Is it me, or does it feel like following the narrative of Halo  can be headache inducing.  Epic games hired a AAA writer to tie down the story in Gears of War, and the most memorable line in the game is Cole’s “Wooh!” Let’s not even bring up Gears 2, complete with the laughable meltdown of Dominic Santiago followed by the cheesy dialogue. Where did narrative go? What happened to the tragic narratives that focused on themes like; Love, Betrayal, Death(and I don’t mean come back as a Zombie)? Has it been replaced by INSERT SPACE MARINE SHOOTER HERE?

I borrowed my friend’s copy of Tobal#1 for the Playstation 1 console unknowingly that this would be a life changing experience. Well, the life changer was the demo that was included with Tobal. Final Fantasy VII would become one of the most memorable experiences in my life and alter my view of games for years later.

The story centered around Cloud, a young arrogant 19 year old, that couldn’t make it in the elite military unit called, Soldier. He later ended up a failure and running missions for a Rogue reformists organization. There the story begins. Throughout this 60 plus hour game, you are introduced to a group of characters, and each one has a seperate story arch.

The most memorable character was Aeris. Introduced in the opening cinema of the game, you get to know Aeris and her will to save the planet along with all of it’s people. Sadly it meant she had to sacrifice herself, and she was killed. Situations like this rarely happen in games today. Many FFVII lovers can recall their immediate reaction to Aeris’s death scene and their emotions following that scene. I was a 17 year old junior in high school. After playing the game for 5-7 hours on a Saturday night, the scene transpired, and I had an immediate reaction of despair.

I had grown to love the party of characters, and even went on some dates with Aeris before the fateful scene. This wasn’t a sims type date. You were given the option to go on a date with either Aeris, or with another one of the party members. I knew my choice to date Aeris would hurt Tifa, but it was my choice.

The dating or the Death or Aeris, aren’t the reasons why I hold this game in such high esteem, it was the development that made these scenes so great. Aeris was sort of a mystery. There was something about her that was different and they never revealed all of the clues to explain why. She would leave in the middle of the night, and get to the destination ahead of the group. Throughout her personal issues, she always put the life of the planet before her own.  So, when she died, some of her story wasn’t explained till later in the game.

I’m a committed Final Fantasy fan, but the love of the game and genre began with Final Fantasy VII.  The game didn’t rush the story and allowed  the player to grow with the game, so losing a main character pushed the player in an unfamiliar position. Although most games have abandoned this art,  some games highly regard the narrative.  Bioshock excels by presenting the world of Rapture to you. There isn’t a narrator, and the main character is completely silent. The player is surrounded by a world full of life, which portrays the image of being completely operational independent of the main character.  The focus has turned away from a strong narrative, and is replaced by a focus on multiplayer components or and an over emphasis on graphics. There are a few games on the horizon that are expected to take emotions to a new level. Heavy Rain is a PS3 exclusive that will present the player with challenges never witnessed in a video game.  It will take the player on a train ride of emotions.  It is too early to determine if this game will successfully integrate human emotion, especially in a way that compares to Final Fantasy VII,  but the thought is enough to give me hope.

I started this uncanny tradition 3 years ago. Two weeks after my first child was born, I picked up all of my Playstation  2 and Xbox games on a whim. Notfying my wife of the possibility of another addition to the family, my diabolical plan was formed. Trade in everything I could to purchase an Xbox 360. The 60  gigabyte pro was $399.99 at the time and all of my friends,(Sam, Scott, and Allen) all ponied up the big dollars already. Gamestop offered me a paltry $200 dollars for a PS3 slim, roughly 10 PS2 games, an Original Xbox, and 6-10 Xbox games. Ok, I know I got ripped off, but I was happy to walk out of the store with a brand new XBox 360 and no games!  I was just glad to be in the now, and all of those cool graphics that I heard about could now be experienced on my 27 inch Daewoo T.V. Oh yeah, since my TV was standard def, I didn’t really get to experience those Hi-Def crisp graphics, that the box mentioned. But at least I had a 360 and could do cool 360 things like Xbox Live revamped.

