Pieces of Gaming Culture That Need to Return
Some people argue that the holiday season is a time of reflection, where you think back about the times that influenced you, on the people and stories that played a role in shaping your very being. If you’re reading this from what you believe is a well-hidden phone under your desk in middle-school or high-school, you’re also probably putting off that same essay assignment that you get every single year in November. What are you thankful for? I’ve been out of school for years now, and I still don’t know what teachers were expecting in response. That being said, if I were forced to write that essay right now, I think the thing I would say I’m thankful for, after all this time, is video games. I know- cringe, but give me a chance.
There’s a few reasons for why I say this, and I promise it’s not because this is being published on a medium focused on gaming. I think some gamers don’t realize how much impact video games have had on their lives, and I certainly can’t speak for anyone else… so I’ll get a bit personal here. When I was first gifted my beloved Gameboy SP, at the age of 5ish, I was a very shy, and admittedly weird (and probably a bit annoying), only-child, in the middle of nowhere, USA. I was lonely and bored. But, this tiny, handheld machine teleported me to fictional lands, where I could go on exciting adventures that the laws of reality prevent from happening on a tiny farm in Arkansas. Pokemon: Leaf Green gave my tiny self a sense of purpose and a goal to work towards, by beating the Elite Four and finishing the Pokedex. When I got my hands on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue, and I know this is a bit silly to admit, but I got attached to a video game companion for the first time, which also directly corresponds with the first time I’ve cried over a game, as well.
One of the biggest selling-points of games, in this author’s humble opinion, is the “escape” they provide. With games, I was no-longer a lonely and bored little girl anymore, at least, not in my mind. I went on adventures that were worth recalling, overcame challenges that proved my competence, was a strong hero who helped others who needed it, had companions who cared about me as much as I cared about them, and much, much more. This is where a discussion about “video game addiction” can insert itself, but that’s another article, for another time.
Okay, so what else did video games do for me that I’m thankful for? One word- community. My first friends were made at recess, arguing about different Pokemon facts. In middle-school, the argument was still over Pokemon, but from the lunch-room. High-school, when I finally started exploring multiple games, the arguments were over Elder Scrolls lore and talking trash about League of Legends, but we were also laughing while watching Michael from Achievement Hunter’s Rage Quit YouTube series, cheering when we found out how to circumvent the school’s firewall to play whatever flash games wanted (we also figured out how to install games on the PCs themselves- the trick was to name the executable file the same as an essential file needed for the computer to work), and devolving into utter chaos when I managed to brute force my way through a Super Smash Flash tournament, in the middle of Computer Applications class, by non-stop spamming Pikachu’s thundershock attack. Not to mention, all the friends I made online and the cool people I met at conventions.
In college, I met my current boyfriend at the gaming center where I worked, and also just overall lived at. He insulted my base in Minecraft. Then, he immediately changed his plans for the day to join me in the server I was in, to apparently show what a real Minecraft base should be. Nearly 7 years later, I love him with all my heart, and there was nothing wrong with my square house, you jerk!
I could go on-and-on about why I’m thankful for video games- I could also talk about the great memories they left, about how they get people through tough times, about how certain stories leave a deeply personal message that seem like they speak directly to you and your current situation, so when you beat the game, and you’re staring at the scrolling end-credits, you become intimately aware of the game’s music that seems to be playing to the storm of emotions swelling inside you… and there’s probably going to be at least a few of you who, at some point, genuinely looked up to a character like Masterchief or Joel Miller as a personal hero. But I’ve figured I should start getting to the actual point here.
On October 27th, 2022, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, was released. The game was a remake of the 2009 release by the same name, with better graphics, better game-play, and even with some writing changes in the campaign. I think we can agree that the Call of Duty community has had it rough, in recent years, with even long-time, dedicated fans to the franchise finding themselves moving to new IPs, after repeated disappointments. Yes, Warzone has a healthy active player-count, but I’m talking about individual game releases with campaigns, not a live-service battle-royale. However, I haven’t seen such buzz or excitement around a new release in such a long-living franchise in a very, very, long time. The actual individual consumer reviews have been pretty mixed, depending on where you look, but I’m also seeing posts about old friend groups getting back together to squad up for COD for the first time in years, people calling for Call of Duty: Ghosts to get the same makeover, and people actually being brought into the fandom for the first time after seeing multiple thirst-driven TikToks about a certain bad-a** soldier with a skull-mask. Not to mention, the game’s already been nominated for multiple awards, including The Game Award for Best Multiplayer Game 2022, The Game Award for Best Action Game 2022, and The Game Award for Best Audio Design 2022.
With a single slam-dunk of a release, Call of Duty has breathed life into itself again, and the excitement that I’m seeing has me feeling nostalgic, bringing me back to the earlier, and arguably happier, days of Gaming Culture.
Well, if we’re going to bring this back, we might as well bring back other now-extinct, “good” parts of Gaming Culture.
