as the go-to thing that they say when they’re sick of arguing, they would achieve that “more mature than my asshole friends” status that they think they’re putting off. When used at the end of a long useless argument about trivial gaming, however, it really deflates any sort of validity that you would have had if you were able to continue the debate and convince the other side that you’re right. Because the point of any debate is to convince the other side that you’re right, right?
The trick with doing that is that you can’t.
I’m not sure if people genuinely don’t realize that or they just don’t care, but really, you absolutely cannot convince someone that their favorite game is actually crap because you swear it sucks. No matter how many internet-fueled ideas you throw at them, they will stand firm.
I mean honestly, what do you expect? Do you really think that they’ll just turn around halfway through the argument and go “Oh, right. I’m sorry I was totally mislead this whole time; Mario really IS better than Call of Duty!”?
No, of course they won’t say that, because do you know what doesn’t determine which games we like and which we don’t? Logic. Our interest in specific games has no logical basis whatsoever. It’s not lead by critic scores, it’s not lead by what our friends tell us, it’s not lead by anything tangible, and it’s certainly not lead by some weird inter-dimensional force that determines the quality of a game. It’s way simpler than that: It’s lead by our brains releasing chemicals that convince us we’re having fun while we’re playing.
That’s it. That’s literally the reason we like any game we like. We sit down, start playing, and then our brains release shit that makes us go “Oh cool I’m enjoying myself.”, so we add that to our list of “games we like.” Whether that’s playing Zelda or Wheel of Fortune or Skyrim or Barbie’s Adventure in Dreamland, it all comes down to a simple chemical reaction that isn’t set in stone for anybody.
The reason we feel the need to conjure up all of the reasons and bullshit to have arguments that don’t really matter is almost entirely beyond me. I imagine it has something to do with human curiosity as to why people do what they do, and the societal (?) pressure on someone for not being able to “have a reason” for all the stuff they feel like doing. Which I can understand if we’re talking about political or religious beliefs, but these are video games for crying out loud. They’re called “games” for a reason, folks: You don’t need to explain why you like something, and absolutely no one can tell you you’re wrong.
You know how I know all this? Because I am a person who likes shitty games, and I know many people who like shitty games. One of my favorite games of all time, for instance, is Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, which is generally looked upon as being an incredibly flawed experience that couldn’t possibly measure up to AAA titles like Final Fantasy or Zelda. But guess what.
I liked it as much as I’ve liked any Zelda game. Really truly honestly. And you know who can’t tell me I’m wrong? Any of you, because I’m not. It is a fact that I enjoyed Fragile more than Halo 3, and Wii Party more than Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is an undeniable, honest to god fact. My brain just released more magic chemicals while I was playing them. I don’t know why, and I don’t want to, because, again- who cares?
Who cares?
(I’ll do a part two- about the side that gaming “journalists” play in this- tomorrow)
