February 8, 2008
Gamers are
Spoiled
By Michael
Knutson
There is a little ‘brat’ in
all of us
Even though you are
halfway across the store, you can still hear it. It is a sound that grates on
everyone’s nerves: a whiney and spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum. If the
children do not get a particular item, they will throw a fit making sure
everyone around can hear their plea. You look around and see people starting to
cover their ears trying to avoid the shrieking cries from the child while
praying that their ear drums will not burst. You are starting to reach your
breaking point, and about to purchase the item for the child to shut them up, it
suddenly becomes silent. You being to wonder if the parents caved in, the child
received much needed discipline, or they just left the store.
We have all been that spoiled
brat in the past and will swear that we are not that way anymore. The funny
thing is that if we take a moment to reflect, we will find that deep down we all
have still have that “inner spoiled brat” inside of us. Recently this has become
apparent in two aspects of the gaming world: achievements points and online
play.
When Microsoft unveiled the
Xbox 360, they spouted off all of various new features, including achievement
points. Many people thought this was a good idea, but the majority shrugged it
off as being too gimmicky. While developers were creating the first batch of
games, they really didn’t know what to do with them, so they just put in the
required amount, to ensure this new feature was incorporated, and didn’t think
much about it.
Two down, ten to go
The minute gamers put their
first 360 game in, and they heard the “achievement pop” sound and screen, a
weird feeling from the pit of their stomach triggered two thoughts: “I can play
games and get rewarded for it?” and “I must get more!” Overnight this little
feature of achievement points became a status symbol for gamers everywhere.
There are numerous forums discussing how to get more, the games that are the
easiest for obtaining them, tips, and more. Gamers now had additional bragging
rights that they not only beat the game, but also have all of the achievement
points to back it up.
Personally I never realized
how addicting these points can be until I was playing a game on the PlayStation
3 and thought: if I had this game on the Xbox 360 I would have earned at least
600 points by now. Who would have thought that such a little thing as
achievements would have been such a huge success and status symbol in gaming?
Gaming made better with more
players
One of the worst ways gamers
are now spoiled is by online multiplayer. Recently I picked up a game, and saw
that it was “Wi-Fi” compatible on the box. Thinking that this meant I would get
to race against people from around the world, I was extremely disappointed to
find out that the only “online racing” that I would get to participate in would
be downloading a “ghost” of a racer and trying to beat their time. I was ticked
off by the “misleading” marketing on the package, and very disappointed at the
same time.
It was at that moment I was
thinking of that “inner spoiled brat” crying over not getting a piece of candy
at a store. Just a couple of years ago gamers would have salivated at the
thought of getting to connect to the Internet, downloading a “ghost” of the best
racer, and trying to beat it. Now if the game does that it is seen as antiquated
and people are crying because it doesn’t have true online play.
The point of all of this is
that in just a few short years, developers have added many new features in games
that are hard to live without. Gamers have gotten spoiled with these new advances
and moan when something is not included in their favorite game. We just all have
to remember what happened when we were little. Sometimes we get what we want,
and other times we have to wait for it. Going back to the illustration of the
spoiled brat, do you find yourself whining when a certain feature that this
generation of gaming is known for is absent? That is a question only you can
answer, and it might surprise yourself with the answer.
