I love the way more and more video games (of the type that I play, anyway) have complex science fiction storylines to them. Resistance posited an alternate history, whereby Russia, Europe and then England were taken over by an alien invasion in the 1950s. The Halo franchise has so much going on within it that I can't even keep track of who's an ally and who's not from game to game, but it's definitely rich in alien lore. Others, like Half-Life, Doom, Unreal Tournament and Quake all have backstories that get filled in more and more with each new release. That's a good part of what appeals to me about gaming these days, along with the wanton killing and puzzle solving.
Imagine, then, my response to this deluded post in which someone waxes on about how video games have gone downhill since the days of Ms. PacMan and Space Invaders. Ironically, I just played PacMan on the weekend, because my new XBox 360 came with a version of it pre-loaded. It held my interest for about 5 minutes, just like it did back in the day when it was "the" game. Running around in a 2-D maze, being chased by little ghosts while eating energy pellets, didn't really ignite my imagination way back when anymore than it does now. I love that the graphics of video games keep improving, and that our ability to immerse ourselves in them - VR-like - has continued to increase. I guess it takes all kinds, but I'll take the newer games any day of the week... and twice on Sunday!
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