Gamer confessions

[Ack]

Ho, we're bringing this thread back? Well, all right:

I don't follow games news anymore. At this point, I read and look at articles and titles people point me towards, and I will sometimes go and search the depths of Steam, but otherwise I'm just not interested in hearing about a lot of the hype from devs and fans.

It's amazing to me how much my interaction with this hobby has evolved over the years. I used to collect religiously, check daily for news, and need to play releases that interested me immediately. And now...now I'm good. I have so much I haven't yet played or have only gotten a little ways into, that I'm happy to be focusing on those things.

[o.pwuaioc]

Ho, we're bringing this thread back? Well, all right:

I don't follow games news anymore. At this point, I read and look at articles and titles people point me towards, and I will sometimes go and search the depths of Steam, but otherwise I'm just not interested in hearing about a lot of the hype from devs and fans.

It's amazing to me how much my interaction with this hobby has evolved over the years. I used to collect religiously, check daily for news, and need to play releases that interested me immediately. And now...now I'm good. I have so much I haven't yet played or have only gotten a little ways into, that I'm happy to be focusing on those things.

I feel you, man. I really haven't touched a console in quite a while, and when I do, it's never for too long. As the wise woman with bronchitis said, ain't nobody got time for that. And even if I did, I have more than lifetime's worth. I really am good.

The downside is that I'm apparently missing out on a ton of under-the-radar homebrews.

[ElkinFencer10]

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been 200X days since my last confession. I have once again impulse bought despite the fact that my finances currently look worse than the global economic situation. I learned that Strictly Limited had done physical printings of Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 and Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 that I hadn't known about and, on a sinful impulse, went on eBay and bought both for $45 each. Worse yet, Father, I do not regret my transgression. I know in my heart that I would gladly sin again without remorse if put back in that situation.

[RobertAugustdeMeijer]

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been 200X days since my last confession. I have once again impulse bought despite the fact that my finances currently look worse than the global economic situation. I learned that Strictly Limited had done physical printings of Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 and Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 that I hadn't known about and, on a sinful impulse, went on eBay and bought both for $45 each. Worse yet, Father, I do not regret my transgression. I know in my heart that I would gladly sin again without remorse if put back in that situation.

Excellent! Which is your favorite? I feel like Super Turrican 2 is underrated, simply because it was on the SNES.

[gavin1yshafi]

Yes. Never.

I took the Grant->Sypha route in Castlevania 3 because I wanted to see how Castlevania played with characters who didn't control like a Belmont and I had heard that Alucard's path was more difficult. If I had enjoyed the game more I would have tried to cover every path and experience everything the game had to offer. This was not a self expression. The only thing it expressed was that I wanted to complete the game and chose strategies I felt would give me a better chance of success. It was a choice like whether I'll put blueberries or chocolate chips in my oatmeal in the morning. This choice was also affected by the fact that I have hundreds of games I still haven't beaten. If Castlevania III was my "new game" and I knew I wouldn't get another for a long time I would have played it a lot more and in different ways.
My strategy against Death wasn't a form of self expression. It was based upon the fact that I'm colorblind and couldn't see the red pixels indicating where a sickle was about to appear.

The last game I beat was Super Castlevania IV. I'm pretty sure my only self expression while playing the game was saying that it was a disappointment, given the hype.

I never played Skyrim.

I haven't devoted enough time to any fighting game to feel like I have any sort of fighting game "persona" or "strategy."

When I played Mega Man, I always died on the Yellow Devil/Cyclops, which meant I replayed the six robot masters a lot. Initially I faced them in weakness order, but eventually I got good enough at the game to beat them all with the mega buster. That wasn't self-expression. That was me initially trying to beat all of the levels and then making the task of replaying them over again a little more entertaining for myself.

But even if I did sit down with a Mega Man game and resolve to beat it with only the Mega Buster, what does that express? Just that you want to give yourself an arbitrary challenge for your own amusement.

The method for beating a Robot Master in Mega Man isn't even particularly different between using special weapons and using the Mega Buster. You still just learn the enemy's movement and attack pattern and then attack when you can. Using special abilities usually just changes how many times you have to successfully execute this cycle to succeed.

And no, I never grate against a game for for only having one way to play and navigate the challenges. I bought the game to play it and attempt to enjoy and overcome the challenges that it presents.
Day of the Tentacle is not a bad game just because there is only one way to get the fake vomit off the ceiling.
Super Mario Bros. is not a bad game just because you're stuck trying to run past Bowser if you're little Mario by the time you get to him.
Punch Out is not a bad game just because there is only one way to take down King Hippo.
You still have to stab around with your sword and use a silver arrow to beat Ganon. Is the Legend of Zelda a bad game? You still have to stab around with your sword and use a silver arrow to beat Ganon. Is the Legend of Zelda a bad game?I still haven't completed a single Dark Souls game, but I can get hooked on old arcade titles because they're fun. And sometimes I even get distracted by something simpler and more casual. For example, I recently tried the 40 burning hot demo, and it's more of a relaxing pastime where you don't have anything to prove and can simply enjoy the process. So, gaming shouldn't be measured only by the games you've completed, but by the emotions you get from them.

Is Donkey Kong 64 a bad game because you have to play as Tiny Kong to get inside King K. Rool's shoe and beat on his toes? Okay, maybe forget that one.

I'm sure Billy Mitchell would love for your to believe that he is creating art every time he plays Donkey Kong or Pac-Man. But it's still just chasing a high score.

I don't think there's any need to worry about a "gamer card," because everyone has their own style and their own set of games that work.