Gaming Takes a Holiday!

This time of year everyone turns their radar onto games. It's amazing how a little advertising money and a glut of games coming out all at the same time can generate so much press when most of the REAL gaming press is looking forward to a nice two week break while developers and publishers get some time off.

The amazing part of all this is not that it happens, but that it's mostly so annoying. Even the Spike Video Games Awards are getting to be more white noise than cool.

The MTV style gets a little worse every year and this year they decided to make some poor models naked painted envelopes. I'm a guy and these were some really beautiful women and the body painting was great. But I couldn't help but wonder if this was just another step back for the games industry being taken seriously. Would the Grammys have done this? Would the Academy Awards? No, I really don't think so. So why did the VGAs feel like they could do this? Well, the same reason why they thought people would want to sit through two lame comics that couldn't come up with anything remotely funny. It all smacked of a lame awards show that really wasn't taken seriously by anyone. You know like the Rasberries or the MTV Music Video Awards. Considering the VGAs are the ONLY televised Video Game Awards Show it would have been nice if they could have at least tried to have a little class.


Besides the VGAs we also are bombarded by day time TVs attempts to make games something to get for the holidays and their pathetic attempts to seem like they know about what's new and cool. No one believes that anyone on these shows has the slightest clue and when they bring some one on who does; they usually give them around 2 minutes to explain what probably needs around 10 to explain.

Where does all this come from? It's there all year. Really it is. If you've noticed X-PLAY, Attack of the Show, or the wonderful Rise of Video Games that so many OTHER blogs have been saying is SO GREAT, The shoddy construction, the flashing lights, the endless prepubescent references. Well, Rise of Videogames doesn't have the last one. But the series isn't over yet. If these folks want to be taken seriously, like REAL journalists; maybe they should stop acting like the opening performance at a Carrot Top show.

But why do we see this so obviously this time of year? Well, it has something to do with all the games that are coming out SO CLOSE together. Holiday Rush by Kyle Orland, really gets deep into this, but I have something to add. Not only do publishers seem to feel obliged to get their games out for Christmas but worse yet; they think their game has a shot of beating everyone else's.

This really seems to contradict directly the idea that it's good to come out when everyone else is, because it makes people who aren't normally looking, well, look. That would be fine but with SO MANY choices it's like going to the movies and being given a chance to see ONE summer blockbuster for free and then having to wait three months to see any of the others. On the one hand you feel like your being given this great gift. On the other, your like,"Hey! What's with that!"

That is the way I see Christmas for MOST kids. Now, you kids who get a new IPOD every year because you want a new color and those kids who ACTUALLY get a new PC for every Back to School season; don't bother reading any further.

I think Bioshock had the right idea this year. It was all that anyone was talking about in the press for at least a month. They made an incredible impact and they came out in August. Trying to push all your releases into two months of the year can only hurt the game and the industry as a whole. In some cases it forces to make a choice they may not normally make and will inevitably kill at least one or two games all together.. If I had bought Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, and Halo 3. I would have not touched Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Super Mario Galaxy, or even Uncharted Drakes Fortune until at least next year and then their is inevitably something new and cool that will spark my interest and make me forget other games.

As much as most of you don't want to admit it. You feel the same way. Did anyone catch Kane and Lynch Dead Men? How about Battalion Wars 2? These aren't awesome games but you would have rented them if there wasn't so much other stuff out there.

Now some would say many hours played with one great game compensates for a few hours on not so good games. I agree, but what you aren't getting there is the variety. In the early part of the fall I was playing a shooter, a driving game, and an RPG all during the same time period. Now I have a choice between an RPG or a music game or a music game. This isn't because I don't have other games to play, it's because I don't have time to plan them.

Oh and Flagship; sorry I haven't logged into my Hellgate London account for about a month and I'm sorry I canceled my subscription but even if I knew what your new content was and why I should want it. I wouldn't be there to play it and benefit from it. Time issue again...

So if I all of a sudden stop writing this blog, stop updating the website, and oh... Stop doing the podcast. Don't worry, I've just taken a holiday from gaming before my paid counterparts. Hey, there should be at least ONE advantage to working for yourself for no money, right?