5-30-01

It’s a normal day. A good one for writing. I always say, "everyday should be a day good enough to write." Ok, so I don’t always say that. Hell, I’ve never even said anything like that, thought it, or accidentally read it on the last page of an Orson Scott Card novel. But I can say that there are a few things I say a lot. ‘The’ for example is one of my favorite words. That along with: it, a, am, an, wankle rotary engine, him, her, them….you catch my drift I suppose.

I also like ellipses. If you have a problem with that, email TDC. He loves the complaints.

Who am I? Kant would say I am only my good will, and that my good will is only good because its good because its good. Mill would say I am only what I do. Incidentally, they are both wrong. I am me, Remnant. I am. Not "I Am" as in God. Just me…so bow down or feel my wrath!!!

I’m 1/3^rd philosophy, 1/3^rd bitching and the last 3^rd absolutely full of BS. But I suppose that’s why I'm here. To tell you what I think. And maybe, in all my superfluous words, there will be a shred of something we see so little of now-a-days.

Truth.

Welcome to Reset. It will only get better.

Now onto the obligatory rant full of video game knowledge and rife technological jargon.

The days of the great gaming epic are over. In a time when people pass over story mode, and go right to free battle, we could only expect it. Story lines are taking a turn for the worst. I am afraid of where we have come. Ok, yes the graphics are wonderful, the music better than cartridge midi’s (although some would argue) and the vastness and playability of the games beyond ever before.

But it is not beyond our dreams. Since before even the great Wells, people have imagined a world where we could be something different. Completely different. Someone we are not and never will be. Further, this dream gives us infinite possibilities. We can become, full, something greater than ourselves, and act out someone else’s world, life and goals. It is the perfect escape.

This is, hopefully, where video games are headed. Virtual reality, impossible graphics, total immersion. Yet, this is only GRAPHICLY where these games are headed. In reality, they are headed to the crapper, faster than an Englishman who just ate an ex-lax pie. Graphically we can join with a new world. But no longer is it a world we WANT to be a part of.

The story lines of the past, and the ideas and innovations what the players do, not necessarily what they see, has been taken for granted. Games have no story we want to follow. But we do anyway, because we can’t wait to see the next FMV, the CGI sequence, the end show and those rewarding Japanese names in the credits like, "Wang" and "Dong".

And that’s about it. Of course, there are some story gems, even now. Games that are worth playing because the whole idea of it draws us in, and not because the pretty dancing colors on the screen have hypnotized us into a cathartic pre-humanistic brain hemorrhage. Games like Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy 9 and Xenogears. Games that are still innovative and enjoyable in their wholeness and story line.

Ok…you got me, I love Square. They care more about the overall story, music, gameplay, and fun of the game, rather than selling pretty moving pixels to the masses. There are some non-Square games made in the last couple years I like…I just can’t think of any. And yes, it is fun to grab a gamepad and start walloping your best friend with a huge axe. But the days of the great RPG are ending. That is unless we can steal it back.

That’s just what I think…sorry if you disagree.