A Series of Ramblings

Blogging when I remember to

Posts Tagged ‘thatgamecompany’

Journey, No Man’s Sky, and Video Game Hype

Let me be honest and upfront: I haven’t been super excited about a big budget AAA video game in years. This does not mean I don’t like and enjoy such games, because I get them and I do like them and play them and have a good time. But… they don’t move me like some indie games have in the last few years. Maybe that’s because the AAA hype machine is usually reserved for sequels and “safe” new IPs with PR campaigns that cost nearly as much as the game development itself. I was in the room when MGSV was officially announced, and I didn’t get excited for it until about 6 weeks before the game came out (truly, for the best). I will admit, E3 2015 has made me hype for the return of The Last Guardian, the new IP Horizon, and a few others, and with E3 2016 having happened relatively recently, I’m excited about more things, but I digress. That’s for another time. Here… I want to talk about game that while small, have huge expectations and bigger ambitions. Two games, one on the precipice of release, that have made me feel things about video games I don’t feel often. These games are thatgamecompany’s Journey, and Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky.

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Video Games as a Coping Mechanism

Video games are a powerful thing. I don’t really care what is or isn’t a game, nor if a game should make you feel. Let’s face it, is Call of Duty really that much more of a game than Tetris or Papers, Please? Does the budget or the story or the platform truly make that big of a difference if you end up enjoying it at the end of the day? But I digress. No, today I want to tell you about what some games mean to me, and what some games can mean to others, especially during times of loss.

Today I want to talk about games and that inescapable monster, death.
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