The Transition from Gamer to Game Critic

The first console I was introduced to was the Intellivision, and the first game I can remember playing on it was Burger Time. I later made the transition from what I can only classify as primitive platformers into a more modern iteration with the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros. I made the jump from platforming to strategy when I later acquired a Macintosh and a copy of Syndicate, and from strategy to scrolling shooters with a copy of Biohazard for the Sega Genesis. From the Genesis I transitioned into the Super Nintendo and Role-Playing Games, starting with Final Fantasy IV and carrying on into Chrono Trigger (both of which have been recently re-released on the Nintendo DS). Out of the Super Nintendo, I moved into first person shooters with an early PC and a copy of Quake II, and from that I came back to the now legendary Sega Dreamcast with the action-adventure platforming hybrid of Sonic Adventure 2. For all I've experienced over the years I eventually settled on the Windows PC as my gaming platform of choice, and I've never looked back. Well, outside of this and every other instance of my writing where I recount my experiences with classic games.

I've been a gamer for 18 years now across eleven platforms on top of the PC. I took an inventory of my PC games as I was cleaning my apartment last month and discovered that I own more than 150 games. From Quake, to to Planescape, to Thief, to Rainbow Six, to Warcraft, to Indigo Prophecy, I've seen just about all the PC has had to offer. As technology improves I find gameplay has remained startlingly similar from one iteration of a genre to another. I've played Quake I and Quake IV, compared Doom I against III, seen Diablo turn into Titan Quest, and watched Warcraft evolve into Supreme Commander, and smoothly transitioned from each to the other. Outside of the more innovative titles this year like Mirror's Edge, there are patterns to find and tropes to retread in all of the newer titles of this generation. One of the less desirable consequences of having so little to learn in jumping from one game to another is simply my disenchantment with the medium. How does Rogue Trooper differ from Halo? Or Thief with Splinter Cell? A different setting and different weapons. A handful of gameplay mechanics and a new spin on an old trope doesn't get me quite as excited as it used to so I find myself approaching newer games now with a more critical set of eyes than I once would have, and I've started to appreciate video games in an entirely new way.

Being critical of a game doesn't mean you have to dislike it; quite the contrary. I've recently returned to a number of older games like Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader and Thief: Deadly Shadows with new eyes; an expedition into weaker graphics on antiquated engines in search of whatever it was that made them magical - or perhaps simply passable - when they were new. I derive just as much pleasure from the critical analysis of an older game today as I would have had playing them when they were totally new to me (and often times far more pleasure than I would have had attempting to find the 'fun' in some of these 2 star titles) and it allows me the opportunity to see the industry attempting to innovate in retrospect. Not every old RPG is Planescape: Torment and not every Adventure game is Psychonauts, but every game is built from the ground up by a development team with their own ideas and unique implementations. Being able to appreciate the finer details and squeeze the fun out of a stone is a part of what makes gaming such an entertaining hobby for me, and is a definite factor in providing some of my perspective on the industry.

The transition from a gamer into a critic was an organic one. Once any person acquires enough experience in a particular field to start seeing trends he finds himself linking them together to find patterns. It's natural to become curious as to the 'how' or the 'why' of those things we enjoy to observe around us, and it's only one small step from a casual observation over to a critical one. With so many derivative titles stocking the shelves this year I find myself experiencing a greater sense of satisfaction just explaining what it is I enjoy about games than I would have playing them. To some, sitting around and writing up an analysis for a video game might be interpreted as a rationalization wasted time, wasted to the game at hand and lost to games overall. There's some truth to that, but ultimately that isn't the way I see it. I see it as an opportunity to embrace something I have a passion for; an opportunity to roll up my sleeves and dig deeper into an art form I have an intense appreciation for. It allows me to break down all of the little details that make a good game great and a deficient game defective. If I should ever enter into the industry and attempt to channel my excitement into employment, the knowledge I glean from my critical observations and the secrets I uncover from my late night play sessions will prove invaluable to me. We'll see if it all amounts to much in the end, but for now, it's a hell of a hobby, and I wouldn't have it any other way.