|
I've been playing video games for a long time. In all honesty (and on a personal note), I've probably been playing them for too long, as I've now indulged in this obsessive and expensive hobby that's older than two siblings, three nephews, two homes, my marriage, and even the entire lives of some RPGamers that will eventually read this.
Now, I don't say such things to brag. I'm not the oldest RPGamer out there, nor do I have the largest collection, the most experiences, the greatest understanding of RPG history, or anything of the sort. Instead, I say these things to stress the point that perhaps I've been playing these games I love for so long that it's warped my view on some things. Some who've played even longer than I have were around to see the very beginning of video games, and even played the first systems themselves. The Odyssey, the Studio II, and the Video Computer System (which later was known far more famously as the Atari 2600) all created the revolution of gaming that still continues to this day.
As each new generation of game consoles come and go, one subject always seems to be the first issue up for debate (and no, it's not how often people can accuse Peter Moore of being a shill for Microsoft). I speak, of course, of graphics. Video games are a visual medium, and in order for gamers to enjoy the games we play, naturally we have to be able to see what transpires on our television screens. It's only natural that everyone obsesses over the visuals of each new console (or decries them as lackluster, or worse), but no one ever seems truly satisfied with them. Some state that "over time" developers will be able to pull more power from each console, and yet, as the new batch of consoles rises from the ashes of the old, the same arguments come back, and the cycle starts all over again. Everyone seems obsessed with more realistic visuals, more gorgeous graphics, and more stunning Full Motion Video sequences, to the point of absolute ridicule.
As I sit back and watch each round of debates and arguments with the same lack of interest - I'll make my own decision once I play them myself, thank you very much - it leads to some introspection. My own glory days of gaming were back in the 16-bit era, when you either played a Super Nintendo, a Sega Genesis, or you were just out of luck. I started playing in earnest back when Nintendo was coming into its own in the days of 8-bit gaming, but my favorite halcyon days came once the 16-bit machines were at their peak. Being more interested in RPGs then (a tendency I still haven't shaken off), the SNES was my weapon of choice. Even playing it today, I still enjoy Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, and even non-RPGs like Super Metroid, Super Mario World, and lots more. That flat, gray box and its game library has stood the test of time for me, in spite of its aged look and rigid, two-dimensional visuals (with the exception of the quasi-3D "Mode 7" engine).
I stubbornly clung to my two dimensions and rigid opinion of video game "graphical excellence" as new technology pulled me kicking and screaming into a world where two dimensions were suddenly changed to three. Even as I saw Super Mario 64, or Final Fantasy VII, I ridiculed them as overdone, ugly monstrosities of polygons and polyhedrons. I played them, and enjoyed them to a point, but I was still caught up in the rough, unpolished visuals of the time, like some kind of graphics whore in reverse. There was no real help for it, as I was too set in my ways.
Even now, as technology has progressed to a point where realistic visuals might be within reach in this generation or the next, I still cling hopelessly to my two-dimensional sprites and figures. Not only has technology allowed consoles to push clearer and more crisp images onto a television screen, it shrank my SNES to something I can slide into my pocket, for which I'm eternally grateful. Some of those old games I loved in my own childhood were reborn for me to enjoy again when I can't just slide up to any old television to play.
Why would I limit myself to these old, out-dated games and their limited visuals? Well, part of that simply goes to preference. I've loved cartoons and animation ever since I was a child, and I still enjoy them today, well into my twenties. That love reflects itself onto the games I play, and nostalgia is always high when it comes to something you enjoyed in your childhood. But, the other part ties back into the games themselves. In the earlier days of gaming, even up to a decade or so ago, technology just wasn't capable of pushing the visuals that designers wanted, so they had to grab onto their audience in other ways. In RPGs, the main attraction would be the story of the game you played. Even in those days of bad translations and weak graphics, the stories my games would tell me could keep me spellbound for hours. I lost more than a few nights of sleep to the allure, the strong pull that they held on me. Those stories would give rise to what many call RPG clichés or standard plot-twists today, but back then, they were mesmerizing.
But today, even on new consoles, some developers are realizing that there are more gamers like me, who enjoy our 2D games sometimes even more than the 3D ones being shoved down our throats by every company who can afford to make them. While such games today are few and far between, they're out there, if we look hard enough. I enjoy these games for their cartoonish looks and visuals, the animation that doesn't sacrifice vibrance and polish simply because they're limited to a flat canvas. In this day and age, I can still indulge in my own two dimensional "sweet tooth," from time to time. Hopefully I can keep that practice up for a long time to come.
Don't get me wrong: I enjoy lots of games from today, RPG and otherwise, and most of them are 3D. The games were play grow more and more realistic, getting closer and closer to the real thing, and perhaps in the next ten years, it might be feasible to see something that looks, sounds, and acts just like us, right there on our screens. But - for me, at least - there won't be any competition between a game like that, and the chance to blow Zeromus away for the millionth time in Final Fantasy II.
You can keep your three dimensions - two are enough for me.
|
RSS feed
iTunes
