Tag Archives: zen of video games

THE ZEN OF VIDEO GAMES – Run and Gun

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Some of my favorite video games are almost entirely peaceful. In fact, my favorite Tex Murphy games (that I keep going on and on about – should get embarrassing any day now) don’t have you shoot anyone – although the first two games, Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, allowed Tex to wield a gun, and I don’t think the second game had you shoot a person. Though you do have to shoot a snake. Hey, self-defense, man.

For as long as I can remember, shooting has been a part of video games. Some of the first games I adored on the TI-99/4A Home Computer were space shooters. Even Mario shoots fireballs. I’m putting aside the phallic nature of the gun, because that’ll just devolve into a wildly unnecessary discussion about penises, and I can only deal with two of those a day. Discussions! Not penises!

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THE ZEN OF VIDEO GAMES – Endless Games

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The release of Mists of Pandaria has gotten me to thinking about World of Warcraft. I could never get into it – even though practically all of my best friends were playing it for several hours a day, and I think some of them still do. I liked it, sure, it had a humongous world to explore, and leveling up and getting stronger gear is always addicting (damned Skinner box), but I never really saw the point of it all. The longest I ever managed to keep playing was to level 60 (max at the time was 80), and I bought my flying mount, and then I stopped playing. For good. Even though a bunch of people have told me that the game doesn’t even really START until you’ve hit the max level – which makes absolutely NO sense to me.

I think my problem was that the game could never be beaten. Most video games nowadays have a clearly definable end-goal, like “Defeat the evil Zuzywuvuz and save the galaxy!” You reach that goal, and the game’s ending plays, followed by the credits. Simple.

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