A Toys Story

A bit of an aside today.

I say a bit but I believe (with all my planning and future sight) that this will be a long, involved post.

I'll say in part this is inspired by Thuaners recent replies; that he enjoys reading what is written here and said thanks. Thank you Thuaners. I wondered then, why do I write. I enjoy it, someone else commented that I have a knack for writing the way I do; I know I write to entertain and for the enjoyment of others.


But I know my real goal is to share my experiences, so that others may go through what I've seen and done. I know this because it's how I see the world, through the tints and tones of other people's recommendations, experiences and opinions.

This is very important for me and games, it directly influences what I play and why I play it because through reading other people's stories I know what I will enjoy, before I've gone controller hunting or even installed the copy. I know, based on what I read what I will enjoy.

I admit, it's hard not to be influenced by review scores. The older games that I aim to play for the purposes of this blog will in their own way be recommended in part by their past performance, how available they are and how they themselves have stood the test of time.

I'd like to go back and play Thief or Thief 2, because they are widely regarded as some of the best stealth games out there, but I doubt they will perform well on my computer and thus my first in-game impression will be tarnished by those first pixels loading on my screen. I however have never been told, by friend or reviewer that these games are worth playing now so I don't know if I will go back.

I know though, that if the right person said it in the right way, I would give any game a shot (within reason, I don't have a commodore64 lying around) if only to understand why that game was so important to them.

It seems partly pointless to say all of this but bear with me.

I'm an emotional person, I live with my heart on my sleeve (and it's been a long week, ha!) and games have always been a part of who I am.

There are people I look up to, who's opinions count and when they talk I listen. I read an article over at Kotaku from Mark Serrels, their Australian editor. It hit home so hard I had to write about it. You should click here to read it but it details about why he writes and what his goals are. Most importantly in this and in every extended article he writes, he writes from the heart. I feel like he's sitting across from me at a bar, the words tumbling form his mouth as he tries to justify his unique stance on games.

The reason why I mention it is because these kinds of stories; ones with emotion and stark truth, with a little bit of insight and a lot honesty are what keeps me coming back to games. Not back to new ones; it's hard to have a defining experience with the 4th part of a series, but the old games, the ones that made me the gamer I am today.

Shadow of the Colossus was the PS2s swansong, but like many games critical acclaim didn't translate into true commercial success. It has had no copycats or derivatives on the market and I'm glad for this - it keeps the tight experience I remember intact. It was a dark and foreboding experience where the main characters bets intentions translated into an unspoken evil. At the core of the game everything you did was deliberate; each foe felled one after another lead you down a path you couldn't come back from.

There was no option to do so, you couldn't unplay the game, but the protagonists purpose became yours, I couldn't choose not to kill those bosses and I couldn't stop playing the game. I had to see it through to the end.

It was completely involving, but I wouldn't have played the game if not for this article written by another writing hero of mine, Mike Krahulik. The emotion of the game is far better voiced by him there than I could here.

The reason why I mention these two is that both of them seem like emotional people, and games truly are a part of what they identify with. It's not that they are just gamers, as far as I can tell they don't identify with any gamer trope I know of, but the stories they share make games more than just toys to play around with or hobbies to fill a few hours.

Game experiences may not be as real as the the song stuck in your head, the photo you took on holiday with your best mate, or the memory of your first kiss, but when Mark or Mike talk about games I truly feel like they're sharing with me an important moment of their life without ever meaning to.

Most games are just toys. You pick them up, look at them from every angle and see what they do. Then you put them aside, give them to a friend or take them back to the place you got them from for something more novel.

But some toys you keep with you your entire life. These are the ones I want to share with you. If there are some that you have that I should get to know tell me.

I want to know what I'm missing out on.