My Moment of Nerdiness

Okay, my last couple of posts here have been a bit on the heavy side, both in terms of content and quantity, even by my standards. I see that I got some views, but no response, which probably means either it was too bulky to absorb, or it just wasn't interesting. So...I was considering writing today about one of my hobbies, destroying misologists (that is, those with a fear or hatred of reason). However, I fear that path would lead me into further heavy territory, what with the requisite bashing of those holding bizarre religious beliefs--Christians and the like (no, honestly, I don't begrudge anybody their religion, so long as they do not attempt to impose it upon anybody else). So, I've decided to shelve that one for the moment, and instead write about something I've been kicking around for a week or so. It would, to the casual observer, appear to be lighter in tone than my other recent entries, though I know it to be, in fact, at least as controversial as matters of religion...and if it's not, I'll make it that way! My topic today is video games.

That's right, at the risk of alienating many of my friends, I'm about to trash video games. I am admittedly not much of a gamer, and for good reason. There are a few (very few) games out there with considerable quality. These, sadly, are becoming increasingly rare. Most games now resemble the likes of God of War or Halo or Grand Theft Auto, impostors all, substituting body count and collateral damage for story and soul and hoping that nobody will notice, or will be too overstimulated by the explosions and gunfire to care. You know what I call that? I call it the T-Rex Effect, the tendency not to notice anything that doesn't display a lot of noise or movement. I know I complain a lot already about the low-brow nature of so many Americans, so I won't tread that way today. Suffice it to say, it's a lot of garbage and people need higher standards, even if it is just video games we're talking about. I know, they're meant to be an escape of sorts, and who am I to tell other people what form their escapism should take? Well, I'm Ryan, and I wouldn't be me if I didn't gripe about it!

Look, I've got my own guilty pleasures. One of the few games I play regularly is a wrestling game. Whatever. It isn't my principal form of video game entertainment. You know what my favorite game was way back when we had the original Nintendo system? The Legend of Zelda. Yeah, I was probably 7 or 8, playing a game that requires enough thought that it would be unbeatable for many adults today. And I beat the damn thing! Okay, yeah, it was kind of a group effort along with my mom and my brother. We still beat it! And that was my favorite game all the way up until we got a Nintendo 64, and I got my hands on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Best game ever, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks so. Many prominent gaming magazines place it in their top spot, even though its technology is now somewhat outdated. I was as enthralled as I have ever been with a video game. It is remarkably broad and diverse in its scope. It contains so many elements sorely missing from nearly every other game or series. It's central characters have considerable history, based on a deep and thoroughly developed mythology, and even the secondary and peripheral characters are far from interchangeable warm (digital) bodies. The adventures are complex and fascinating, and require multiple abilities in order to navigate them successfully. The physical geography is frequently breathtaking, and even something as seemingly trivial as the music is right on the money, serving to perfectly capture the mood of each location (I particularly recall the haunting tone of the Forest Temple, so apropos considering the spirits found throughout the maze-like structure). I could go on, but you get the point; the game deserved every single off-the-charts score it received.

A few weeks ago, Audrey and I finally got a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which I am now firmly entrenched in. It is more challenging still, though this may partially be due to getting accustomed to an entirely new controller. Even so, it contains so many of the elements that made most of its predecessors in the series so great. Nearly all of the games in the Zelda series are massively popular (or were in their time, at least), and rightfully so. My fear is that they could eventually be eclipsed by the throbbing mass of mindless violence that makes up 95% of the video game market today...but my hope is that Zelda will continue to be a shining beacon, a pinnacle which all other games will forever aspire to reach, not only for the sake of video games, but what that would represent, a triumph of the mind.

Everything else aside, though, the games are just damn fun, while emphasizing the virtues of wisdom and courage over mere power and bloodthirst. After all, isn't that what we're supposed to be striving for in the real world, just as Link and Zelda do in Hyrule?