Now, it has been 3 years since that impulse purchase and i have reached that eclipse again. Being a new parent causes many emotional responses. It’s  truly a life changing experience, and I won’t begin to embark on explaining the joys and pitfalls of parenthood. But, I must pose a question to the community. I just had my second child a few days ago, and it’s time to keep the tradition going and purchase another system. The PS3 price drop has my impulse trigger finger tingling, and I spent the past week convincing the wife why I must buy one. Walking through Gamestop a few days ago and  contemplating my inevitable Playstation 3 purchase, scheming Alfred took over. Thumbing through games, adding up costs, I had an epiphany; do I really want a Playstation 3. There were only a few games that look interesting, which I couldn’t get on the 360. Scary thought. here’s my thought process;

*I’m at the point where I can buy a PS3 after waiting for years.

*It would be great to have a different perspective for the show.

* A Blu – Ray player is nice, but not mandatory, but cool

* Home sounds interesting, Having a Batcave sounds cool. In a geek sort of way.

*Unchartered 2, Warhawk, Killzone 2, Socom -   ok, Socom is stretching it.

Don’t know if this justifies $220+ Dollars, but I keep telling myself that this will add depth to the show.

I kept walking through the store and saw the Wii setup in the corner. Wii sports resort was loaded up on the Demo Unit. Well, maybe I can play a round of frisbee Golf and try out the Wii Motion Plus Accessory. 1 hour later I have to unglue myself away from it. Maybe 50+ million people knew secretly how fun the Wii is and I was extremely late to the party. So, now I want a Wii, and here’s my reasoning

*Wii Motion Plus is very accurate, and Tiger Woods 2009(Wii) might be awesome with the accessory.

*Games drop in Price faster than other games, and the library is deep.

* Legend of Zelda:TP, MadWorld, Resident Evil Exclusives, Punchout, Animal              Crossing….Mario

*Wife and Kids will Love it.

Okay, so there’s my reasoning. What are your reasons why you would prefer one over the other?

Listening to this week’s show has me pondering one word….Value. How much is an Xbox Live Arcade game worth? 1600 Space Bucks for what?!?!? The Wii is just “two gamecubes duck-taped together.” The DS is just a gimic? The $199.99 Xbox 360 is worthless? “Nintendo is just printing money!” All of these phrases  are familiar to those who follow the gaming industry. Analysts predicted winners and losers, but no prediction could accurately detail the flux of this console generation. Because they couldn’t accurately predict the the gamers’ definition of “value” would also change with the console cycle.

The Culture of gaming was different during the late 80′s and 90′s. Super Mario World took me months to beat. My younger brother and I spent hours pouring through the various worlds, finding every secret, and hunting down every gold coin. Most people probably finished it in a matter of weeks, while the over committed finished it in days . How many times did you and your friends tackle Contra? Bionic Commando? Difficulty was a primary focus, and one game had to last till the next major holiday. After receiving Super Mario World for christmas, we had to save our lunch money for  months to buy Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo, which laster us to the following Christmas. I don’t believe our situation was isolated due to most of my friends also receiving 2-3 games per year. Contra provided months of fun. It was only a four hour game, and the Konami Code made 2 hours an attainable feat. Sixty dollars could provide 6-7 months of gaming fun.

Currently, I peruse the local gamestore 2-3 times a week. The used game market is booming, and I trade in more games. Dead Space was rumored to be a 6 – 10 hour game. ” I’ll just wait till it falls in the $20.00 range.” Less than a year later, it’s sitting in my library, only played twice. Madden 10 released a week after DeadSpace, so DeadSpace is moved to my list of games that are waiting to be played, or commonly referred to as our “pile of Shame”  With so many games being released from August to December, Madden 10 is good trade bait, so keeping it will be hard when Forza 3 is releases. The Value of a $60.oo game is much shorter than in previous generations.

Bundles, Bundles, Bundles, Bundles, Bundles. I merely hate the sound of that word. Hardware/Software companies have used that word to bilk more money out of the consumer. While bundling goodies with games and hardware was successful in the past; It has presently been a detriment to sales.

