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TimeSync

The Rise of Co-Dependent Video Games

You guys miss me? I've been M.I.A. for a while as I worked out some of my issues. I had to work out that whole incarceration thing (I swear to God I never dropped my soap in the shower and you can't prove that I did). Then there was the whole straight jacket incident... yeah, let's not discuss that. But I'm back now. And you know what that means? It means you're going to have to live with my gaming pontification once more. Deal with it; you know you love it.

Someone out there has to tell me what is with the proliferation of co-dependent video games? I'm going to use two (arguably) excellent games to explain my point: Nintendogs and Animal Crossing: Wild World. I'm going to reserve my judgment on these games for the moment I've actually played them enough to give suitable judgment on them. However, the little I have played begs the question "why do I want to feel as if I have gaming obligations?"

I play video games because I want to, not because I have to. However, with these two games there are time-dependent obligations that must be fulfilled. If one of your neighbors in Animal Crossing tells you to come back tomorrow, they really mean come back tomorrow. If you leave your dog alone for a couple days in Nintendogs, it reacts with such utter sadness and despair that you literally feel guilty.

It's a video game, for pete's sake! It's not even an MMO where I can understand that kind of behavior given that there are real people behind the characters and real relationships are affected by your presence (or lack thereof). However, I do not want to get guilt trips from a polygon puppy who doesn't understand I have bills to pay and women to chase. Ok, so maybe I just have bills to pay. A man can dream can't he? (And if they told you I was stalking them, they're liars, I tell you. Liars!)

The concept of having real-world tangibles such as your voice or the time of day affect your in-game experience is certainly an interesting idea; but I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to jump on board with it. I don't want to feel obligated to play a video game. The beauty of World of Warcraft was that even with being in a guild I didn't feel obligated to play every day. In fact, there were whole months that went by when I didn't touch it because the real world demanded my attention.

I play video games for one reason alone: because I want to. And unless there's more to this new generation of guilt-tripping video games, I don't think a lot of them will be on any of my top ten lists.

Posted by TimeSync, 12/27/2005 3:29pm
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MattRorie

All I took away from Animal Crossing was a pervasive sense of tedium. Mechanically there's nothing exceptional about it, and there's no story, so what's to like? I'm getting to the point in life where the time spent playing games that offer nothing beyond addiction really seems to poorly spent - who's going to want to remember wasting days upon days on Mephisto runs in Diablo II or farming for a whelp in WoW when you could be actually doing stuff, like, in the real world? It's an old and tired argument (and one which is often unfairly used to refer to gaming as a whole), but it seems applicable.

Posted 12/28/2005 6:21am

JonathanL

I agree with you about Nintendogs. I felt that Nintendo tried to hide lackluster gameplay with a sense of attachment to a fake puppy. I played it for about a week, and sure, I felt bad when I stopped playing and left my puppies to fend for themselves, but that's not the way I play. I'm never going to play a game because I HAVE to.

Animal Crossing, however, is different. While there are events that take place, I'm never too concerned with them unless it's something like getting to the cafe in time for a KK Slider performance. For me, AC isa game I play two to three times a week after the initial addiction, picking weeds, chatting up with neighbors, and felecing the trees for a better kind of green. Today alone I made over 100K bells with a good dozen trees left bearing fruit. It's a bit of a work/fun equation, but I have a good enough time with it and avoid contstant playage via guilt trips that it doesn't present a big issue.

Posted 12/28/2005 8:58pm

jonfigs

Great post. I feel the same way. I recently, within the past 6 months came to an epiphany. I realized that I DO NOT have to play WOW or EQ2 or any other game that demands my time. It was like setting down a 500 pound brick tied to my nuts. I feel free and unchained to games. Now I am actually finishing console games and enjoying my time. Will I someday play an MMO or game like Animal Crossing, probably. But I will not ever become a slave to a game again. This I promise.

Posted 12/29/2005 9:22am

wedgewu

Kurt, you will always be wrong.

And I know you ain't gots no women to chase, you loser.

That being said, you're on the money with Nintendogs - and as Jon said, missed the mark a bit with Animal Crossing. There isn't really anything missed if you don't do as the animals ask - the worst that happens is that they like you less and are a little likely to move away and be replaced by someone else. There are only a few games out there that are like this, and I guess they're just not for you.

Posted 12/29/2005 7:57pm

iowastate

Came here by accident, but stayed to read your blog. If you like nintendogs and Animal crossing you'll probably also like Black and White and Creature Island.

Posted 08/14/2006 4:58pm

Artemis_D

Agreed. I never really got those sorts of games. If I had any interest in doing that sort of thing, then my God, I'd just buy a real dog. There's a reason I haven't done so.

Posted 04/12/2007 2:54pm

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Anything you want to know about me, you can find out on my very cryptic home page at http://www.discolorations.net/ Besides that, you'll just have to ask me.