[[note: I like to give my readers YouTube links of music I listened to while writing pieces. Here you go (in order of paragraphs and all):]]
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows
Jamiroquai - Feels Just Like It Should
Jamiroquai - You Are My Love
Mr. Loco - Religious Man (I know, weird)


Alright, videogame industry, "we need to talk." No, I'm not breaking up with you, but I might when Led Zeppelin comes to Rock Band, Big Boss comes to the PS3, and Final Fantasy VII gets a remake.

There's a ton of stuff that's wrong with you, videogame industry. Let's go through with this and analyze it, shall we?



1. I play videogames to get away from the social drama, not HAVE it.

Of course, I'm talking about the Infinity Ward/Activision "scandal." So the heads of a company were fired by their publisher for insubordination and founded their own developing studio under their old publisher's rival. SOAP OPERAS. NOT HERE. Granted, the drama is good IN video games, because some video games can actually be art. (Yeah, that's right, I said it. Fuck off Roger Ebert, stick to what you know, and that's shitty movies that the Oscar committee masturbates to in their private time.) I don't want to see "OMG TWO GUYS LEAVE INFINITY WARD FOR RESPAWN O NO" spamming up my Twitter feed. Give me the goods, like what Split/Second is doing, or next week's classick rock pack for Rock Band, or stuff about Dreamcast XBL games, because that's what's good, not the same stuff over and over and over again. Jesus, you could make a monthly magazine filled with video game drama. Just stop it. Video games are supposed to be positive, GOOD FEELINGS.



2. Motion control. It's not futuristic, it's just a pain in the ass.

I'd like to give a big sarcastic THANK YOU to Nintendo for making Sony and Microsoft have to resort to following suit and making motion-control devices. Motion control is mostly a waste of time. Let's stick to what we've been doing since before 2007, and that's playing with a controller in our hands, sitting in a comfortable spot with a nice cold (or hot) drink and some snacks of our choice. Waggle waggle waggle waggle, that's all I'm fucking seeing, and that's all I WILL see until I actually see some realistic stuff. The closest we're getting to realism is Playstation Move, which I am only behind simply because of the use of Jamiroquai in the trailer.



We're not a bunch of casual idiots, some see the pros in it, but there's a larger number of people who see the cons, and they outweigh the pros.



3. Social games--they're going to be the death of us.

Someone once told me that Facebook is an MMO for moms. It's more than that--it's so big that the Big Three are getting in on it.

One word: STOP.

I don't want to see this happen. I don't want to see Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo cater more to the casual than to the hardcore. I completely understand, you need a new market, but you need to understand that WE were the ones that made gaming so big in the first place. If it wasn't for us, Sony would be alright with their Bravias and stuff, Microsoft would be unaffected, and Nintendo would still be a taxi/love hotel/instant rice making company. Keep to the good stuff, like badass games. We like those.



4. Original and good--we like this.

It's 1987. You give us a standard dial-up alarm clock. We like it. It's 1997. You give us a digital alarm clock. We REALLY like it. It's 2010, you give us the same digital alarm clock that looks new but it's really just the same thing but better-looking. You then give us a new prototype of a digital alarm clock with new features. The concept is good, but the clock sucks because it doesn't work right and it doesn't feel right. We then go back to our alarm clock from 1997 and cradle it close.

Here's the problem, video game industry--give us a new game that's actually good. You give us new things, and they end up being horrible (Dark Void, TimeShift, Haze, I could go on), so we think we're better off with the classic stuff. Honest opinion? The last innovative game we got that wasn't Rock Band was Gears of War. It's games like that--something we've never played anything like it before but we could get INSTANTLY used to it--those are the kind of games that raise the bar, that make the future something to look forward to, instead of just looking back in the past.

We're on the rollercoaster of time, and we're looking back because we saw something awesome and we don't want to look back. But something better appears! We look forward, life is awesome, and I'm surprised nobody's vomited yet. We need to keep looking forward, if we get a remake, cool, then it better be good, but give us new and original stuff and we will gladly take it, and we'll cherish it among the other 20 or so influential games of all time. Please give us something to cherish instead of go "Aww man this game blows, insta-drink coaster!"

Thanks video game industry, for understanding. Get better and I will love you forever.

[[NOTE: I like to give people YouTube links of the music I listened to while writing pieces. You can comprehend how I wrote things better that way. Also, my first editorial thing, yay.]]

