The Decline of Gaming

by Kip Kirwan 

Submitted by:	nohithair@yahoo.com (Kip Kirwan)
Spelling	2
Grammar	2
Coherency	2
Strength of Arguments	3
Presentation	2
Originality	1
Penalties	0
Total	12
Grade

It happened only recently, perhaps a few years ago. With the release of the Playstation, an entirely new market strangely opened up to those who would normally not even consider playing video games. And with such an increase in the gaming population, new opinions, both uninformed and well educated began to bubble up form the masses. And thus, began the 'Decline of Gaming' as we know it.

In terms of role-playing games, which is mostly where the greatness of Final Fantasy is touted, many base their belief of the 'greatest RPG' ever being none other than Final Fantasy VII. Unfortunately, what most fail to realize, is that those who deem this their favorite RPG almost never have played any RPGs other than those on our next generation systems or have played it but played it after already playing FFVII. This is typically the case with most games on the Playstation, not just RPGs.

Of course, if a community accepts lower standards as a whole, then the media who print news concerning video gaming, people who have played video games since the dawn of time, also lower their standards to appease the public. If they didn't, then their magazines wouldn't be bought. They wouldn't be read.

This problem is impossible to fix. There's no way that, after playing Metal Gear Solid they (the late-gamers) can go back, play Contra and appreciate its origin. Instead, the future needs to be looked towards and the problems of today need to be fixed. They can – but not by such flagrantly pathetic journalism as always complimenting companies such as Square simply because it's acceptable. Those magazines need to buckle down and point out the obvious.

Video game companies need to do what they do best – make video games, not movies. We need to be able to innovate and create new ways of playing games, not watching them. And we need to criticize those companies who have fallen so far, not applaud their lackluster performance simply due to their brand name (Square rings a bell). I wait for that day.

Notes:
It's a good point that this editorial makes, but the major problem is that it's one single point. The editorial is far too short, and the argument in question requires more explanation and possibly supporting evidence and could have been easily expanded, while a counterpoint would have been pleasant both for comparison and for filling in the other point of view. In addition, this editorial has been seen before in many different guises - there's really nothing here to lift it above the average, especially given it's length. One minor point against the editorial is the statement that the decline has been 'recently, perhaps a few years ago'. A note, to future editorialists - be subjective. A few years may be a short time but in the world of computers, consoles and computer gaming, it's a very, very long time indeed.

Overall, a C grade, fitting for this editorial. If it had gone into more detail, it could have been quite a bit better.