The Walker Evans Effect

This is a post I made on the Columbus Underground defending video games today. Man, I’m such a dork.

The original poster is here in italics. My post is the long part below it.

pardon my ignorance, but why do people have to constantly upgrade video game systems?? I can’t see how to justify paying $600 for something as mind numbing as PS3, or Wii. We wonder why the US is getting fatter and fatter. Sitting mindless for hours on end playing unrealistic games. Though, i did see a commercial for Wii where you have these nunchuck like thing. Perhaps that would help with some cardio.

I don’t mean to dissrespect you Walker. Just curious as to why people are obsessed with something like this. Are these THAT much better than a PS2?

When you say people are “constantly’ upgrading I guess it depends on your definition of “constantly”. The PS2 came out over six years ago. Video game systems typically have a lifespan of around 5-7 years, which I think it probably less frequently than people’s desire to upgrade their PCs, laptops, and cell phones. Hell, some people feel the need to buy a new TV more frequently than every five years. Plenty of people buy a new car more often than every five years.

Basically, it’s technology. There will always be something better down the road no matter what type of techonology you’re talking about.

Are the new systems better than the old systems? Of course. To the casual observer they may not look that much different but if you take the time to look at side by side comparisons, such as this one you can see the difference. (Keep in mind, this is a pretty low-res video. If you could see it up close the differences would be more drastic.)

For anyone with a gaming hobby, the graphics, physics, and level of detail has greatly improved. If you’re not into gaming though, you probably don’t care, right? Personally, I’m not much of an auto-buff. Someone could tell me that the newest line of Brand-X cars has some new steering technology in the new 2007 model and I’d say “So what. My car works just fine.” It’s all a matter of personal preferences and perspective.

As for the mind-numbing comment, I’d going to let out an audible sigh and disagree. The vast majority of video games require thinking. Even games like Grand Theft Autio that most people want to pass off as “mindless violence” have a complex play mechanic at their core requiring players to solve puzzles, figure out mission objectives, learn the best way to complete those missions by trial-and-error, and contantly monitor multiple factors (health, ammo, enemies) involved with playing. Sure, it’s no substitute for doing homework, but Video Games are a thousand times more stimulating to the brain than just watching TV, which I’m sure is something that every critic of video games does.

As for the obesity epidemic in the US, I think video games may play a small role in that, but it’s pretty far fetched to try to blame it all on games. There are millions of Americans who are overweight who don’t play video games at all. I’d say the increase in stationary activities overall (computer use, tv viewing, white-collar jobs) is a factor but not the only one.

And yes, the Nintendo Wii looks to be a pretty decent workout. You don’t even need the nunchuck. The standard remote is motion sensitive. The sports game that comes bundled with the system (bowling, golf, baseball, boxing) looks like a great workout for all sorts of people.

Here’s a link to a ton of video of people just playing the system. It doesn’t even show the games, just the people playing and their reactions. Tell me this thing doesn’t look like worthwhile home entertainment for $250.

http://us.wii.com/experience_gallery.jsp

And as for the PS3, I agree that it’s too pricey at $600. I’ve played a demo unit. I’ve read reviews and watched clips from every game out for it at the moment, and I couldn’t justify that much money on it right now. It looks fun, but not $600 worth of fun. Hell, I’d have trouble spending $400 on an Xbox360, but now that it’s been out for a year and they have some decent games that appeal to me (Oblivion, Gears of War, Dead Rising, etc) I’m considering one if the price drops to $300 (which it’s been projected to do) in another 6 months.

So yeah, everyone has hobbies. Just because they dont’ appeal to you doesn’t make them evil.

I was thinking… over the years I’ve played a lot of video games and owned a lot of consoles. Here’s my personal list of my systems (excluding computers (that’s a whole other can o’ worms)) that I’ve gamed on:

Atari 2600
My parents got one of these when I was around 3 years old. I took it over shortly afterwards. I think it wound up in a garage sale years later. Favorite games: Pitfall, King’s Mountain, Grand Prix, Q-Bert.

Nintendo Entertainment System
First played it at an Uncle’s house when I was around 7. HAD to have one the following christmas. Played the hell out of this thing. Owned around 45 games at one point in time. Eventually my brother took it apart and it never worked after that. Favorite games: Super Mario Brothers 1, 2, and 3, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Punch Out, Adventure Island, Contra, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Mega Man 2, Dragon Warrior.

Game Boy
My first handheld. This thing still lives at my parents’ house in a drawer and I laugh every time I see it. Looks so bulky and awkward. Like a cell phone from the 80s. Favorite games: Tetris, Super Mario Land, Metroid II, Golf.

Super Nintendo
This was the first system I actually saved up my own allowance for to buy. We had it on layaway at Kmart so that my brother and I could finish saving and pay for it. Took forever to finally bring it home. I think it’s living in a closet at my parents’ house right now. Favorite games: Super Mario World, Mario Kart, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Super C, Super Metroid, Zelda: Link to the Past, Uniracers, Donkey Kong Country, Mario RPG, Mario Paint, Secret of Mana, Star Fox.

Nintendo 64
Got this system at launch. Was pretty excited for it, and defended it as the Nintendo fanboy I had grown to be. Currently lives in a box in my closet. I think I still have most of my games for it. Favorite games: Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Star Fox 64.

Panasonic 3D0
Just saying that name again makes me laugh. I wasn’t one of the suckers to buy this thing when it was released. I picked mine up for around $40 and a handful of games for about $5. It wasn’t worth even that. Maybe some of the games released for it were fun, but the ones I had were crap… like Family Feud. THE VIDEO GAME. Favorite games: NONE.