Nintendo – has mastered the word.  By packaging Wii Sports in with the Wii Console, Nintendo  has stifled the competition while giving customers a one-stop pickup, with no messy dialogue like; backwards compatibility, or Hi-Definition. By the way, if you do need another controller, Nintendo even throws in another 10 games with it. The success here isn’t the bundle though….it’s the inherent value. While the other systems we’re hovering in the $400 – $600 price range, Nintendo had everything in one box for $249.00. Also, helping the sales were the stigma that the Wii was the “fun” machine for everyone of all ages.

Microsoft - constantly evolving the word “Value.”  Console sales are moderately high considering a failure rate higher than the functioning rate. Launching with two different sku’s proved to be the butter on MS’s bread, The inherent “Value” was the low barrier of entry into their console market. A Hi-Def experience for a low price, and if you want the best, just pay a few dollars more. Everyone is happy. A superior online service shows the “Value” is in the quality of the experience, and not the yearly price tag.

Sony – learned the hard way that “bundle” doesn’t justify “price.” “Value” justifies price. Lack of exclusive software also marred the sales. Sony believed the value was in the included Blu-Ray capability, the backwards compatibility, and the hardware technology we’re enough reasons to outprice the other console manufactures. The current price drops of all PS3 models places them in the same class as  Xbox and Nintendo, and also places them on many gamer’s radars.

One of the lessons learned this generation is that assumed value doesn’t justify a steep price tag. Many analysts predicted Nintendo’s demise and Sony’s uprise. They didn’t predict that gamer’s definitions  of value would change with the hardware revisions. Software companies are slowly evolving also. Activision, taking the McDonalds happy meal approach, relied on plastic toys to justify their lack of software innovation. Due to an over saturation of hardware, they have to justify the price of Guitar Hero 5 with a free copy  of Guitar Hero: Van Halen. This evolution is forcing Publishers/Manufacter to re-evaluate business practices, and maybe this time around, they won’t confuse “value,” with “Bundle.”

]]> http://www.gamerhusbands.com/why-does-the-gaming-industry-confuse-bundle-with-value/feed/ 2 http://www.gamerhusbands.com/1-vs-100-help-marriages/ http://www.gamerhusbands.com/1-vs-100-help-marriages/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:00:08 +0000 Alfred "GHR Maverick" http://www.gamerhusbands.com/?p=1185

The last time me and my wife hurried home for an event was 5 years ago. We would stroll through the mall on a Saturday night, and would stop shopping to hurry home and watch “The Practice.” Those were the “good ole’ days” before we commonly became  known as Mommy and Daddy. Now, weekend nights consist of preparing our 3 year old for bed and maybe renting a movie from RedBox. I will usually fall asleep before the previews of the movie.  Life has definitely changed since we received the title, parents.

All of this change has definitely took it’s toll on our lives. Our Saturdays began with cartoons, and deciding who would get to sleep in, while the other one got out of bed to tend to my daughter. The loser would always complain that things weren’t fair.

We quickly realized how we were becoming roommates instead of spouses. I would reminisce on the days of happiness and bliss. I remember coming home from work and just making plans for the weekend. Just driving on Saturdays, and always having fun. Of course, hurrying to get back home on Saturday nights to watch our evening lineup.

We needed that spark again. How could we get back to those days of feeling carefree. Simply just having fun sitting in the room together. The answer came in a small 32 megabyte download. Being the gamer in the house certainly has it’s advantages and dis-advantages. My wife is very supportive of my gaming habits, and allows me to enjoy myself. She’s not a console gamer, but she is a fan of puzzle & trivia games. She loves CrossworDS, Scenet IT….you get the point. I would play 1 vs. 100 while she sat on the couch. It didn’t take long before she was answering the questions and telling me which button to press.  Our  community always partied up when we play 1 vs. 100, so we would help each other out. After a few weekends of chatting with the community we began to pan in advance the start times of the game, so we would be home in time to play with everyone else.  It was deja-Vu.  Our daughter was in bed by 8:30pm, and the rest of the night was ours. Life is good again, and we spend time talking and enjoying each other.  We are back to being happy again.

