The Energon Pub

I've honestly never been that in to many games, outside of those with racing, and I want to know why video games are so important to different people, such as the Halo phenomena, things like that.
I thought it's be an experience, to say the least, to see how some of you think, so let us know!

Better question: Why not?

People assume that video games are all like GTA. These people are dumb.

Games are simply more than "Shoot that guy in the face." In recent years, stories in games have become much deeper, where you really begin to care and worry about the "people" you're fighting alongside. Puzzles have become more complex, where it may take a lot of thinking, and trial and error until you get it right. Graphics have evolved to the point where you could stare at a landscape just because it's so beautifully rendered, right up until you come under attack by groups of enemies who can work together, plan, and assess threats, so you have to do the same with your AI teammate to beat them.

That's why.

Play Bioshock and pay close attention to the visuals and the story. Then you'll see the answer to your question.

Senor Hugo wrote:Play Bioshock and pay close attention to the visuals and the story. Then you'll see the answer to your question.

BioShock was very pretty. At the beginning, when you rise out of the water, the flames and water are so beautifully detailed, I thought it was still a cutscene.

Sherade wrote:I've honestly never been that in to many games, outside of those with racing, and I want to know why video games are so important to different people, such as the Halo phenomena, things like that.
I thought it's be an experience, to say the least, to see how some of you think, so let us know!

The best way to understand is to experience.

Honestly, I have been playing video games since my earliest memories. I was born in 1979, and some of my first memories are of this:
http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/stuurmn/ti94a.htm

I have two of these systems now (one the original I had, the other I found at a garage sale) and occasionally still hook one up. There's nothing like a console from the early 80s that had actual speech with the right add-on.

There was also a way to hook up the right kind of tape recorder, program your own games, and save them to a cassette tape.

I had this hooked up in my bedroom for most of my childhood. There was a monitor in my room for about ten years before I had my first TV.

So I guess you could say gaming is in my blood at this point.

Senor Hugo wrote:Play Bioshock and pay close attention to the visuals and the story. Then you'll see the answer to your question.

Agreed. BioShock has done an excellent job moving games forward from "kid's stuff" to something on par with movies and literature. There's still a long way to go, but this game was a significant step in the right direction. That first Little Sister encounter and the meeting with Ryan, are memories that'll always stick with me.

Gaming? It removes us from real-world troubles, and brings a world of very different people together to work as a team (or against each other as the case may be).


It's fun.

Dealer wrote:Gaming? It removes us from real-world troubles, and brings a world of very different people together to work as a team (or against each other as the case may be).


It's fun.

Yup it also allows us to do things some might not be able to do in the real world. I would love to play Hockey but I can't skate for **** so I insert my self on my favorite nhl team and do it that way.

Symbiote Spiderman14 wrote:

Dealer wrote:Gaming? It removes us from real-world troubles, and brings a world of very different people together to work as a team (or against each other as the case may be).


It's fun.

Yup it also allows us to do things some might not be able to do in the real world. I would love to play Hockey but I can't skate for **** so I insert my self on my favorite nhl team and do it that way.

I'm awesome at hockey.



Until I stopped last year

I play video games to lose myself in a cool story that I control to an extent. I like games that have stories, where stuff happens and you're actually drawn in.

Reading provides the real deep fantasy experience, but what video games lack in depth of story, they make up for in control factor. It's so fun and awesome to be something else for a while.


Also, I always expand the stories as I go along. Games like Doom and Quake, when I was younger, had no real story, but I was coming up with cool stuff left and right to explain what was going on.

Even games like GTA, which are very well written for video games, I expand on in my head. What might appear as mayhem and car crashes to some, are quite more in my head.


Another aspect of video games, that is not story based, is they are something to overcome and succeed in, but are also simple and fun to look at. Older games like Donkey Kong Country or any side scrolling Mario title, aren't so much about story, but are just about cool stuff to do and see.

Video games, in moderation, are good for kids as well. When you play games, totally different brain processes are going on than when you just stare at the TV like a lump.

Finally, good video games provide stimulation to people who are not good at sports, or don't care to play them. And for the casual gamer that is also a sports fan and has a social life, they are really fun to just sit back and play while high or drunk during a quiet evening. Or sober.

Dark Zarak wrote:Finally, good video games provide stimulation to people who are not good at sports, or don't care to play them. And for the casual gamer that is also a sports fan and has a social life, they are really fun to just sit back and play while high or drunk during a quiet evening. Or sober.

I wodner what Katamari Damaci is like when you're stoned.

Shadowman wrote:I wodner what Katamari Damaci is like when you're stoned.

From what I can tell on Gamespot, it was made for it.

Shadowman wrote:

Dark Zarak wrote:Finally, good video games provide stimulation to people who are not good at sports, or don't care to play them. And for the casual gamer that is also a sports fan and has a social life, they are really fun to just sit back and play while high or drunk during a quiet evening. Or sober.

I wodner what Katamari Damaci is like when you're stoned.

Personally I like playing Shenmue for my DC while I'm a bit on the high side. why Shenmue? I have no idea.

The first Katamari game is honestly the best of the series. It is almost primeval in design and the bizarre things you roll over and the story just add to it. I have tried to describe it to folks who don't game and the summary comes out like this: "Imagine Monty Python from Japan."

If you are pretty much a mainstream gamer (IE: GTA, Madden, Halo), you may not like Katamari Damancy. It is very different, and mastering the game is the real challenge, not finishing it.

I frequent one of the classic gaming sites and that's where I first heard of it. I got lucky and found it for $20 (that was the full retail price) new during the release cycle. Now used copies are tough to come by and GameRob(stop) are asking over $30 for used copies. <shrug>

Hex.
[ Last seen playing Beggar Prince on his Genesis... ]

Autobot420 wrote:
Personally I like playing Shenmue for my DC while I'm a bit on the high side. why Shenmue? I have no idea.

Would you like to try a game of lucky hit?

How about some lucky hit?

Would you like to play some lucky hit?

Senor Hugo wrote:

Autobot420 wrote:
Personally I like playing Shenmue for my DC while I'm a bit on the high side. why Shenmue? I have no idea.

Would you like to try a game of lucky hit?

How about some lucky hit?

Would you like to play some lucky hit?

Lmfao!

ya mon I'm always groovin, If I groove more customer's may come!

Sherade wrote:I've honestly never been that in to many games, outside of those with racing, and I want to know why video games are so important to different people, such as the Halo phenomena, things like that.
I thought it's be an experience, to say the least, to see how some of you think, so let us know!

When I a teen I played games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter to
blow off steam. Now of day I play a lot more RPGs to escape from reality and be someone else and explore other universes. If you to play a few great RPGs try Mass Effect, Oblivion, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, and Jade Empire.