Take Your Gaming Back to Basics
We all love video games, don’t we? Well, if you’re reading this I will assume you do. You may or may not remember an earlier time of gaming, depending on how long you have been a part of our wonderful gamer family. Perhaps you only know the high-paced, instant gratification entrenched in virtually every game these days.
It seems that every time I turn around, a newer, quicker game has replaced the last. This is not a bad thing for all games – some should be fast and exciting. But this trend concerns me in that it is representative of our overall mentality towards all aspects of our lives.
The rise of technology has brought with it an increase in productivity – and expectations. Before email, most written communications took days to reach their recipients, not seconds. It was not possible to get as much done as quickly and as a result, there was no expectation to do so. At some point, we will hit a point where our tools and technology will not be the limiting factor in productivity, but instead the raw capability of the person operating it. In fact, I wonder if we are not there already. This means that a person may feel pressure to be constantly operating at 100% in order to not be the cause of lost productivity. I wonder at the impact this may have on us over time.
Likewise, I think the same trend as seen in video games has an overall detrimental effect on the industry. Don’t believe that small, quick games are beginning to dominate? All one has to do is look at the most popular or trending games and you will see the likes of Fall Guys or Among Us at the very top. These games excel at very short, fast-paced action gameplay that offers very intense instant gratification.
Conversely, take a glance at a previously dominant genre, the MMORPG, and you will see that it has all but disappeared, with the remaining titans of the industry like World of Warcraft requiring multiple overhauls of many systems to make the game faster and more accessible to a new generation of gamers. People are all too quick to complain and discredit any ‘grindy’ mechanics that require a significant time investment from the player.
It is times like this that we should all take a step back and enjoy the simple games again. The relaxing, simple games that do not pit us against our friends and offer anything but instant gratification. Number of site epitomizes this experience, a brilliantly simple and clean Solitaire game that can take you back to a simpler time, even if just for a while.
I encourage you all to find this or a similar game that will remind you of a moment in time where we all had less demands, lower stress and a greater appreciation for stopping to smell the roses. For now, I hope you are all finding some semblance of work-life balance in our chaotic world and wish you all the best in the year to come.