Let’s just clear the air, because I know what everyone’s thinking. It’s been a while since I posted a Friday Fire. Yes, I am also aware that it’s Monday. I’ve been gaming as long as I can remember, and I’ve been trading in games equally as long. It’s a viable way to accrue new games without having to section of part of the weekly paycheck. In my adolescence, I would gather up all of my trades and march to my local game store(babbages, game trader, etc.), and proceed to trade them in. I never had much of an issue with the process, since I went home with a new game in the end. Being broke throughout high school meant, I traded in most of my games. Some of my most notables are; Original Final Fantasy VII, Goldeneye 007, Resident Evil(PS1), Zelda:Ocarina of time, Metal Gear Solid. Just to name a few. Luckily, I’ve been able to find some of these games in their original form at local collector’s shops. I didn’t realize that I was a collector until we started GamerHusbands. Recording the weekly shows and reminiscing about “Old School” games brought out my desire for all of my old games that I traded in.

I was talking to, GHR community member, BabyGurlz, and we we’re talking about some of the great XBox 360 games that we’re released earlier in the life cycle. A lot of the games that we mentioned, I had traded in, and just thinking about those games(Forza2, Bioshock,CoD4, etc) made me think. I don’t have that many games. The most I ever had on the 360 was 11. And, that included three Guitar Hero Games. Like most people on Xbox Live, I move with the flow of the industry. When Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 released, I called my Blockbuster 6 times to see if they had it available to rent. Our whole community played that for a while and then moved on to the next game. This has become the norm for devout gamers due to the frequency of new games being released. Babygurlz was explaining to me how she never trade in games, because she might want to play them again. Our conversation caused me to have an epiphany, because each game contained a value that cannot be represented by a dollar sign.

I don’t want people to think that I’m against trading in games. Nowadays, gaming is more important to people than ever. I think game stores provide a valuable service to it’s customers, and GamerHusbands wouldn’t have near the coverage without the availability of this service. The games that I owned over the years are like time pieces that hold great memories. Halo 2 is the first on-line multiplayer game I experienced. Me, Allen, Scott, and Sam would spend many friday nights playing Halo 2, talking trash, Kicking Arse, and taking names. We were becoming close friends and didn’t even know it. Zelda:Ocarina of time showed me how important Art direction and Storytelling produces an amazing game, even on an underpowered system. My brother hardly plays games anymore, but he Will talk to you all night about our times with Call of Duty 4. I’m not saying to keep every game you buy, but beware of trading in some of your greatest memories money can’t buy.

this is Scott’s first post. Read the Friday Fire below Explaining why I re-posted it!

1 year 1 month. That’s how long GamerHusbands Radio has been around. Some of you can remember the startup days when we didn’t have this website. No matter what we were working with, we always seemed to make the best of it.

Nowdays, it seems like becoming a podcaster is as common as a teenager wanting to be a rapper, but I truly believe you can tell the level of passion in the product. For many years I was just skating around the rink of life. Just going in circles. Sometimes an obstacle would come up, and I would dodge it. Sometimes overcoming the obstacle, and colliding head-on other times. 1 year and 1 month ago, my life was forever changed. An idea that started out as a small desire turned into something a lot bigger. Everytime I plug in my microphone and prepare for the show, it feels like i’m the luckiest man alive. How many people get to live our their dream. There are so many people who are just skating around the circle of life. I should have been to bed a few hours ago. My body is requesting some sleep, but after 1 year and 1 month, I’m still just as excited about each post I put up. I think we have some of the most talented staffs for a gaming website. We all work full time jobs also, and the majority of us has wife/kids. I went back to the first page on this site, and I could just feel the excitement in our first posts. Reading Soctt’s first post is amazing. Sometimes, it amazed me because he is so creative. His Call of Duty post is a sample of that. I think a lot of people didn’t see that post, but if you are reading this article, then you can see where I reposted it for your viewing pleasure. All of our staff is really talented. The guys that write have their own personalities and writing styles, and it all adds up to an eclectic mix of content. Tristan, our community manger, is contacting developers and lining up interviews. Everyone on staff works extremely hard, so I want to give a shout-out to them: Tristan, Allen, Robert, Joe, Chuck, Kevin, and Sam.

