Viewing Thread:
"Dreading the moment"

I've fallen into the trap of complaining about a game being too short, and at times I've even complained about certain ones being too long, but I've come to the conclusion that there's no point in doing so because no one can be bothered to listen to my whining. That is why I will not be ranting or anything like that in this post. But instead, I'll hit on something that almost every gamer has experienced one time or another.

Although people may not take into consideration the whining of conscious gamers like myself, a good quality of longevity still remains a very important factor for any game. There are some games that make you quickly long for the end, but there are others that you wish never ended. But with this, something has been left out; one certain emotion of existence that is well known to set in sometime sooner or later in your life...

...boredom!

I have found there to be many types of boredom, all coming from different sources. Either because of repetition, like watching TV for ages or doing a certain activity for an excess period, or because of the plain fact that you don't have anything to do. Nowadays, we are lucky enough to have technology and all that, to keep us away from this dreaded moment, but even they can become a source of boredom.

Playing on Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth - an unusually enjoyable wrestling title - I began scanning through modes like Royal Rumble and Street Fight, and once I did so, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of excitement, and it seemed as if nothing could ever spoil this fun, like it would last forever! But obviously, there's always a thought lurking in the back of our minds that before long this fun new activity we are undergoing is going to be sucked totally dry of its enjoyable use. And soon enough, the prophecy came to pass. It was as if I had run out of stamina of enjoying the same images and actions onscreen, and thanks to human instinct, I wanted to do something different like say.. go on the Internet!

In actual fact, when we play on any kind of game we like, we are sucking the life out of it. I have found that continuous play - meaning those long marathons of play through the night - reaps a bad emotion somewhere in our bodies. Like when GTA3 came out, I spent almost half of every day of the first week playing on it, but as soon as that week went by, the game had lost its flair. Not just because I was annoyed at the fact I couldn't get passed a certain mission impossible, but also because I had got used to what it had to offer. When it first came out, almost every witness to the game was jawdropped by its stunning makeover, but soon enough, that feeling was lost. And we all know that repetition is to blame.

I hate when boredom starts setting in as I'm playing. But looking on the bright side of things, it is what encourages people to buy different types of games, thus keeping the industry running. In my collection, I have games based in all different genres, basically because I know one time or the other I will suck dry each and every piece of enjoyment in my games, so transferring from one to the other would give a totally different experience, as well as keep me entertained. Anyone with a good range of games in their collection will find that boredom won't set in for much longer to come.

Then again, when we get bored of doing other things besides gaming, us gamers tend to turn to gaming to quench this boredom, still with the knowledge that we are destined to eventually get bored of the exact same thing that for a certain period removed us from boredom. If you are still following me, now is the time that begs the question, "can developers increase the due time of boredom?" To answer this, I would say that they could, and have done, it all depends on our taste. Countless times I have bought games that I have regretted because I got sick of them in less than no time, plainly for the fact that it wasn't for me. Even Metal Gear Solid 2, the game I had been waiting for in anticipation for quite a long time, couldn't satisfy me for long (not to say that I am difficult to please or anything). It just didn't have much that pleased me and because of its repetition, my estimated time for every pop at the game was something like half an hour, which is quite unusual for me.

Put a game in the equation like Mario Party 4 or GTA: Vice City and it's the total opposite. Although Mario Party 4 is quite repetitive because of its board-game gameplay, it offers a lot of things to do and a lot of places to do them in. I played on it at my cousins for about 5 hours and even after then I didn't want to leave. Vice City is quite similar, not because of its amount of freedom, but more because of the many challenges and things you can do in the game. Freedom isn't everything you know! And I've discovered that it's one of the main causes of boredom.

Going around and exploring vast areas sounds very appealing to you doesn't it?..but not if it's not done properly. Rockstar did alright on this with Vice City, but I'm afraid Team Soho didn't do so well with 'The Getaway'. Don't get me wrong it's a very good and realistic game, but even though London's stunning counterpart locations looked the part, they certainly didn't play the part as well as they ought to have done. This city is huge, but there is barely nothing left for you to do in it once you've completed the game, apart from drive about, nick other people's vehicles and mindlessly gun down innocent pedestrians. I got bored of the game immediately when I found this out, and I changed to something more pleasing.

For some, sport, racing and beat'em up titles get tiring very quickly, and for some they don't. But no matter what anyone says, games do in fact get boring. Sometimes very quickly, sometimes very slowly, which is how people decide whether a game is good or not. I'd say the best way to resist boredom is to quit while you're ahead. When you've played a game long enough, you know it, but there's always something that makes you want to carry on, to progress even further in the game. Although it's tough to do, you have to ignore this temptation, save your game (obviously) and look forward to your next encounter. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't feel the need for another encounter because you've removed all of the game's goodness.

Me being a casual gamer I don't have too many problems with resisting the temptation of the "what if I can go further in the game?" thought, because before I know it, I've reached the end of the game on the same day I bought it! Okay, a bit of exaggeration there, but you know what I mean. For hardcore gamers who race for a fast completion time, they soon reach a period where it is no longer fun, but forcing themselves to play, which goes against the certain principles of gaming, one being you have to actually "enjoy" the game you are playing.

Anyway, enough rambling on, I hope you didn't ironically get bored of this post.

