My lawn, and why you should get off it

Greetings my fellow downcast gamers! I know I have been away for a while, but I only did it so you would appreciate me more when I came back! Right! Let’s do some blogging!

First, quick update, I owe you a handful of reviews for some new games I’ve gotten since I last posted here, namely Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Pushmo and VVVVVV for the 3DS. I also want to write a bit about Star Wars: The Old Republic for the PC. So if you’re interested in any of these games I suggest you subscribe to the RSS.

Right now I just want to go on a little rant that started as a conversation and almost ended in an Internet argument. I’m well aware those are pointless, though, so don’t worry, but an important point came up that I’d like to bring here: People harassing those playing with their 3DS in public. I’ve heard it from others and it’s happened to me. Those snarky comments “oooh aren’t those for babies” “myeh did you steal your kid’s toy” and “I’m stupid” among others. They're practically forcing us DS enthusiasts to only play in private.

I wonder, why do people get the impression Nintendo games are infantile? Why will the “hardcore gamers” (AGAIN WITH THE HARDCORE GAMERS! …I know) instantly discredit any Nintendo console? I have a hypothesis.

When I was in sixth grade, all my classmates, including me, would swear like a sailor that just stubbed his toe, thinking it was the “mature” thing to do. I don’t swear a lot now, especially not in my native tongue. I find it immature and unnecessary (unless I stub my toe). Then everybody would talk about the horror movies they saw the night before, and mock those not interested. I was one of them. I have never found it appealing to watch others suffer, even in fiction.

When I started college, I remember most kids my age would pick up smoking and heavy drinking as soon as they legally could. Possibly thinking it was the mature thing to do. Many also picked up promiscuity.

It is human nature that the kids will want to do what they think older people do. That’s how we grow. The problem is when they get a wrong impression and start doing stupid things. One day one of my sixth grade teachers stopped me in the middle of the hall and taught me the meaning of a word I had been using at random intervals. That’s when I realized I was not acting like a grown up.

Video games today have become very complex works of art. The bleeps and blorps that amused me as a kid have turned into voice acting. The pixelated villains that would blink out of existence once knocked out have become realistic thugs that bleed all over the place. Games have grown with us, and our children have seen this, and they see this as adult behavior. They crave these deep storylines, the competitiveness, the thrill of the kill. Things kids don’t understand, because the game was not meant for them in the first place.

On the other hand we have the old gamer. The Nintendo generation is now in their early thirties. To us Mario is what Mickey Mouse is to our parents (it was never considered immature for an adult to own a Mickey Mouse watch). This generation is facing hard times, economically. That paired with starting to raise kids of our own.

This generation is split in two. We crave these new generation of games because, well, they’re freaking awesome. But we also want to revive the good old days. That’s when Nintendo comes in. For the last few years Nintendo has made a business out of making family oriented games, casual games, and milking their old franchises as much as they can. Can’t you see? They’re making games for adults!

Nintendo knows these principles about their target audience: we love Mario, Link and Samus, we wish our kids knew about them, we barely have time to play, and we’re broke. This is why they’ve kept such a tight grip on the handheld market. They’re feeding us Mario games in cheap, portable packages!

And they’re just getting started! Have you taken a look at Super Mario 3D land? The game is a love letter to the Nintendo Generation! First, it plays like a 3D game would play when I imagined it as a kid. Second, they’ve crammed the game with obscure retro references people under 20 will miss. And finally, they’ve ramped down the difficulty level so we can share with our kids, and then snuck in some super hard challenges because that's what retro games are all about.

Virtual console, casual puzzlers, and big budget Nintendo games. It fits in my pocket and I can play it on the train or during my lunch break because I don’t have time to play consoles anymore. It has family oriented material I can share with my kids, and the cutesy art direction serves as a palate cleanser after spending a day watching people do horrible things to each other. No, this is not a kid’s toy. This is entertainment for the discerning adult.