5 Reasons This is a Great Era for Gaming

From time to time I hear people saying how much they used to like games and how things have gotten rotten. I've also heard many people saying that the industry is dying in various ways: PC games are dying, this will be the last generation of consoles, so and so publisher is trying to rob our children, etc. There are a lot of bad things going around, sure. But there's also so much good. People tend to forget how archaic things were in the nostalgic past, hoping things will go back to how they were.

Well, I sure as hell don't want that to happen. And I also don't want certain things to get out of hand. Let's take a moment to reflect on what's going on now before Big Money crashes the whole industry around us.

Here's five things that are pretty awesome about NOW.

5. Little to No Ad's

There are five Coke logos in this shot alone. All facing the camera.

I know there are examples of advertisements in video games- like the Playboy magazine posters everywhere in Deadrising 2- but for the most part they do not happen. Compare games to movies. There are TV commercials that run for 45 minutes before having 20 minutes of movie trailers. Then the movies themselves usually have Coca-Cola cans or other stupid crap facing right at the camera. And how about theme parks that have rides that exit through the damn gift shop?

It's really funny because we've all seen an advertisement in a game at some point. And every time players see one, we IMMEDIATELY get annoyed. Yes, video games are expensive. But so is everything else. It's quite amazing that we're allowed a break from something that fills every second of our lives otherwise.

4. The Majority of Games are Rated "M" 

PG-13 zombies can't act like zombies.

Many people (IE: not gamers) are concerned over this one. But the plain reason this is the case is simply due to marketing: most of the money the gaming industry makes is from people old enough to play M rated games. It has nothing to do with violence. At least, not excessive violence. Take Halo for example. I don't think I've heard a single F-bomb in the entire franchise. The blood is rather minimal, and there's absolutely no gore. It barely counts as M.

So why is this significant? Well, it means games are free to be more adult. Even though many games lack any intellectual depth, the freedom to pack in heavier stuff is great. And think about my example, Halo. It's one of the best-selling games of all time. Yes, it's about shooting a bunch of machine guns at aliens. But it's not anywhere near as obscene as something like God of War.

Why is that freedom important? Look at movies. Most movies are PG-13. The reason being is that EVERYONE goes to see movies. Something that is PG-13 means it's heavy enough to interest adults, but not too heavy for kids. How many kids frequently watch R rated movies? How many adults frequently watch PG or G rated movies? It's marketing! But that kind of middle-of-the-road rating is limiting. Think of a game like The Last of Us as a PG-13 movie. It would have no grit, no teeth, no realism.

Freedom is a good thing. Freedom is American.

3. DLC and "Pay-to-Win" Not as Thieving as Arcades

This is a game where you took damage just by breathing air. Better pump more coins in!

Everyone complains about DLC pricing and free-to-play games that are "play-to-win." I complain about that stuff, too. But do you remember arcades? Yeah, I'm sad they're gone, too. But around 2002-ish they were completely out of control. You could easily spend a whole dollar on a measly 5 minutes of gameplay.

Considering many DLC missions last at least an hour of gameplay and add ons can be used for the whole game while pay-to-win games generally offer endless gameplay hours, it maths out to be way better now, man.

2. The Internet!

You can ask it anything!

Holy crap! When I was a kid, this was not a thing. Want to know if a game is good? Duh, buy it and find out. You can't just go to Metacritic and read what everyone is saying. Want to know where all the secrets are? You can't go to Gamefaqs and read a walkthrough, you need a strategy guide. Want to play some multiplayer? See if your friends can come over. Oh, you're not in school any more? They're probably all busy then.

And then there's digital downloads. So if the game isn't available in your country but you have internet access, then you can still get it. My word, how this one thing alone has made gaming ten times better than it was before!

1. Indie Gaming is Bigger Than Ever

And then there's XBLA, iOS and PSN, too! Indie games everywhere!

While games like Call of Duty soak up all the money so that players are able to buy little else, Indie games still get by. And they do more than get by. Tools like Steam, Unreal Dev Kit, and an internet connection let ANY ONE make a game out of their house and then send it up for the whole world to see on the web. Steam in particular has gone insane with it. Every time I load that thing up they've "Greenlit" another dozen Indie games.

The real problem, though, is the middle tier. Some gaming companies are much too big to be considered an Indie studio. It's just too hard for smaller dev teams to compete with triple A titles, and yet they're too big to made due by squeaking out a little game. And that does make me sad. Games like the Witcher series and XCOM: Enemy Unknown get made by smaller teams still, but they are few and far between.

