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Answer Me This – Why Don’t Games Make You Smile Anymore?

I recently got dumped.

To cheer myself up and to relive the joy of the mortgage-simulator that is Animal Crossing after New Leaf received glowing reviews, I decided to purchase a 3DSXL. After asking a few of my pals for their advice, I decided to plump for a Limited Edition Fire Emblem console – it has dragons and swords on the back, after all. After Googling around, I rather bizarrely discovered that you could get it cheaper at my local bricks-and-mortar Game store than online, so I made the trip and purchased a shiny blue and black 3DSXL (with funky Space Invaders carry case, of course).

Mmm, dragons.
Oh God, yes.

After charging it up fully, I turned the wee blighter on, set everything up and started exploring the features that come with the console. I took a picture of myself and watched as it magically – and surprisingly accurately – transformed me into a tired and depressed looking Mii; I started sending virtual mail to Markie and Danny; I took some cool snaps with the frankly awesome AR feature; I’ve been carrying it around with me everywhere I go in the hopes of populating my Mii plaza – I want to add to the bad facsimile of Mario provided by Game and the six Nintendo employees currently inhabiting my console. I hadn’t even touched the pre-installed Fire Emblem or Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate kindly donated to me by a pal (thanks, Vinnie!) and I was already loving it.

I had just started to play Face Raiders, the game where you take a picture of someone and then battle them as enemies in an AR environment, when something unprecedented happened: something that I wasn’t expecting but was exactly what I needed at that moment in time…

I smiled.

yes man small

As I was flailing around the room, firing rubber balls into my own mouth, the sheer creativity, innovation and ridiculousness of the game left me with a massive grin on my face. When I thought about it, it had been so long since I had experienced this feeling of unbridled joy while playing a videogame. It used to feel fantastic opening a new game and I was ecstatic whenever I turned on a brand new console for the first time. Now I just don’t get that feeling of happiness while playing games anymore. Perhaps it’s because the changes between generations aren’t as spectacular as they used to be; it could be because of my growing disdain for the cynicism currently infesting the videogames industry; maybe I’ve just grown up.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive fan of videogames of all kinds: I utterly love the latest Tomb Raider and Call of Duty: Black Ops II is undoubtedly one of my most-played videogames of all time. As good as these games are and no matter how much I enjoy playing them though, they just don’t evoke the same feeling of happiness that’s lacking from games these days. It’s immensely satisfying rummaging the enemy team in CoD and guiding Lara on her quest to be the heroine she’s destined to be, but I never really smile during them. Let’s face it: these are refinements to established genres and feature little, if anything, truly innovative.

INNOVATION
INNOVATION

There’s usually giggles when I play online with friends, but the fun there is derived from pals: it’s highly unusual that something solely relating to the game will set me off like a Cheshire cat. Which is why, despite the fact that I’ve only played a mere few minutes of Monster Hunter, I’m looking forward to seeing how many other ways Nintendo can make me smile, especially at a time in my life when I need it most.

I can’t wait to start shooting balls into my own mouth again.

Finbarr Saunders

Answer: Games don’t make you smile anymore because developers are focusing on incremental gains between new instalments rather than investing in truly innovative new ideas and technology. Good job, Nintendo.

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Comments

3 responses to “Answer Me This – Why Don’t Games Make You Smile Anymore?”

  1. Giles Armstrong avatar
    Giles Armstrong

    I can relate to this massively. Over the last few years I’ve felt my passion for playing games dwindle somewhat, though simultaneously my joy for making them has taken over, and eventually became the more enjoyable hobby for me.

    Though I’d be careful with the one-size-fits-all statement at the end. My current game project, for instance, could hardly be accused of pursuing innovation, being a 2D isometric Facebook game. We do make a conscious effort to make our players smile though, through the game’s gorgeous artwork, its simple (and always evolving) mechanics and in the effort we put in to make every encounter with an NPC, be they major or minor, a memorable experience, full of wit, puns and jokes (both subtle and not-so) when it suits the situation and the current narrative tone.

    And, as you point out, I think *that’s* what matters, what elevates a game to becoming meaningful to someone. The lengths the makers go to to convey that you and your enjoyment are in their thoughts, and their hopes to make you smile as often as they can.

    Great blog Mike, one of your best.

  2. Celeste avatar
    Celeste

    Did not like the opening line – as if you ever deserve to get dumped. But I agree, Nintendo has really got its shit together lately. I play on the XL more than any other system at the mo. And the games for the Wii U? They look awesome. Nintendo is offering pure unadulterated fun again.

    Corporations have been releasing too much of the same thing – that’s why I don’t always smile when I play anymore.

  3. Bambi Peterson avatar
    Bambi Peterson

    I agree with Celeste, I don’t like that opening line. 🙁
    But I love the fact that you’ve found something to be so enthusiastic about. My problem reading things like this or listening to friends’ podcasts is that I want to buy all the games!!
    I’m just now thinking that it seems like every system/console has at least one really great game that everyone wants to try. And that’s an awful lot of systems/consoles that one has to consider buying. I’m sure every system believes they will be the end-all and only system that anyone should ever have to buy, but it’s not happening that way, is it? And a whole lot of companies are making a whole lot of money on systems that don’t get used very much. (Wow, drifted off on a tangent there!)

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