I'd Like to Pre-Order Getting Out of Here

I liked it better when gamers were more of a minority.

Last week, I stop into the local EB games, look around, and blow a bit of cash on a 360 game which I am selectively ashamed about--more on that feeling in a bit. The thing that all but forces me to begin this blog in the first place occurs as I'm paying for the title; the clerk asks if I want to reserve any games while I'm in the store. This strikes me as expected, he doesn't sound quite sincere enough that I would figure the clerk is honestly trying make my life more convenient. I say no, not today, and he persists by saying that Halo 3 comes out the 25th, the words drip from his mouth, meant to be snatched up by my impulsive brain like cocaine.

Here things start to dive. We converse, I mention that I don't feel a need to have the newest Halo in my possession at the first possible minute. The clerk's expression is that of a newly conscious amputee--But you'll be missing out on multiplayer! Meh. He fires more of the sales pitch my way, I duck for cover behind the bargain games rack. When he stops to reload more words, it occurs to me that these thick types piss me off such that I have an aversion to mainstream gaming (in a wholistic sense). I don't care that this asshole thinks Halo 3 is the second coming of Jesus Christ via his zip-code-sized plasma screen. I'm not buying, let me get to my car and head home. I paid for my game, you did your job by taking my money and trying to increase your sales. I said no, that's it. Unless Microsoft is personally holding your family hostage, you don't need to offer to blow me in order to try to sell another pre-order copy.

And because of this clerk's pushy delivery, I wish Microsoft hadn't used the Blitzkrieg as their strategy for exposure of Halo's launch. I remember when the first commercials for Half-Life started running on TV and in theaters--I thought, shit, now this is about hitting everyone with ads. Not just the gamers. Roping in more people, so that any pair of eyes suddenly has thinks they know about gaming culture, what's "in," even if they're some grandmother who has cataracts the size of CRTs. I can deal with people's opinions on an individual basis, but I worry that some people collectively fall victim to fanboy-ism. Some forums exemplify this, filled with arguments that are below a twelve-year-old's mentality--

"[product] rox!!1 [competitor] sucks!! any who say no are gay! stfu! u r dum"
(I'd love to applaud this sort of intolerant stuff with my fist.)

I admit, I have my own biases. I stereotype people online, choosing to view this poster as a kid at sixteen who can't even read at a fourth grade level, with his mom telling him to clean his room. I could think up worse attributes, but I imagine you see where I'm going with this. The point is that I distrust something like the gaming culture when it's mass-marketed. People stop thinking and start getting herded around. It feels like it's tainting the activity, making it all about corporations making tons of money (which, to a certain degree, will likely be true somewhere in the mess) rather than producing a quality product. Committees of suits somewhere may be saying, "Why not just put out a game that everyone will buy even though it's mediocre? Flashy ads and market saturation will get it sold! Gods knows it costs too much time and thought to produce a product that is actually going to be remembered and appreciated."

Holy crap I'm taking a while with this. Short version, I wish every aspect possible of a given industry was populated by those who are passionate about the end result. Video games? I'd like everyone from the artists to the CEO of the publisher to want to do their job even if they got paid jack shit. Same for the automotive industry, film, food, pretty much everything. God, am I a crazy idealistic punk. One of my friends would assuredly be joking about me being a bleeding-heart liberal commie bitch. While I'm designing utopia, I want no traffic and to have God make me aware of my faults and wrong views, then help me to straighten them out. 'Cause if there's one thing I have over other self-absorbed tools it's that I realize I'm an idiot a lot of the time. And I'll try to listen if others will listen to me as well.

Oh, and that bit about my shame over being a gamer--I picked up Stuntman: Ignition primarily since I had a love-hate relationship with Stuntman on PS2. Fun gameplay, but it was largely trial-and-error, and the load times sucked away a third of my days on this earth. It's a mix of good and bad, like the original, but I bought it because I love anything with an engine and four wheels. I'm ashamed primarily since some of my friends would look at me with a 360 controller in hand and say how I could instead be socializing, or spending my cash on something more productive. But, the other half of my friends are avid gamers, and we get each other. I'm torn. On the one hand, some people think kicking ass at Guitar Hero is as much fun as actually learning to play the instrument, and others shake their heads in disgust watching. For me, that's as close as I'll ever come to a decent sound with a band. And even so, when we both play, my step-brother makes me look like a roadie who wandered on stage by mistake.