When Fantasy Regrettably Becomes Reality

The Founding Fathers of the RPG genre pushed valiantly for anxious nerds and for the ragings of geekdom when they proclaimed a new medium for intellectual stimulation. However, in their pursuit of life, liberty, and the freedom to be a part of something stimulating to the mind and not the muscle, the Founding Fathers of RPGs stumbled upon a slight problem: Joe 6-Pack and His inability to appreciate the beauty and meticulous subtlety that is a well-rounded RPG. Geniuses that they were, the head minds of gaming, some 15 years ago, seemed to agree upon an unwritten proposal that would only allow RPGs of highbrow plot and entangling strategy into the market. This proposal made it so that only the nerdiest of nerds could understand the game, let alone complete it. The RPG genre of game quickly leaped ahead of all others in near every above-average circle, and as these nerds embraced the essence that was RPG, all became well for the gaming industry. However, as of late, namely the past 5 years or so, the RPG genre has been steadily falling in the quality department. Media and hype have taken a full grasp of the genre and Joe 6-Pack, though entitled to his voice being heard, has just as much a say in what goes into an upcoming RPG as a nerd from the mid-80's who has his rooms still lined with posters of Voltron. His voice is not necessarily in the form of production mind you, but rather in Joe 6-Pack's ever growing hunger for detailed FMVs, graphical majesty, and condensed plot-line that make games easier to understand and defeat, yet boring and manufactured to those of us who know better. A pretty game cover can push the game's sales up just as easily as a midget can tie his shoes.

It seems that ever since the introduction of the new game platforms, where graphics come before content and quantity sold outweighs quality endured, the level of intellect within the games themselves has drastically fallen. RPGs have become a universal medium for entertainment; a great accomplishment for companies looking for a greater demographic of buyers, but a step backwards for those of us who had once been accustomed to RPGs that helped us to feel more at ease with who we were. Let's face it, anyone who grew up playing Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, or King's Quest was in all likelihood a person that was picked on and mocked while in school. RPGs served as a passageway from a life depressing into the lives of men and women who, through means of bravery, chivalry, and sheer determination could claim their world for the Good. RPGs allowed the intellectuals to control the fantasies they would read about, to contort and reshape a world into that which they deemed imaginable. Sadly enough, RPGs are no longer an escape, for the genre has fallen from grace into a sea o FMVs and plot-holes. Worst of all, despite the fact that both nerds and jocks can be found playing RPGs on their PS2s and Dreamcasts, they are still separated by their expectations, one looking for "cool graphics and shit" and another one just looking for a life to fall into, so that perhaps for an hour out of the day, that person may feel that the world around him is alright indeed.

The separation of expectation is what is to blame for the labeling of "Old School," "New School" generations of gamers. It seems only logical that there are in fact such breeds of gamer, seeing as how game manufacturers have changed their target audience from the few to the great. Sure, they make more money, but the quality of the general product has gone done significantly in the past years. How many gamers who started with Final Fantasy VII can honestly say they went back to the older consoles to play the rest of the series, let alone the other great games of the SNES and even the NES? The comparison between gamers of old and gamers of new is similar to the comparison of black and white movies to ones of color. Black and white movies were more often than not superior in acting and screenplay to those of color, however color is more popular with the eye, and therefore, deemed the better of the two. How many teenagers out there will turn a movie off as soon as they notice it's in black and white? Nearly every last one of them.

Due to the ever-expanding need to stimulate the senses rather than the mind or even both, the quality of RPGs runs parallel to the quality of life. We are still the same human beings we were 1 million years ago: we're still fascinated by the glow of a fire, we still try to explain the heavens with simplistic reasoning, and we still dwell on materialistic aspects of every-day living. The only difference between then and now is that we have the technology to make being Neanderthals an easier task. For those of you who say, "In my day, we didn't have computers. We had to work hard for a living," well you're right, but do not forget the fact that if computers were around then, you'd quit your farm working in a heartbeat in favor of a desk-job. As our technology surpasses who we are as people, we will find that life will become so much easier, yet so much worse. RPGs will always give the people what they want, and as our lives become more focused upon sight than upon substance, so will RPGs.

RPGs were once meant as a release for one who wished he could, but for a moment, save the world, get the girl, and be a hero with but the power of his mind; now however, as that fantasy becomes more and more concerned with what's flashy than what's subtle yet deep, the world of fantasy will become so mundane and average that when all is said and done, there will be as much a need for the mocked intellectual to escape from fantasy as from reality.

Notes:
Many things simply tear down any chance this editorial had. From the beginning to the end, it's filled with stereotypes, which is acceptable when used in satrical measure, but not when passed along as the facts supporting arguments. Unfortunately, this doesn't appear to be a satirical editorial, and I can't see it as one.

Another detraction was the lack of properly thought out examples. The writer lumps all games since Final Fantasy VII into a group that supposedly only Joe six-pack truly enjoys. It should also be noted that there are exceptions to the previous statement, and this editorial failed to even acknowledge them. Also, the use of vulgarity is somewhat undesirable, as there are other ways to show that. (even as a cliche).

Unfortunately, the big point in which this editorial fails is that it fails to use anything except stereotypes and assumptions to bring his point around. Marred with the fact that there were a couple of grammatical errors (his was incorrectly capitalised, and a comma was missing ("His voice is not necessarily in the form of production mind you,..." It should read "... production, mind you,...") brings it down somewhat further.

Although it was presented in a fair fashion, I had no problems following it and it was certainly original, but the execution of this editorial unfortunately didn't seem to work due to the reliance on stereotypes and assumptions as fact.