Playing video games is a lot of fun. As a hobby, though, it's very expensive. Most games today cost upwards of $40 on handhelds, and $60 on home consoles. There are smaller games that go for as little as $1 at times, but those aren't the games we all think about. Our culture is always looking towards the next big thing. Earlier this year, it was inFAMOUS: Second Son and Titanfall. Then it was Mario Kart 8. Now, it's Destiny, along with the forty other titles coming out in October. There are so many great games coming out, and I love hearing more about all of them (well, to be honest, I don't care for Destiny at all, but that's beside the point)...but the best way to be familiar with a game is to play it. If you don't play it, you're not going to be able to discuss it as well as someone who did, nor will you be able to draw comparisons between it and other titles. This has brought me to an important question; is it worth it to buy and at least try as many games as we can, so we're more knowledgeable about them and the industry itself?
It came up when I was searching for an image. Eh.
I've discussed beforehand how I am a "young" gamer, as I started to really only get into gaming as a real obsession hobby about eight years ago. I missed out on growing up with Nintendo and Sega being the console wars. I missed out on the rise of PlayStation. I missed out on the transition from sprites to models to models that actually looked good and not cringe-worthy. Over the past few years, I've spent a lot of time trying to become familiar with how the industry has evolved for several reasons. Mainly, I enjoy knowing how far we've come, and because if I ever want to get a job in the industry, I'm going to need to be knowledgeable about it. I'm nowhere near as aware as those of you who actually grew up playing video games, but I've come a long way. Now, though, I'm really seeing how much money it takes to truly stay on top of things.
Even though I'm very cognizant of what's happening in the news of the industry, I don't play all the major releases, nor do I own all the major consoles. I don't own a PlayStation 4 nor an Xbox One, and have never played Titanfall, Transistor, nor even Tropical Freeze. That's just three big games that released this year alone; what about the hundred other big games I've never touched that released in the last few years? No Red Dead Redemption, no Grand Theft Auto V, no Halo 4, no FTL: Faster Than Light...I'm sort of rambling at this point, but what I'm trying to say is that there are so many games that come out that it's hard to actually get the time and money to try them all out. Of course, no one actually plays every single game that's released. That is a very true fact. However, if you want to be "knowledgeable", you're going to be emptying your wallet a lot.
Besides just playing new games, there's also the wealth of old games to consider. I've bought a lot of older titles to familiarize myself with how games have grown. Alone those aren't a lot of money, but buying several can add up over time, especially in conjunction with indie titles. And then, there's also the question for people who, say, owned a PlayStation but not a Nintendo 64; should they go buy Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64, just to get a feel for them? For people who want to get jobs writing about video games, I'd argue they should experience games like that at least at one point in their life. However, that again adds up; games are expensive, and if you try to experience everything old and everything new...you're asking for a life that requires more than one job, most likely.
Expensive. Worth it.
There's also importing, and trying out rare games. I picked up Xenoblade when it released, but many people were unable to, and now the game is very rare and is extremely expensive. I personally think it is a must-buy for any JRPG fan, even at that price, but that's outside of a lot of people's budget. Now, the next Monolith Soft game, Xenoblade Chronicles X, is most likely going to have some ties to Xenoblade...since it does have the exact same name save the X, so some people are going to want to play Xenoblade first to get a feel for the series, and gauge their interest in X. This is still trying to be "knowledgeable", since it's best to try out a game from the same developer if you want to figure out if you'll like their new game. And then there's the question of trying out all their other games; as someone who loves Xenoblade to death, I think I should try Xenosaga, but that's three very long RPGs, and I'm already behind on the games I have now. It's really a question of just
I know that this blog has been sort of repetitive, but I want to hammer in the thought; is it worth it to buy and play as many games as we can? Not just to have fun-to know as much as possible about the industry itself. To draw comparisons, and make conclusions. For example, if you played both Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, you might have noticed the similar designs in some areas. This is because Half-Life 2's art director for City 17, Viktor Antonov, was the visual design director for Dishonored. Knowing where developers are, and where they've been, can really help you gauge your interest in certain games, as well as just get a job in the industry itself, which is what I want to do.
Well, I don't think I'll say anymore since this was sort of a ramble, but if you have any thoughts on what I brought up, feel free to leave them below.
Peace.