As time goes on, Indie games will get smaller while triple A games get bigger and in the middle will be a vast nothingness. I don't look forward to any of those things. There's already way too many Indie games out there. I'm not kidding when I say any one can do it. People who have no business making games do it. Ugh.

5 Pro Tips for ALL Games

Most movies follow a three act structure, and most modern music is set to a 4/4 beat. Naturally, there are commonalities in video games. While I can't assume knowing these things means I can teach you how to make a game (unless you actually have a job making games, in which case I will pretend to know more than you do) I CAN use this knowledge to bestow you goobers with fundamentals that will allow you to have a kind of video game "Spider Sense" and also give you strategies on how to avoid things like "dying constantly."

Because these are fundamentals, they are incredibly basic. But if playing games with online modes has taught me anything it's that people have no freaking common sense. Or, at least, have not developed a common sense for video games. So listen up, you damn dirty children!

5. Unless There's a Timer on the Screen, There is No Time Limit

The one exception that immediately comes to mind is the recent Max Payne 3. And most modern games will give you some visual to indicate if something is getting away from you like a villain you are engaged in a foot chase with. But most of the time the absolute best thing to do when slapped with a deadly ultimatum is relax. It's actually quite stupid because developers will try to trick you by making the shiniest goodies only available during this time. These goodies are usually entirely missable if you follow the story and hurry to the objective.

FF7 is probably the best example. In the late game the main villain, Sephiroth, summons a meteor that will destroy the planet if the player doesn't hurry up. But it doesn't matter! What matters more is finishing up that Chocobo training and getting Knights of the Round!

4. Go the Wrong Way First

Nowadays, just about every game has collectibles in it. And games like The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite have tons of items that are actually useful secreted away in obscure locations for clever players to find. Want to know how to find 75% of them? Go the wrong way first!

Level designers don't like making things that the player won't see. So if the game tells you to go one way but there's definitely a second way to go, you can bet that the second way will have some stuff stashed away like ammo or power-ups.

3. Bad Guys Don't Like it When You Do Objectives

Plain and simple. Is the room empty? Is there a generator or switch you need to hit? Brace yourself. The second you touch that thing the bad guys will straight up teleport right behind you and en masse. It doesn't matter what the rules are of the game or the game's universe; they will teleport!

It also doesn't matter how smart they are. I've noticed that even the most brainless zombie-type enemy will know EXACTLY when you are doing something critical to your survival and will strategically decide to bum rush you to stop you from doing it.

2. Fire Explosive Weapons at Your Enemies' Feet

The Halo series requires this knowledge to this day.

Have you ever noticed how hard it can be to hit a moving target with a fully automatic machine gun? How is it that most people then do not calculate how much harder it will be to hit the same target with a projectile that flies at half speed that can only be fired once? Stop trying to land a direct hit! The blast usually gets the job done. Get that blast to go off kinda near them by shooting the ground. The blast is a lot bigger than the rocket!

The worst offender I've come across are players of Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. The Missile Launcher (which is a misnomer, because the rockets are not guided) has a blast radius the size of a living room and does an amount of damage that's enough to one shot EVERYTHING. This is a valuable consumable! Think before you waste it!

1. Diligence!

At first I thought this idea was going away; that you should do every side quest and explore everything in order to beef up your character. Developers now fear putting in content that players will refer to as a "grind." They want players to feel like every action is immediately important and pushes the story forward. But now that "free-to-play" games are here, it's more important than ever.

Plants Vs. Zombies 2 came out for iOS recently. It constantly offers the player ways to skip through the game to access new levels or items. But if you play the game like it's old school by going through EVERY level and doing EVERY little mission and task then you can play the game entirely for free (unless you want a few extra pricey power-ups).

What is this? Diligence in a game like BioShock Infinite or The Last of Us will allow you to make your character stronger. That's still true of free-to-play games... sometimes. But designing games to work this way means that only impatient people have to pay while the people who play way more will be doing so with no cost. So you pay money to get LESS game? I can't help but call this concept an "idiot tax." Sorry if that's rude. But you should worry more that game makers are trying to trick you out of your cash. Don't let them!

