Comics and me, as one
Whoa... unexpected parallel in Classic Peanuts from tomorrow's comics...

Lucy (in Psychiatric Help booth): The dreams of night prepare you for the day that follows..
Charlie Brown: What does that mean?
Lucy: It's at night, Charlie Brown, when you're sleeping, that your brain is really working... Your brain is trying to sort everything out for you... It's trying to make you see yourself as you really are..
Charlie Brown (frowning): Even my brain is against me!

Unfortunately the rest of the comics section was its typical entertainment-value-free self.

"Speaking of comics, where the hell are Bangs's previously promised Webcomics? Has he forgotten them? I bet he's just lazy, uninspired, unmotivated... that rat ass bastard."

Shutdafukup Pooky, don't ever write in my post again. You have your own account and your own fancy computer you nerdass bitch.

Time to "rip into" BLuckyDay for talking back
(a somewhat disturbing choice of words on his part) Reap the whirlwind...: =)

First of all, I consider everyone posting on this blog to be highly intelligent (except Pooky). I can tell from our past conversations that this is a group of quick wits capable of deep thought and understanding. I simply have a tendency to think things through in a more logic-obsessed can't-afford-to-ever-be-wrong fashion than most people. For better or worse. I do tend to correct others far more often than they do me. Good for standardized tests, bad for making friends. =...( Heh I guess I'm like a Jehovah's Witness... I'm just trying to help people by showing them what [I believe] is right, but end up just pissing them off. The difference, of course, is that I am right. Always. Fo sheez. =D

Okay... there are too many little things for me to break down (even I would get tired of reading my own shiet), so I'll just hit the main points:

The types of gamers
Rather than divide people based on which system they first played, what kind of controller they can handle, or how many dimensions they'd like their graphics to come in, I'm going to strike at the root of the discussion. Instead of asking what games they play, I ask why they play games. Running parallel to the two types of competition, it is the three types of gamers:
(1) Recreation gamers: (similar to fun competitors) play to have fun, to smile, to joke, to laugh.
(2) Skill gamers: (similar to pure competitors) play to excel, to improve, to compete, to win.
(3) Spectacle gamers: Treat games like a movie--enjoy the story, characters, visuals, sound.

Video games and me
I see now where I went wrong. I was applying to others my gaming preferences:

I am a recreation gamer... I grew up with Atari, and later Nintendo. For me it was and is all about the fun times. The classic games had to be fun. Although there was of course some skill involved with the joystick and single red button, there wasn't too much depth to the games. And we should all be able to agree that there's not much spectacle to be had with a low-resolution bitmap screen filled with as many colors as you'll find in a Crayola Kids Fun Pack, accompanied by all of four different beep-boop sound effects.

I am a backseat spectacle gamer... I never played Final Fantasy games, but found it entertaining to watch my brother play. The graphics, music, the magic attacks, beast summons... awesome. Especially now, with games like Final Fantasy X coming out, it can be a truly amazing show to take in. So I can in fact appreciate and enjoy fancy graphics and real-time lighting effects. It's just that I remain predominantly a recreation gamer, and if I'm the one playing, without that fun-craving part of me satisfied I'll find the game lacking.

I am not much of a skill gamer... sure, I dominate my friends in fighting and puzzle games (except Dr. Mario apparently... gaaah!). And I spent some time playing Hot Shots Golf (what was it, just a summer or so, right?). But it's these games that get to me and make me think twice. After hours of playing and trying to beat the next difficulty level, whether I succeeded or not, I'd end with a feeling of having accomplished nothing. Okay, so I finished Dr. Mario without losing. Okay, so I beat Akuma perfect both rounds. Okay, so I got all the golf clubs and won all the tournament trophies. So what? This is what I spent all that time for? Why?? WHY??? So you get the picture--I don't get much of a thrill from video game victories. And if someone were to ask me what I'm good at, what I'd like to get better at, or what my goals in life are, I would likely make no mention of electronic entertainment.

Video games and BLuckyDay (et al.)
You can tell by Brendan's lengthy analysis of gamer types (and we know from his in-person speech and behavior) that he takes a lot of pride in his knowledge and abilities as a gamer. And it's certainly merited... he has more games, experience, and enthusiasm than anyone else I know. I think a fair comparison can be made between his playing SOCOM and my playing tennis. When we are in our groove, we feel good and execute the way we want. I am hitting the lines and loving it, he shoots someone in the head and grins, glad to have done so. But when I start hitting long or into the net, I get mad and curse myself; when he is gunned down on the battlefield, he expresses his frustration with all manner of loudly exclaimed expletive. Both are components of skill competition.

As for being a "purist gamer", I can vouch for him there. I know that Brendan can't stand games that are all graphics and no gameplay. I know he appreciates old and new innovations. And we both marveled at scenes from FFX like so much aurora borealis. So he's a solid combination of the three gamer types... rather than a "purist", this type would more suitably be called a "complete" or "3 hit combo" gamer.

Personal preference
We reach the main enveloping point at last. What does all this add up to? There are many genres of games now, targeted at different types of gamers. I lost interest in buying games after years of playing too many skill games that I realized didn't fulfill my want. When a fun times game comes out (a good example is Mario Party), I'm all for playing--3D graphics or not. There are still a lot of talented game producers out there with great ideas. My problem was that recently I've been exposed mostly (and repeatedly) to games targeted predominantly at the skill gamer crowd (realistic war simulations: truly a test of strategy and skill, and an appropriate place for as realistic an environment as possible), so I've been turned off from the idea of getting involved in games again.

I said it before: the problem is emphasis on presentation instead of on substance. Obviously I'm not saying this applies to every game being released today. I clearly made a point that SOCOM is in fact offering something new and interesting. It's just an apparent trend. Nothing but 3D texture mapping, getting more and more detailed, more and more realistic. If your game concept is strong, fine, make it as pretty as you can. If your concept is just a ripoff of the last big hit, suck dong and find a new line of work.

And as for "old skool" and "new skool" gamers being ignorant... that perspective is in fact the flawed one. You should logically agree by now that people play games for different reasons. If they play for the pretty colors, so be it. That doesn't necessarily mean they're stupid and that doesn't stop them from being gamers. If someone never buys a game with 3D graphics... same deal. If you find enjoyment in them all, more power to you. An easy analogy is music. You can listen to rap for the beats. You can listen to R&B for the romantic lyrics. You can listen to country for the... ... annoying voices. It's the quality of a song, which is of course subjective, rather than a category that matters. So let people play what they wanna play and for whatever reasons they choose.

BLuckyDay getting too defensive
"Eecs thinks that I am a moron"... "So basically Eecs feels that purist gamers are idiots"... "He thinks that today's gamers are morons"... "and I will never become a director and my life will be a complete waste of time." That sounds like a personal problem. I hope he was just throwing that stuff in there for humorous effect. Otherwise... save the drama for your therapist. And don't ever put words in my mouth.

Promises broken
That's life. So I was unable to keep this short and interesting. You know where to direct comments and criticism. Chucka.