When I talk to my brother, he reminds me of how big of an accomplishment we have made. I never stop to enjoy the scenery, because I’m always looking ahead. That’s the negative side of passion. When you put so much into your hopes/dreams, there is always some sort of sacrifice that happens, whether intentional or unintentional. We sacrifice time with our wives and kids to write articles and record the show. Sam walks in the door from work, and turns on his mic. That’s tough when you’ve been under a car all day. We all make sacrifices of sorts to do this. With all of the sacrifice, this is, and always will be my passion. We never talk about these topics on the show. We always aim to keep it positive. Everyone on staff works very hard to keep GHR running, and we all have a passion for making this the best it can be.

I’m really exctited about the upcoming things we have. We appreciate everyone that has been a part of GHR, and definitely want to show our sincerest gratitude to you. We are just getting warmed up for 2009, so get ready, get excited, and strap your seatbelts down and place your tray tables in the upright position. Year 2 is starting off very fast, and the train is just picking up speed.

Hosting a podcasts definitely has it’s advantages and Disadvantages. The weekly investment of hours sometimes prove to be too much for aspiring podcaster. Also, there is usually little to no monetary gain involved. The payoff is building a community of people that listen to your show. Watching as commentors post in the forums and on forum topics, is more valuable than money, and the community is the reason that podcasters work tirelessly at building their craft. I get excited everytime someone just sends me a message about the show, or just want to say hi. It’s even more exciting when someone in the community actually wants to hang out with you.

In mid December Sam(GHR Superman) and I(GHR Maverick) decided to take Bizz up on his offer to have a Rockband party. Honestly, we were a little nervous, because we never met Bizz personally and he is a very vocal person. So we set out one cold Friday night in December to play some Rockband. Expecting Bizz to look like a George Constanza look-alike, I was pleasantly surprised when a young bearded college-looking student came to the door. We ended up having a great night. Honestly, we rocked out to all types of songs. I’ll even admit some of my favorites. “Gimme Shelter” The Rolling Stones, “Maps” Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Roam” B-52′s, “Creep” Radiohead. We had a great Band. I was on Bass Guitar, Sam- Drums, Laurie(Mrs. Bizz) – Vocalists, and Bizz Lead Guitar.

Sometimes, as podcasters, we get so caught in the daily grind of making a show/working on the site/life, that we lose track of even why we started podcasting. That night of extreme rocking out, and I mean ROCKING OUT, I forgot about all of my stresses. I wasn’t thinking about forum posts, or download numbers. This is the reason we started GamerHusbands. This night showed me that we have done more than build a community. We built friendships!

Sometimes I feel like there is an over arching disconnect between gamers and the average population. Sometimes I feel like gamers are completely mis-understood. Forgive me for using that cliché’ but that is the only phrase that I can equate with my current state-of-mind. For the past 2 weeks I have taken a step back from the hardcore gaming norm of playing the most recent release in an attempt to stay current for weekly fodder. Mass Effect has been my choice retro game, although it came out last year. If you mention Mass Effect to someone who pays attention to news, then they might refer to it as the game with the infamous “sex scene,” or “porno game.” Just in case you forgot, here’s the Faux News Video with Cooper Lawrence leading the charge with lit torch. People make assumptions about Video games that are wrong, that’s forgivable, but substituting lack-of-knowledge with outspoken defiance is absurd.

While playing Mass Effect yesterday, my wife was intrigued by the conversation system. It was unique, so it caught her interest. It felt like she was beginning to understand why I enjoy experiences like this. She had a look on her face as if it were saying “Oh, I now understand why you like games so much.” My wife was beginning to understand. The depth of this system and the articulation of the dialogue rival many movies that are released. Often gaming dialogue is judged by the actors playing the roles, but the conversation system in Mass Effect is nearly unmatched by any other game. Each character’s voice adds depth to their roles. The emotion translates extremely well. If the character is hesitant about a subject, their voice has trepidation. This is also due to the excellent writing. Your character can respond in any number of ways also allowing the player to parallel reality in more ways than ever seen in another game. This provided a sense of excitement that I have never experienced. I wasn’t following a set story arch for once. (At least that’s how it felt). It also allowed for an extremely coherent story. She was beginning to see the light, until the dialogue steered to more of an adult theme. She then got up in a somewhat disgusted manor and left the room. The Borg had called her back to the non-gamer side! This unsettled me. After investing nearly 30 hours into this game and controlling my character’s destiny, Commander Shepherd was more of an extension of my personality. When I became romantically involved with one of my shipmates, I felt the same hesitation as if it were really me. Leading up to the romance, I said dialogue that I would have spoken. Alfred Shepherd was somewhat timid until the woman expressed her interest in me. Similar to the way I and my wife fell in love. I was almost offended that she was upset due to the romance in the game.