5 Video Game Catch Phrases to Yell at Real Life

Been a while since I made a dumb list. And last time I talked about catch phrases it was things I made up myself (or got from SOME where) that were meant to be therapeutic in treating game rage. But you know what's more aggravating than video games can ever be? Real life. So I'm flipping it around and taking some things from video games that I've heard over the years and found myself quoting out loud at varying situations.

Why? Well, sometimes profanity doesn't get the job done. And these are more fun!

5. "I can't move!"

From: Captain America and the Avengers (arcade)

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGuK8g3XHeQ&feature=youtu.be&t=5m

I have a real distaste for having my movement restricted. So do a lot of people since car traffic is a common ailment among many people on this planet. But what makes this one so much fun- like a lot of these entries- is the delivery. Note the Shatner-esque, dramatic pausing between each word. The hero (they all have the same voice) tries to stand up and shudders in terrible pain, only to collapse back down to the ground.

And who doesn't love being that overdramatic in the mundane situations of every day, non-super hero life? I know I do!

4. "By the gods, there's a psychopath on the loose!"

From: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (XBox 360, PS3, PC)

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpG4TdoGLmE

I don't understand people a lot of times. I know most people don't understand one another. Who made this horrible mess in the office kitchen? Which roommate ate all the food and left the rest of us to starve? By the gods, there's a psychopath on the loose! What other explanation could there be for such a heinous act?

It's also a good mnemonic device for remembering the difference between "loose" and "lose."

3. "Try to transport fuel NOW, you pipeline jerks!"

From: Just Cause 2 (XBox 360, PS3, PC)

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9DHAubfOY

This is gonna be a stretch. I can't help it. Is Rico saying that the PIPELINES are jerks? Or the people who made them? I prefer to think it's the former, rather than think this is some kind of weird attempt at English by the Swedish developers who made the game.

When do I say this? Iunno. Whenever. Usually after performing some act of petty revenge, like taking the last piece of company birthday cake when getting seconds because you didn't get any last time.

2. "This is why everyone keeps dying!"

From: Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (XBox 360, PS3, PS2)

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKC0pYL-4gc&feature=youtu.be&t=8m10s

This comes with its own catch phrase to yell back. That being, "Because you keep killing them!"

Sometimes problems in life are futile and pointless. Sometimes these problems are your own fault. It's fun to sarcastically take accountability, I say.

1. John Marston hates nature

From: Red Dead Redemption (XBox 360, PS3, PC)

Sample: "Stupid, damn animal!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS_Ck6rtVmc&feature=youtu.be&t=1m)

There is a better one I like, but I couldn't find it online: "Stupid nature!" Because, really, nature is stupid. I'm tired of hippies and hipsters talking about recycling this and organic that. Shut up. I'm sitting in an air conditioned room on a couch eating fast food I didn't have to work to make myself. I am ridiculously comfortable. And I despise most animal owners because they're so unapologetically bad at it. If your dog is growling at me, get your dog away from me! Oh, he's "nice?" Oh, yeah. I see a lot of evidence to support that claim.

Rabble rabble rabble rabble! Get off my lawn, you damn kids!

SPECIAL BONUS HONORARY BEST MENTION:

Everything!

From: Resident Evil (PS1, PC, Sega Saturn)

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVyOCssIXgQ&feature=youtu.be&t=26s

Everything in this horribly, horribly written and poorly "acted" game is stupidly quotable. I can't pick one thing, nor can I think of relevant situations to say any of this stuff. I just do. And you should, too.

But just take a look at this! It's Forrest! Oh my Ghahd!

5 Favorite VG Original Soundtracks

It's high time I shoot myself in the foot! Not only is this a numbered list of things people can actually comprehend and have their own opinions on, but it's about music! Something no other person in the world will agree with!

Just take this time to see if there's something new out there to hear. I'm trying to pick things that are less popular (IE no Zelda, Metroid, Halo, Call of Duty, or God of War) although- admittedly- a couple of these are extremely popular and well known for their music. Also, each soundtrack has to have at least THREE good songs.

Whatever the case, just click the links!

5. Double Dragon

Here's a good example. This was a pretty popular game, but I don't think it's held in people's memories for its music nearly as much as it should. Definitely as good as Zelda, just that this stuff is more about fist-fighting and mayhem instead of a hero's journey.

Try to not bounce up and down when you hear Mission 4.

