e-volution

Time to Move On

This was partly a result of the difficulty of explaining the pastime to others. Try putting into words the concept of immersion for someone who has never experienced it. There really is no way short of placing the controller in their hand. Videogames allow you to flex the muscles of your imagination while tickling the little spot just to the side of your fantasies and giving your cortex a little something to chew on. The best of them are stories wrapped in puzzles with a side of hero porn. Explain that to your mom.

Two decades ago, the conversation never even took place. The idea of games being anything more than a juvenile waste of time was so completely foreign to ... well, just about everyone, that for the longest time trying to justify our passion seemed painful and destined for inevitable failure. Nowadays, grandmothers play Nintendo games, the Wii makes semi-regular appearances on The Today Show and soccer moms have Bejeweled on their iPhones. The passion for gaming is now multifaceted, and we no longer have to try to explain.

There are still full-bore, immersive game experiences the likes of which you and I take to in our darkest hours, when all we need is a darkened room and a digital friend who makes us feel strong. But videogames have recently become much, much more than that. They're everywhere, and everyone is playing them.

This should be good news. There should be dancing in the streets on this, our Day of Jubilee. Our time has come, has it not? We had a dream, at one point in time, and now, it seems, that dream has become real. So why are most gamers so damned annoyed by this?

The changes to the industry - and the games - aren't that unusual or unexpected. Change happens. Change is inevitable. And in most cases, change is good. In this case, it's a change we've been waiting for, arguing for, begging would come to pass. People finally understand why videogames are fun and worthwhile. Isn't that what we've always wanted? Isn't that finally enough to get the monkey of shame and cynicism off our backs?

So what if a few parasitic sluts are making a living out of your favorite hobby? It's not as if the rest of our societies were not already infested through and through by loathsome leeches: If porn stars can be elected to parliament (see Italy) why shouldn't a crackwhore be able to make money blowing journ-lol-lists and spewing nonsense about vidyageams? You want democracy? - there you have it: Suck it up. That's democracy in action, baby - "Democracy" from Greek demos "the people" + -kratia "power, rule" - the rule of the people, the mass, the mob, the rabble - and that's what the rabble wants: porn stars in parliament and blond crackwhores everywhere else. ... So yes, "cultural legitimacy" for your little hobby does not come when you think it does, it comes far sooner - it comes when vacuous sluts can make a living out of babbling incoherently about it. So if "cultural legitimacy" is what you wanted you should be celebrating - because you've already got it.