My wife’s perception and rebuking of Mass is a microcosm of Americans as a whole. While many devoted gamers see Mass Effect as a triumph in story presentation, the US populous is completely unaware of the engrossing narrative of this game, and similar ones. My wife’s definition of a game that parallels reality, like many other people is…The Sims. I don’t blame her for not understanding the depth of this game. Mass Effect is an adult game. Even saying the word “adult” is synonymous with “sex.” But, this version of adult means; it deals with situations that a younger audience would struggle to grasp, or appreciate. There are many mediums in which people digest good narratives; Books, Soap Opera’s, TV – Series(Heroes!), etc. This is just another medium that we choose for mental stimulation, and it has evolved since Pong. As I was browsing N4G one of the articles was about a boy that killed his parents because they didn’t let him play Halo 3. This is the only article that caught my wife’s attention. Sadly, tales such as this, and the not-so-sex-scene, sex scene in Mass Effect are the only times the mainstream pays attention to the game industry. With the lack of responsibility in conveying accurate information to the public, many people will fail to have a definitive understanding on triumphs of the gaming medium.

The tension between used game retailers and publishers is rising like Nintendo’s profits. As publisher/developers carefully move to digital distribution, resale stores are being backed into a corner. It’s no surprise that the Elder Scrolls: Shivering Isles expansion pack appeared in retail stores, along with PSN/Marketplace. This fall Sony is gearing up to release a 160 GB console. In response to the upcoming release of the 160 GB console, GameStop COO Dan Matteo said, “pretty insignificant,” and the new 160 GB PS3 is meant only to boost the console as a “media-hub,” not making a complete transition to digital distribution. Tretton has stated that an abundance of PSN exclusives is the driving factor behind this new model. (Neoseeker) Matteo should visit Ms. Cleo. The 160 GB PS3 is not a direct threat to resalers’ pot of gold, but it’s another move by publishers to corner in on the market. Here are other signs; the impending price drops of both systems along with bigger hard drives, full game downloads such as Warhawk and Burnout Paradise, streaming Netflix movies over Xbox Live. The full transition won’t happen in 2008 or 2009, but this is a litmus test to gauge customer’s willingness to purchase digitally distributed content. XBox Live, boasting over 12 million subscribers is another potential threat to retailers. It could be years before there is a major transition in the way we obtain our games, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.

