All out of love
From the time I bought a 2nd-hand N64 in the late 90s I reckon I have spent about 800 quid on video games ‘ that’s an opportunity cost of something like 70 brand-new CDs. And what I have discovered is this: I do not like video games.
I have no problem saying I like, or even love, music. Even though there are lots of genres I have no regard for, there still remains tons of music I really love, get excited about, listen to again and again, and hope to discover more. I can no longer honestly say the same about video games. It is another area of art/entertainment that has succumbed to my inner curmudgeon, my uber-choosy snob id.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some games I have loved. I have experienced enough “what’s that light in the sky? oh it’s morning” moments to know I can get seriously hooked on the odd video game. But this accounts for two or three games and all of the same very narrow genre ‘ adventures of exploration and puzzle solving, and only well designed ones at that. So that’s basically Zelda in, and, for example, the Resident Evil games out.
There just aren’t enough video games out there to like. I feel I shall soon retreat to my previous computer-based gaming love, Interactive Fiction, long since neglected after that first Zelda cartridge, but fulfilling that exploration and puzzle-solving bent. Ironically, though a lot of the great games of IF are cheaper than chips, or free, I would need to buy a computer to play them on ‘ more money not spent on CDs! GAME OVER
ps Who am I kidding, eh, readers? Now to get back and finish Prince of Persia…