It's also a good soundtrack to demonstrate the limitations of video game hardware and software of the time. Mission 1 showcases some of the most memorable ideas, but what the hell is up with the beat? The "drummer" is just beating the crap out of ONE cymbal. You can hear how thin the sound is from an NES since there's only four channels (five if the developer uses the Sample channel, which most didn't) and each one can only play a single note at a time. Chords and echo required using up those other channels. Listening to this, I'm guessing the composer is just some coder guy with little to no musical training. Which is actually another limitation some games had since games back then had no budget.

But man. Whoever this guy is, he's got some great ideas. Just listen to Mission 2. It sounds like a tense fight is about to break out, but then everyone must be break dancing or something. Then things get tense again before some fanfare lights up out of nowhere.

This is also an example of a game where I remember most of the music, but not a lot of the game. Video games were stupidly difficult to the point of being almost unplayable back then.

4. Dynasty Warriors 4

How can I not talk about this game? If you know me, you know I love metal. But it takes effort for me to notice a metal soundtrack. You can't just have distorted guitars mashing power chords alongside double kicks. No, you've got to have MEANING and SUBSTANCE. Like Struggle for Existence. It conveys exactly what the title says... only with guitars! And that weird Chinese violin thing.

There's even a sense of nostalgia when I listen to Look Back on Your Way; thinking on all the thousands of people I killed... uh, I mean KO'ed... just to achieve victory. But for whaaaaat? I suppose that question would be deeper if I wasn't sincerely confused on what was accomplished in all these battles.

And who could forget good ol' Lu Bu's Theme? This is the best version of it that I've heard.

3. Contra

Here's another one that's really big. Arguably another metal entry, too. But I don't think this game gets nearly enough credit. I often measure how popular a game is by how well I feel people remember it versus Legend of Zelda's theme. And Contra is not remembered nearly well enough! It's got like 6 Zelda theme quality songs in it! Start of with Waterfall. The tense intro, the funky bass call and return, and those awesome dual "guitars."

And I can't think of a song that has more gung ho, charging-into-battle feel to it than Energy Zone. That song is as masculine and heroic as the two protagonists on the cover.

Now, I wanted to avoid talking about Enemy Base. But I don't think I can, man. It's burned into my brain with how often it plays in the game and how repetitive it is by itself. I hope it's the first time you've heard it, because I remember back when this was the perfect theme to come on when blasting my way through a pseudo-3D enemy base.

2. Castlevania 3

This is supposed to be a big franchise. But for the life of me I never seem to meet people who have played the Castlevania games. I never did as a kid. So this gets bonus points for finding me without the aid of nostalgia. I've started thinking of this franchise as being like the cool kid game... or something. It was dark and had evil monsters, so maybe most parents didn't want us kids playing it. At any rate, tell me this isn't the most gangster vampire slaying music you've ever heard: Stage 3. Blade would be proud.

The way these songs swerve and dance around the beat so fancifully, I really can't help but think of these as being some kind of super technical rap songs. Like, if rap had melody and structure. You know? If it was a form of music that was performed by professional adults rather than buffoonish children. Uh, that was harsh. Here's another of the break-dancing gangster style: Stage 1.

There was that time when rap and rock were merging together. I guess that still happens. Why not classical music and rap? Am I completely crazy to think these things? Yeah, more than likely. Don't forget Stage 7, yo.

1. Silver Surfer

Holy crap! To me, this is the granddaddy of the lost NES soundtrack classics. I think it has some cult following, but not enough to where your average Mario fan recognizes it. So it belongs at the damn top! I can never get over this thrash-metal-fusion-cosmic-what's-it stuff! Listen to Level 2 and compare it to the other NES tracks here. While Mr. Follin has the advantage of using the Sample track, you can hear just how much fuller and more alive his songs are. He's a technical wizard, he is, and even uses audio illusions to achieve some of his stuff.

I'm not too informed on the electronica scene, but the Title Screen sounds like the genre's posible conception. Is 1990 far back enough to take credit for that? Doesn't really matter either way since this is just like Castlevania in that it goes way outside the contraints of the genre I'm talking about. Man, you can just hear the story unfolding just from the music!

And, of course, what would Silver Surfer be without funk? The High Score lets the player know just how funky you gotta be to hang with this space-truckin' groovemaster.





WAIT?

No Mega Man?!

Yeah, I think... I HOPE Mega Man gets enough credit. I think he does. Two and Three are like the modern day Beethoven's 5th... of video game music. Here, let's end this post with the best ending/credits theme of all time: Ending Part 3!