Do you remember the days when Super Nintendo (SNES) games cost $59.99? I remember saving all of my lunch money for summer camp to buy Street Fighter II on day one. (Day One Confirmed!) Well, to be honest my mom put the last $10 with it, because she was so proud of us for saving all of that money. Times have changed. SNES games were too high for their time, and as a consequence new games debuted at $49.99 or less. In a strategic move to battle Madden 05, 2k games released NFL 2k5 for $19.99. EA bought the exclusive NFL license the next year. Before the release of the Xbox 360, Microsoft promised that games would release for no more than $49.99. That didn’t happen. Before people think this is an article of complaints, I will digress. Video game budgets are beginning to rival movie budgets. Halo 3 cost $30 million dollars to make. The average PS3 game costs $15 million. The current prices are understandable due to the high production costs of games, but the flood of games to the store shelves causes small caliber games to be squeezed out of sight. With nearly every Next-Gen game debuting at $59.99, gamers are really picky with their gaming dollar. Especially with the slowdown of the American economy. A new game is nearly $70.00 with taxes, so gamers have to plan for new purchases weeks and months in advance. Pre-ordering is an ideal way to pay for new game purchasing. But, even that can get expensive when buying multiple games. If games were released at various prices, lesser marketed games can compete with the bigger named franchises. Assassins Creed is a testament of this solution. After receiving many bad reviews, retailers worried the game’s sales would not match the marketing hype. In an unprecedented move, the price dropped withing the first month of the game’s release. Now Ubsioft is struggling to find a place to put the money it’s making from Assassins Creed. Even superceding Ubisoft’s sales projections, Assassins Creed has sold over 6 million units. It’s also one of the fastest sellers on the Xbox 360. If more games were released under $59.99 gamers would be encouraged to buy more than one game at a time. Retailers would sell more units and smaller publishers wouldn’t have the stress of trying to compete with AAA titles in the same price bracket. Also, people would spend more money on new games, instead of waiting for used copies, which publishers make no money from. Gamers would be less dependent on used game stores, which would allow publishers to profit from new game purchases. Is there a mystery to why one used game reseller made close to 15 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2008? Value-minded gamers are willing to wait for their titles to drop in a affordable price range. In the end, resellers are the winners. Not the publishers, who are losing millions of dollars to the used game market. And not the gamer, that trades in their games for, 25% of the original price. By receiving trade credit, the gamer buys a recently released game for $54.99 used and the new copy costs $59.99. If that game released at $39.99, gamers would buy it new. Also, the resell value wouldn’t be worth trading in causing the gamer to keep it. Resell stores wouldn’t have “recently released” games five dollars cheaper than the new copy, causing them to lose their main form of profit. It would be beneficial to both gamers and publishers.

Stories have been an integral part of gaming since it’s inception. Spark up a discussion about the golden age of gaming, the NES, and you will hear about Zelda, Metal Gear, and Final Fantasy , etc. Before video games became graphical powerhouses, success hinged on the narrative to keep the player’s attention. Final Fantasy stories have remained unchanged since Final Fantasy 1 in 1986. The stories include a group of teenagers, equipped with magic, departing on a journey to save the world. Teenage angst and love affairs are commonly intertwined in the main narrative. Fans still return in droves for the next installment of each Final Fantasy, although the main change is the gameplay and setting. The Metal Gear series follows this same principal. The plot focuses around a advanced Nuclear warhead transportation device, Metal Gear. Kojima San adds his artistry throughout the series in the story telling. These games are often filed with moral decisions. After many of the boss fights, the enemy talks about their pasts and their regrets. This method of storytelling allows the player to connect with the enemy on a human level, and causes some regret in taking down an enemy. War is one main over-arching theme in this series also. Metal Gear exposes some of the harsh realities and decisions that soldiers face. These are just two examples of some of the best story based series today. The current generation has forgotten the art of story telling. The current focus is graphics and multiplayer. Now, games are created for the masses and not for the fans of a specific game. Gears of War has been touted as a graphical masterpiece. The story was completely left out of the game. Reviewers scored this game with some of the greatest games ever. There was more story in the previews of the game than in the game itself. Narrative in gaming has become a lost art. It pains me to see this happen, and I hope gamers speak with their wallets by supporting narrative based great games. The excitement around Metal Gear Solid 4 has been amazing. The excitement continues after people actually play the game. This generation has been marred by marketing hype, but MGS4 is starting a new trend. Gamers are witnessing the true power of an excellent narrative. Let’s fight to resurrect a dying trend!

Summertime, June 2000. Yep, 8 years ago. Seems like a long time ago. It was probably at one of the happiest times of my life. We had just finished our freshman year at Lee Univeristy and we were forging friendships that would last a life time. Summertime has a way of making me eflective. Honestly, the reason that I was inspired to do this post was me driving this morning. I had just left the YMCA after a great workout! I noticed how most people driving had their cars nice and washed, shades on, and just looking happy. I saw this guy in a late 80′s Trans-Am. It was fire engine red and the T-Tops were out. It just brought back a flood of memories of college, and riding around town in Allen’s IROC with the T-Tops out, just chilling and blasting those Sony Xplod’s!! Those were the days. That was the beginning of the GamerHusbands!