Here are 5 Pieces of Now-Extinct Gaming Culture That I Really Want to Bring Back
1) Let’s get the really obvious one out of the way- Local Split-Screen Co-Op
To be fair here, local split-screen isn’t completely extinct. There are still some great, modern games that have the feature built in. However, we can’t deny that it’s definitely not around as much as it used to be, and with “lack of co-op” or “network-only co-op” becoming common complaints, especially for franchises that used to have the feature, I can’t, in good-consciousness, ignore this one. As someone who, whenever she plays anything online, plays with people living usually hours away from me, this doesn’t personally affect me too much. I’m definitely not going to be in my bud’s living room for my next round of ranked Halo: Infinite. That being said, I can’t help but think about the group of friends who want to have a sleep-over, because why not? Instead, this time, it’s to relax after a long week of work instead of school, beers are being cracked open instead of sodas, but the same inhuman amount of pizza and snacks are still there. Unless the guests plan on bringing their entire set-up to the host’s house and they have space for everyone’s, local split-screen co-op is the best way to enjoy a night of slumber-party gaming with the boys, and I think that they shouldn’t be restricted to party games and older games with relatively in-active lobbies.
2) I miss the thrill of being cold, tired, and unbelievably hyped alongside several other people, on a side-walk, at 11:50 PM - Midnight In-Store Game Releases
As the prevalence of digital copies, early-access, and pre-orders (with pre-order bonuses) increased, midnight releases became a thing of the past. Nowadays, you can forgo physical copies of the game, no matter what your platform of choice is, and I honestly don’t know a single PC gamer who has bought a physical copy of a game within the past several years. I don’t even know a single PC gamer who has a disk-drive for their PC. No matter your opinion on physical copies of games, you can’t deny that there’s a certain satisfaction, maybe even a thrill, as you physically go to a store, pay for the game, and, as you look over its case and feel the hard plastic under your fingers, from within the warmth of your car, the anticipation of finally opening the case, placing the disk into your platform, and finally starting a new adventure is gratifying. I like to compare the act of buying games to that of going to the movie theater. It’s not about the product you’re receiving, that being either the game or movie itself. It’s about the event itself, the experience. You aren’t paying $20+ to see a movie that you can stream for half that amount, you’re paying $20+ to experience a movie in a dedicated public space, with optimized lighting, on a screen that’s larger than any you’ll ever own, hearing it in a sound quality that you’ll never personally achieve from the comforts of your own home, while munching on a rapidly-dwindling amount of Popcorn that somehow always tastes better than that you make at home.
A midnight release is even more of an event than this, with everyone’s excitement amped to another level.
At this time of writing, the closest thing I can find that replicates this are releases (and sometimes re-stocks) of graphics cards at computer hardware retailers. Between the combined efforts of scalpers and crypto-miners keeping graphics cards stock-numbers at an all-time low (as well as the increased strain to supply-chain issues due to political instability and COVID-19 pandemic), this was, for most gamers desperate to upgrade their PC, their only chance to get their hands on a $400 graphics card for less than $1500.
3) Instead of attempting to argue about art, I’m just going to leave these really cool examples of amazing Box Art that we need to bring back
4) Also, those little game pamphlets that came inside those cool boxes!
They don’t quite replace a full-length game-guide that goes over every quest, location, and NPC, but I still just think they’re neat. Its front usually had the box-art on it, and while it was usually only large enough to cover the basics of the controls, if you were lucky, you might find little hints to secrets or lore, and if you were really lucky, you might even get some cheat codes. But still, they came with the game for no extra cost, back when that kind of thing was normal, and they were charming nonetheless.
5) Those game-suite trials that were pre-installed on every store-bought PC and laptop were pretty fun.
Sometimes the highlight of the entire trip to the store was making a b-line to the tech department, planting myself in front of one of the display laptops, and enjoying some Polar Bear Bowling or Virtual Villagers for the entire time it took my grandmother to find whatever face cream or clothing she had us accompany her there for. The console stations were almost always occupied whenever we were at the store, but I was usually satisfied enough with forcing pixelated villagers to do the same tasks over and over, instead of publicly embarrassing myself with Guitar Hero. I know most people saw them as annoying bloatware, a built-in chore where the first thing you feel compelled to do upon turning on your new computer for the first time is to uninstall the client, but I genuinely enjoyed those little games. I didn’t get new games very often, so when I got my first laptop, I felt wealthy, like I was living a lavish life with my new little library of games. Of course, this feeling very quickly went away when I basically ruined my new laptop’s battery by leaving it on the charger for several days straight in an attempt to prolong the limited 3-day trial window to play those games. Sorry, Mom!
I honestly could probably continue this list for a very long time, constantly expanding it as I fall deeper into fond, long-forgotten memories, and even more-so if I ask my co-workers’ personal opinions on the matter. Some others that come to mind include that of a time where games didn’t require a 3rd-party launcher installed or a stable internet connection to play what is undoubtedly a single-player experience, and a time when major gaming events and conventions featured multiple developers, publishers, franchises, and platforms, instead of every single one having their very own to keep up with. We also can’t forget about those times we wish we could experience the magic of playing our favorite long-running series for the first time again, nor is it possible to ignore the very commonly cited throwback to a time when games were released “completed”, with no need for paid DLCs or expansions to have the privilege of having the full experience of a game you have already paid full-price for.
But, I can really speak for myself and my own opinions, some of which you might not agree with. I bet some of you loathed midnight releases and only felt cold, uncomfortable, and acutely aware that you had to be at work in less than 8 hours. I’m also sure that I probably missed some extinct, but well-remembered parts of gaming culture that more than a few people feel should be obvious to include here. In either case, let us know on Twitter or Instagram! We can reminisce, and then cry about good ole’ times together.