Virtual Boy
Just like the 3DO… I did not buy this thing when it first came out. I have a friend who did and this thing sucked. It was fun for like 15 minutes. I picked one up on clearance at Walmart for $9 maybe a year later. It was originally $150 for this junk. They’re going for around $100 Used on Amazon right now. Quite the collectors item! Favorite games: NONE.

Dreamcast
I bought the Dreamcast shortly after Sega announced they were stopping production because the system & games all dropped in price and I was itching for something new to play without spending too much money. It’s currently at Anne’s parents’ house being playing by her little brother, but I still play it from time to time. Favorite games : Jet Grind Radio, Seaman, Shenmue, Worms Armageddon.

Gameboy Advance & GBA SP
My next handheld was the first iteration of the GBA. You know… the ones with the buttons on the side and no backlight. Despite it’s flaws this thing was great… until the GBA SP game out. Picked one of those up in cobalt blue and gave Anne the old GBA to play Tetris on. Favorite Games : Mario Kart Super Circuit, Advance Wars 1 & 2, Golden Sun 1 & 2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Super Puzzle Fighter, Tetris Worlds, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Wario Ware.

PSX
After years of playing Playstations at friends’ houses I finally picked up the new smaller form factor PS1 for $50 so that I could play DDR at home. I’ve only bought a handful of games for it since then, and I still play it from time to time. Favorite games: DDR Konamix, Metal Gear Solid, Parappa the Rapper.

Gamecube
Got my gamecube shortly after launch, and had plenty of fun with it until it died almost two years ago. I’ve held off buying a new once since the upcoming Nintendo Wii is backwards compatible with Gamecube games, controllers, and memory cards. Favorite games: Mario Kart Double Dash, Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil One Remake, Resident Evil Four, Eternal Darkness, Zelda: Wind Waker, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, Pikmin, Viewtiful Joe, Super Smash Bros Melee.

Nintendo DS
My most recent video game system and probably my favorite of all time. The Nintendo DS is everything gaming should be. It’s portable. It has classic games. It has internet functionality. It has innovative features such as a touch screen and built in microphone. It has backwards compatibility with Gameboy Advance games. What more could you want??? Actually, I do want a DS Lite. I’ve got the older DS Phat, which looks bulky compared to the sleek and sexy DS Lites out now. Favorite Games : New Super Mario Bros, Advance Wars DS, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing DS, Tetris DS, Brain Age, Nintendogs, Lost in Blue, Meteos,

So there we go. All my systems to this point. Anyone had more than that?

I played me some Gamma Bros yesterday and almost managed to beat the game on my first try. Not to say that it wasn’t fun. Sort of a combination between Asteroids, Robotron, and Gradius. Very fun. I’d pay $20-25 for a Nintendo DS version. So why can’t we get good homebrew/indie games like this for consoles, eh? EH????

Anyway, enjoy it online for free.

My current video game addictions include Tetris DS, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Metal Gear Solid (the original one for the PS1).

I just got into the “touch mode” version of Tetris, so I’ve been at that for a few days in addition to playing some multiplayer here and there. I’m pretty decent at two-player online, but I suck at four-player, so every time I play that I end up losing and lowering my overall score. I think it’s currently around 5900 right now, but I’ve had it as high as 6300 when I’m not on a total losing streak.

I’ve been borrowing Minish Cap (GBA) from Nathan for awhile and playing it every so often. I’ve finally made it to what I think is the end, so all I need to do is beat the final boss and roll the credits. This game is a great throwback for anyone who enjoyed the SNES Zelda (Link to the Past), but god DAMN is this game hard in spots. Well… not really hard, but just impossible to figure out what to do next. Perhaps I’ve just grown too accustomed to games these days spelling everything out for you in terms of story progression and leaving the puzzles in between, but the game gives you some things to figure out in order to progress and that just drives me crazy. I’ll spend upwards of about 90 minutes of trying to figure things out on my own while running around looking for secrets along the way, but after that I always give in and look up what the hell I’m supposed to be doing on gamefaqs. I’ve had to resort to that at least 6 or 7 times in this game. It’s fun… but that’s just insane. Maybe I’m just overthinking it in places, but whatevs…

Yeah, and the other game I’ve been playing is Metal Gear Solid. I picked it up at EBGames for $7 a few weeks ago. I never really got into the series for some reason, but I’ve always been interested and read plenty about it. The trailer for MGS4 looks pretty sweet, so I figure I should probably start from the beginning. So far it’s a pretty fun game. The graphics are a little blocky and dated, but I’m willing to look past that. Some parts have been a little frustrating, and whenever I get caught sneaking I pretty much just stand still until I’m shot to death so I can restart. Partly because I prefer the sneaking element, but also because the combat is a little wonky. The guns are hard to aim and it seems like none of them have much of a difference in firepower. I’m still on the first disc on this one. I play it much slower than the portable games, mostly because I prefer to be able to play on-the-go or on my break at work or whatevs.

So yeah, there’s the video gaming update. HUZZAH.

For my 26th birthday this year I celebrated by going to see a Blue Jackets game with some friends (they won!) and Anne made me this cake below:

Pretty awesome, eh? It was super delicious and the best part was that I got to keep the little “Prince” that she hand made. I took him to work and propped him up at my desk. I’ve noticed him eyeing my pencils and paperclips and highlighters AND I KNOW WHAT HE’S THINKING ABOUT DOING WITH MY OFFICE SUPPLIES! Gotta keep an eye on him.

Anne & I stopped by Target tonight and picked up a copy of The New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. We figured it would be a good time killer for our long plane trip to Hawaii coming up in two weeks. All I’ve done so far with the game is open the box. Anne called first dibs on it, so she’s stomping goombas and one-upping while I’m just sitting here WAITING.