It struck me like a bolt of lightning, while playing Burnout with my God-Son. Of course, I’m getting school-ed by a 6 year old, but that’s not the point of today’s thoughts. After a race or two, I began to realize how much fun I was having with the game. Bustling through the corners, and powersliding for points to unlock tracks became a sizable challenge for Marquell and I. Both of us forgot about everything around us and were focused on the task at hand. Like a bolt of lightning, it hit me. I didn’t care about the fact that this game didn’t have Live support, or a Cross media Bar. No one sent us a friend request and the graphics didn’t have that Unreal 3 engine shine to them. It was a fun game with really good graphics. 2005 was the year that everyone was forced into Next-Gen, whether we were ready or not. The hardcore had to upgrade to the newest systems and Hi-Def T.V.’s to enjoy that new expensive piece of hardware. Burnout Paradise is a great game. It has that nice coat if shininess and all of the next-gen appeal. But, is this game more fun than Burnout Dominator for the PS2? I don’t think so. I think they are both great games, and the graphics on the PS2 still hold up today. That’s why Nintendo is stomping on the competition. Not only does Sony have to worry about Nintendo and Microsoft every month. It also has to worry about the PS2 cutting into those PS3 sells. I love my Xbox as much as anyone else, and I can’t wait for the day to hook up a PS3 to my HD big screen. At the end of the day, I just want to relax and have a good time; I don’t need Unreal Engine 3 to have a good night of gaming with my friends. It doesn’t matter if I’m the only person on my friends list to still play Castlevania:SOTN. I don’t have to wait for the newest update to my Dashboard to stay excited. All I need is a game and a system to play it on.

It’s been nearly four years since I jacked cars and completed mafioso style missions for money. It’s been nearly four years since I cruised the streets looking for prostitutes to “restore my health meter.” Murdering innocents, and mowing them down in my car were just “part of the fun.” I wouldn’t blink an eye to putting a bullet through someone’s skull and just laugh about it. The last time I partook of this unholy wine was 4 years ago. Now, just having celebrated my fourth year of marriage and having a daughter that’s nearly two, has allowed me to be a bit more introspective about the games that I play. I told myself that this game would be different due to the change in settings. San Andreas took place in the 90′s Gangster Rap era. Now, it’s modern day New York City. I told myself that the vulgarity would be toned down due to this change. I lied to myself. As I write this article, I’m currently performing hitman missions for a coked up Russian Boss who is so high all the time, that murder is the answer to all of his problems. Well, I do have a good Jamaican friend who considers me to be a “loyal” friend due to our murderous sidequests. Why do I enjoy these games so much? Like most gamers, I enjoy the fantasy of being the tragic Hero. Niko Bellic is the Macbeth of this world. He flees his war-torn homeland for a fresh start in America.(sounds familiar) He is thrown into the criminal underworld to protect his cousin, Roman, who is waist deep in debt to loansharks. I enjoy the freedom to walk around a magnificent city, go play pool on a date, drive around listening to the radio, or just watching a little T.V. The hard work is evident that Rockstar has invested into bring New York city to the virtual World. These are excellent qualities of a great game, and the innovation that Rockstar has done is award winning. An uneasy feeling surrounds me when ever I begin to play this game. Rarely will I play it around my daughter, and when I do, I am usually just driving around. I made a mistake yesterday. While my daughter was playing in the living room, I went on a mission. I had to spy on these drug dealers, because they were intruding on another dealer’s territory. Well, one of the dealer’s saw me and in GTA fashion, it escalated into a full scale shoot out. Fully entrenched in saving my own hide, I didn’t think about the fact of my daughter sitting next to me. I shoot one of the dealers in the head, and my daughter screamed. Freaking out I shut off the Xbox, ran over to her, embraced her in my arms, and ensured her that everything would be fine. Five minutes later, she was back to playing with her toys in happy fashion. Tears swelled up as I held Gabby in my arms. Each tear was the affirmation that I’ve caused hurt to my little Angel. It has been nearly four years since I delved into the Grand Theft Experience. Yesterday showed me that I’m not the same Alfred I was four years ago. I don’t want to play a game when my family is asleep, because I can’t play it around them. As much as I enjoy the nice drives and playing the role of the tragic Hero, I also cringe at the seediness of Liberty City. I am a tourist, who is just visiting for short time. But, once I leave Liberty City, I don’t think I will be returning.