(in order from when I wrote the first to the last paragraph)
Page and Plant - Four Sticks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMrErYMmu6k)
Barret's Theme - Final Fantasy VII soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMnarFXsPws&feature=related)
Jamiroquai - Butterfly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B6xSy0Uock)
Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl [live in Verona] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GO2IWTDdgY)

I'm going to start off with an anecdote. The year is 1997. The date is December 25th. A four year old boy and his six year old brother get up at six in the morning, barely getting any sleep from the sheer excitement of it all and their wild imaginations working heavily the night before. They go out into their living room to find a massive Christmas tree covered in dozens of beautiful colored lights, a fire roaring in the fireplace, the smell of freshly brewed coffee lingering in the atmosphere. Underneath that tree was a decent sized present wrapped in gold wrapping paper. It was addressed from Santa, to the four year old and his six year old brother. The brothers didn't care that it was just one box under that tree, it was theirs and that's all that mattered. They helped each other, unwrapping that present, slowly, and carefully. Underneath that golden wrapping paper was something they would have never expected: a PlayStation. The four year old grabbed the box into his small hands, raised it up towards the ceiling and stared at it in sheer awe.

And that day, my friends and readers, was the day that I knew that video games would not only change my life permanently, but become an integral part of my life for years to come.

Video games. From Pong to Super Mario Bros. to Metal Gear Solid to Uncharted, video games have been a source of entertainment for people of all age groups for almost two generations.



The thing about video games is that it's sort of like cooking--it brings people together. Cooking a four-course meal for you and three friends is comparable to getting you and three friends to play some Rock Band. You're all having a good time together--you're laughing, talking, and getting into deep conversation, unless they're on Expert and they're trying to concentrate or they're just REALLY enjoying the food you made. :P



In another sense, a video game is like a dish, if it uses an equal amount of components, looks pretty, isn't overcooked or overcooked, and tastes good, then chances are you're going to eat it all, enjoy it, and gladly ask for seconds. (I lost you there with that analogy, didn't I? Don't worry, it didn't go as well as I had planned it to.)



Bringing people together. That's what got me truly hooked to video games in the first place. Watching my brother beat Metal Gear Solid, my brother watching me in amazement as I kicked his ass as Eddy in Tekken 3 (don't fuck with Eddy, kids, he'll fuck you up sumthin fierce), getting 100% on both Expert guitar and drums on sightread in Rock Band, that's why I like video games.

There's nothing better than playing a great game with people, or having people watch you play. Example, music gamers, when you're at Best Buy, you pick up the guitar at the Guitar Hero or Rock Band kiosk cause "you know a little," (when chances are you spent an entire summer playing the Free Bird solo on Expert in practice mode, and you're actually pretty good at it) and you're shredding away like a paper shredder and some legal documents, I'm talking SHREDDING. You get a crowd, people are watching you, you're like "Oh, fuck yeah, this is awesome, I can't mess up now." Having people watch you makes you better, how? Cause either A) You don't want to look like you suck in front of a bunch of people, or B) You secretly hope that in that crowd behind you, your dream girl is watching, and she'll love you forever if you don't mess up the incoming O-BYRG sweeps, and she will forget you exist if you do, and you'll live the rest of your life a lonely loser who fluffs his anime body pillow for foreplay.



So you're encouraged to do better, you WANT to do better. Video games are subconscious motivators. "You can do it, just do that next time." "Don't do this next time, you'll get it right." And when we do good in a video game in front of our friends, our friends are proud of us, and the emotional stimuli we get from people being proud of us is...happiness.

There. I just said it. Playing video games with people makes you happy. Video games in general make us happy, unless they suck. There's nothing better than beating a great game. It's a poupourri of good feelings.



And that, my friends and readers, is why I like video games.

[[Footer notes: Holy fuck those images are huge. Tell me you like it if you do? :D]]

Oooh popsicles!

I'm moose39, and I'm a chocoholic (yes, I can't stop consuming chocohol).

I'm a 17 year old manboy and I live in southern California. It's a decent place, the only place where it's sunny and 70 degrees in December. Not that I enjoy that, though. I like cloudy weather, like somewhere up north where it's green and misty all the time.

Basic interests, I like music, cooking, and writing.

Music--I like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, I play the piano, drums, and mandolin.
Cooking--I'm pretty good at that too. Favorite food would have to be either pizza or burgers. I can cook neither.
Writing--I like writing screenplays that suck, stuff that makes sense sorta, and poems that are extremely romantic and depressing at the same time.

Favorite video games? In no order: Metal Gear Solid 3, Final Fantasy VII (soft spot in my heart), The Beatles: Rock Band, and Uncharted 2.

Favorite movies? Also in no order: Dazed and Confused, Almost Famous, Black Dynamite, Anchorman, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Blow.