Dorks. Losers. Dweebs. These were some terms once used to describe people who played video games.
However, within the last four to five years, those terms have gone out the window. Instead, video games are now looked upon as being cool, hip and even mainstream. While under normal circumstances those who played video games during the “dork age” would consider this a blessing, it also comes at a high price.
Replacing storylines, cool graphics and an overall meaning to games are mindless game play, racy situations and an overall sense that bubblegum pop is taking over. A new age has come, but gone are the days of the true video gamer.
To understand the anger and contempt of the average video gamer of the “dork age,” one would have to understand the general highlighted history of video games. Home video game consoles really didn’t hit big until the Nintendo Entertainment System came out in 1985. The NES was released with the graphical 8-bit games like Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt and became an overnight success.
In 1985, that was the cream of the crop. It seemed you could not get any better than that. Nintendo, however, would top itself time and time again with games like The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.
Hot off the success of the NES, Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which included 16 bits of computer graphics.
Returning to the world of gaming were the characters Mario, Luigi, Samus and Link – all of whom were part of the Nintendo. Video gamers could once again relive their early childhood with these characters.
This time, however, Nintendo had a rival: Sega. The Sega Genesis, another 16-bit video game console, introduced video gamers to Sonic the Hedgehog – a blue, spiky-haired hedgehog who could run at the speed of light. Nintendo and Sega fought tooth and nail to win the hearts of video game fans out in the world.
Soon after, video game fans were treated to more eye candy with the releases of the Sony PlayStation with 32 bits of computer graphics and Nintendo’s N64 with 64 bits.
Sony was new to the video game industry and many believed the PlayStation fad would not last long. However, Sony proved all its critics wrong with phenomenal success.
Soon, games like Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot and Resident Evil became household names. What really carried Sony was the release of Final Fantasy 7, starring Cloud Strife as the tragic hero fighting a battle for the planet and a battle with himself to find his identity.
Up until about ’98 or ’99, video games were about video games. But the present has a different story to tell.
For the most part, the downfall of a true video gamer began in 1998 with the release of a relatively unknown game titled Grand Theft Auto.
Now, GTA never bothered me, at least not the first three games. I’ll even go as far to admit saying I thought the third game was great. Why? It was great because of the graphical leap the game made, and the detailed storyline made GTA a game.
However, most people never really paid attention to the storyline. Instead people were talking about how you could blow people up, rob them, kill cops and see how many stars a person got before the FBI would come in.
Now, I’m all for video game violence (violence is on the news, there is no stopping it … but that’s a different story), but everyone missed the point. Instead of talking about a great leap in graphics, design and story, it was all about the killing.
GTA 3 became mainstream, and soon it was everywhere – even on MTV. Players wanted more of the mindless game play. And they got it with the release of GTA: Vice City.
At first I was caught in the hype. I mean, who wasn’t? The game was released at a perfect time, when the society was going through a phase of ’80s nostalgia. The video game industry talked about the game like it was the best thing since sliced bread. The storyline, with its brilliance and twists, took a back seat to weapon, melee and music.
In an article published in the May 2004 issue of Game Informer, Steven Kent wrote, “Does playing Grand Theft Auto make you a gamer? I don’t know. Does eating at Taco Bell make you a Mexican?”
In his article, Kent goes on to say how sports video games are also trying to please the “mainstream” fans while other companies, whose video games are highly recognized, earn almost no respect, as far as sales go.
In many respects I agree. It seems that these “mainstream” games are taking over the video game industry. While these new video games and video game companies (such as Rockstar) are running rampant, older video game companies, such as Nintendo, Capcom, Namco and Sega, are dying.
It’s not just GTA. There are many games to blame for this new “mainstream” rush. State of Emergency has the main character beating up people and running them over with, of all things, an ambulance. Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball takes the characters of the Dead or Alive fighting games, puts them in skimpy swimwear and calls itself a volleyball game.
There are many games being released now that seem to trash what video gaming is all about. Storylines don’t matter any more, and graphics are also falling behind in some cases. Instead, having enough weapons to blow the cops away and a nice shock factor are now what seem to make a game a game. While fun at first, after 15 to 20 minutes it gets boring and old; it gets worse when 15 games are made with the same outline.
The future, however, does seem bright though. Sony and Nintendo released new 128-bit systems. Microsoft released its XBox, another 128-bit system. Now more than ever, what video game companies can do is endless.
Nintendo released Metroid: Prime, which was highly regarded for its story and graphics, and a sequel has been released. A new Legend of Zelda game has been released, and Resident Evil has come out with its fourth game in the series. Mario, always a main staple where Nintendo is concerned, also has a variety of games coming out. XBox has a great game on its hands with Halo, a game that is heavy on both story and graphics. The release of Halo 2 made more than $125 million.
Recently, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out.
Why have there been five GTA games and only two Metroid games in seven years? I can tell you why. Because waiting for a great game helps. The more you release a game, the quicker fans will get tired of it, and the series will die out. Can the real video gamers ever reclaim their crown?
And then there is that hateful hope – the hope that mainstream gamers are simply tourists who will lose interest in gaming just as they lost interest in Razor scooters and boy bands. Mainstream interest in video games has certainly come and gone.
Dorks. Losers. Dweebs. These were terms once used to describe someone who played video games. Hopefully, these are terms that will go back to their rightful places.
Mainstream video games, while cool at first glance, can get old. Sure, the music in GTA: Vice City was great, and the storyline even better. However, when looking at the big picture, was there really a different in GTA: VC and GTA: 3? Look beyond the guns and mindless game play and what do you have? An ’80s version of GTA: 3. But I guess that’s what the goal was all along, right?
If gamers knew the price they had to pay in exchange for making games mainstream, I believe we would have stayed dorks.
I miss the days of meaningful storyline, great graphics and the real Mario brothers. A new age has come. I just wish it were already gone.

Author