Peace out

I've fallen into the trap of complaining about a game being too short, and at times I've even complained about certain ones being too long, but I've come to the conclusion that there's no point in doing so because no one can be bothered to listen to my whining. That is why I will not be ranting or anything like that in this post. But instead, I'll hit on something that almost every gamer has experienced one time or another.

Although people may not take into consideration the whining of conscious gamers like myself, a good quality of longevity still remains a very important factor for any game. There are some games that make you quickly long for the end, but there are others that you wish never ended. But with this, something has been left out; one certain emotion of existence that is well known to set in sometime sooner or later in your life...

...boredom!

I have found there to be many types of boredom, all coming from different sources. Either because of repetition, like watching TV for ages or doing a certain activity for an excess period, or because of the plain fact that you don't have anything to do. Nowadays, we are lucky enough to have technology and all that, to keep us away from this dreaded moment, but even they can become a source of boredom.

Playing on Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth - an unusually enjoyable wrestling title - I began scanning through modes like Royal Rumble and Street Fight, and once I did so, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of excitement, and it seemed as if nothing could ever spoil this fun, like it would last forever! But obviously, there's always a thought lurking in the back of our minds that before long this fun new activity we are undergoing is going to be sucked totally dry of its enjoyable use. And soon enough, the prophecy came to pass. It was as if I had run out of stamina of enjoying the same images and actions onscreen, and thanks to human instinct, I wanted to do something different like say.. go on the Internet!

In actual fact, when we play on any kind of game we like, we are sucking the life out of it. I have found that continuous play - meaning those long marathons of play through the night - reaps a bad emotion somewhere in our bodies. Like when GTA3 came out, I spent almost half of every day of the first week playing on it, but as soon as that week went by, the game had lost its flair. Not just because I was annoyed at the fact I couldn't get passed a certain mission impossible, but also because I had got used to what it had to offer. When it first came out, almost every witness to the game was jawdropped by its stunning makeover, but soon enough, that feeling was lost. And we all know that repetition is to blame.

I hate when boredom starts setting in as I'm playing. But looking on the bright side of things, it is what encourages people to buy different types of games, thus keeping the industry running. In my collection, I have games based in all different genres, basically because I know one time or the other I will suck dry each and every piece of enjoyment in my games, so transferring from one to the other would give a totally different experience, as well as keep me entertained. Anyone with a good range of games in their collection will find that boredom won't set in for much longer to come.

Then again, when we get bored of doing other things besides gaming, us gamers tend to turn to gaming to quench this boredom, still with the knowledge that we are destined to eventually get bored of the exact same thing that for a certain period removed us from boredom. If you are still following me, now is the time that begs the question, "can developers increase the due time of boredom?" To answer this, I would say that they could, and have done, it all depends on our taste. Countless times I have bought games that I have regretted because I got sick of them in less than no time, plainly for the fact that it wasn't for me. Even Metal Gear Solid 2, the game I had been waiting for in anticipation for quite a long time, couldn't satisfy me for long (not to say that I am difficult to please or anything). It just didn't have much that pleased me and because of its repetition, my estimated time for every pop at the game was something like half an hour, which is quite unusual for me.

Put a game in the equation like Mario Party 4 or GTA: Vice City and it's the total opposite. Although Mario Party 4 is quite repetitive because of its board-game gameplay, it offers a lot of things to do and a lot of places to do them in. I played on it at my cousins for about 5 hours and even after then I didn't want to leave. Vice City is quite similar, not because of its amount of freedom, but more because of the many challenges and things you can do in the game. Freedom isn't everything you know! And I've discovered that it's one of the main causes of boredom.

Going around and exploring vast areas sounds very appealing to you doesn't it?..but not if it's not done properly. Rockstar did alright on this with Vice City, but I'm afraid Team Soho didn't do so well with 'The Getaway'. Don't get me wrong it's a very good and realistic game, but even though London's stunning counterpart locations looked the part, they certainly didn't play the part as well as they ought to have done. This city is huge, but there is barely nothing left for you to do in it once you've completed the game, apart from drive about, nick other people's vehicles and mindlessly gun down innocent pedestrians. I got bored of the game immediately when I found this out, and I changed to something more pleasing.

For some, sport, racing and beat'em up titles get tiring very quickly, and for some they don't. But no matter what anyone says, games do in fact get boring. Sometimes very quickly, sometimes very slowly, which is how people decide whether a game is good or not. I'd say the best way to resist boredom is to quit while you're ahead. When you've played a game long enough, you know it, but there's always something that makes you want to carry on, to progress even further in the game. Although it's tough to do, you have to ignore this temptation, save your game (obviously) and look forward to your next encounter. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't feel the need for another encounter because you've removed all of the game's goodness.

Me being a casual gamer I don't have too many problems with resisting the temptation of the "what if I can go further in the game?" thought, because before I know it, I've reached the end of the game on the same day I bought it! Okay, a bit of exaggeration there, but you know what I mean. For hardcore gamers who race for a fast completion time, they soon reach a period where it is no longer fun, but forcing themselves to play, which goes against the certain principles of gaming, one being you have to actually "enjoy" the game you are playing.

Anyway, enough rambling on, I hope you didn't ironically get bored of this post.

Peace out