February 8, 2008

Gamers are Spoiled
By Michael Knutson

There is a little 'brat' in all of us

Even though you are halfway across the store, you can still hear it. It is a sound that grates on everyone’s nerves: a whiney and spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum. If the children do not get a particular item, they will throw a fit making sure everyone around can hear their plea. You look around and see people starting to cover their ears trying to avoid the shrieking cries from the child while praying that their ear drums will not burst. You are starting to reach your breaking point, and about to purchase the item for the child to shut them up, it suddenly becomes silent.  You being to wonder if the parents caved in, the child received much needed discipline, or they just left the store.

We have all been that spoiled brat in the past and will swear that we are not that way anymore. The funny thing is that if we take a moment to reflect, we will find that deep down we all have still have that “inner spoiled brat” inside of us. Recently this has become apparent in two aspects of the gaming world: achievements points and online play.

When Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360, they spouted off all of various new features, including achievement points. Many people thought this was a good idea, but the majority shrugged it off as being too gimmicky. While developers were creating the first batch of games, they really didn’t know what to do with them, so they just put in the required amount, to ensure this new feature was incorporated, and didn’t think much about it.

Two down, ten to go

The minute gamers put their first 360 game in, and they heard the “achievement pop” sound and screen, a weird feeling from the pit of their stomach triggered two thoughts: “I can play games and get rewarded for it?” and “I must get more!” Overnight this little feature of achievement points became a status symbol for gamers everywhere. There are numerous forums discussing how to get more, the games that are the easiest for obtaining them, tips, and more. Gamers now had additional bragging rights that they not only beat the game, but also have all of the achievement points to back it up.

Personally I never realized how addicting these points can be until I was playing a game on the PlayStation 3 and thought: if I had this game on the Xbox 360 I would have earned at least 600 points by now. Who would have thought that such a little thing as achievements would have been such a huge success and status symbol in gaming?

Gaming made better with more players

One of the worst ways gamers are now spoiled is by online multiplayer. Recently I picked up a game, and saw that it was “Wi-Fi” compatible on the box. Thinking that this meant I would get to race against people from around the world, I was extremely disappointed to find out that the only “online racing” that I would get to participate in would be downloading a “ghost” of a racer and trying to beat their time. I was ticked off by the “misleading” marketing on the package, and very disappointed at the same time.

It was at that moment I was thinking of that “inner spoiled brat” crying over not getting a piece of candy at a store. Just a couple of years ago gamers would have salivated at the thought of getting to connect to the Internet, downloading a “ghost” of the best racer, and trying to beat it. Now if the game does that it is seen as antiquated and people are crying because it doesn’t have true online play.

The point of all of this is that in just a few short years, developers have added many new features in games that are hard to live without. Gamers have gotten spoiled with these new advances and moan when something is not included in their favorite game. We just all have to remember what happened when we were little. Sometimes we get what we want, and other times we have to wait for it. Going back to the illustration of the spoiled brat, do you find yourself whining when a certain feature that this generation of gaming is known for is absent? That is a question only you can answer, and it might surprise yourself with the answer.

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