The Illusion of the Moral Choice

For quite a while now, game designers have been working moral choices into video games. Gamers find themselves having to make decisions that will shape their characters, making them the ultimate hero or the diabolical villain. Many games have been praised for forcing people to actually think about what they want to do in a given situation, and some gamers, myself included, have found it next to impossible to take actions in game that would go against their moral codes.

When I look beyond the surface of these choices, however, I begin to wonder if they are not just a facade. Do the choices you make in the game really affect the outcome? Does choosing to be a jerk really mean anything if you can just erase the stain by being a saint come the next moral choice? Are we, as gamers, really being given a moral choice that will truly affect the game itself, or are we just being given something that looks that way so the designer can list that as a bullet point for selling the game?

In order to answer this question, I am going to look at just what makes up a moral choice in real life and then look at how companies have tried to introduce that into gaming. I will be examining many of the games which have been heralded as providing gamers with moral dilemmas to see if the choices really made that much of a difference. Basically, I am going to attempt to see if the games we play have really done a good job of integrating moral choices or if it is all just an illusion.

More than just Black and White

When I ask you about making a moral choice in a game, what comes to mind? Whether to help someone or kill them? Whether to serve the interest of a large entity, be it a corporation, government or otherwise, or help innocent people? Whether to help someone defend something valuable in hopes of a reward or kill them and take what you want?

Let’s face it; moral choices in video games normally boil down to two things: Good or Evil. The choice is so obviously black and white it tends to lack any real punch. Jordan put it best in his article “Mass Ineffective;” the extent of most of the moral choices in games boils down to “Throw the puppy in the furnace” or “Turn off the furnace.” There is a slight problem with that: moral choices in real life are rarely so cut and dry.

When was the last time you faced a moral dilemma that was that obvious? Granted, they do exist, but I am much more likely to be facing questions like whether I should follow up on something at work that as not handled correctly and therefore serve the customer or throw it back in the lap of the person who made the mistake. Sure, the person who made the mistake needs to learn, but there are times where the right thing to do would be to just get the job done, and yet I balk at it because I feel entitled to making the other person fix it. Meanwhile, the customer is the one who suffers.

It’s choices like that one that truly define our morality. We live in a world full of shades of gray. We also have seen our games start to reflect our world more and more, whether in storyline, graphics or physics. So why have they not found ways to really integrate the moral struggles we actually deal with?

Maybe you think I am being a bit too harsh in saying that. Maybe I am. The only way to know for certain is to take a look at some of the games which have presented us with “moral choices” and see if they fit this pattern. Just as a word of warning: these next sections will contain spoilers; there really is no way of avoiding them.

You’re doing it wrong

Any of you remember what one of the major selling points of Fable was? You were going to be given the opportunity to create the ultimate hero or villain, and the choices you made were going to shape the world around you. While I liked the original Fable and really enjoyed its sequel, this was one of the many promises Peter Molyneux failed to deliver. The “Moral Choices” you make in that game are ridiculous. When a new quest is available in the Hero Academy, you are actually given two different versions of the quest: one good (protect the innocent travelers on the road) and one evil (join the bandits in robbing the travelers). Even the choice you make at the end of the game, whether to kill your sister in order to keep this ultimate weapon or destroy the weapon to save your sister, really does not have a major affect on the outcome. You can be the devil and kill your own flesh and blood, and yet you are still the “hero” because you took down the main villain of the game.

Bioshock is another great example of a game which presented you with what appeared to be a moral choice with real consequences. Throughout the game, whenever you finished off a Big Daddy, you had to decide what to do about the Little Sister it was guarding. You could choose to cure her, gaining some Adam and knowing you have done the good thing, or you could harvest her, killing her cruelly yet gaining much more Adam for your troubles. Only two major problems with this perceived moral dilemma: every time you free three little sisters, you are given a gift pack containing extra Adam among other goodies which kind of offsets the positive bonus you get from harvesting, and other than the ending cut scene, the choice you make has no real effect on the game itself. The designers really had a chance to change things up based on the choices you made; they could have had Doctor Tenenbaum refuse to assist you if you harvested the girls, making you find another way to take out Fontaine. What could have been a monumental choice ends up really not mattering in the end.

What is even worse than the black and white moral choices are the ones which end up becoming more about the game mechanic than the choice itself. A great example of this is inFAMOUS. Most of the choices you make in the game are so completely black and white they make the choices in Mass Effect look gray. Then there is the “Do I save the woman I love or the doctors,” which ends up not really being a moral choice since Trish dies either way, one way professing how proud she is of Cole, the other cursing his name. Those pale in comparison to the last karmic moment of the game: do you choose to activate or destroy the Ray Sphere. Destroy it and you game some experience and some good karma. Activate it and you gain a ton of experience, three new battery cores to help you stay charged and your karmic rating is forever branded as evil/infamous. Now you know going into this decision that activating it will give you great power at the cost of many lives, but by putting that kind of a weight on it, the choice is now moot. After all, what kind of a moral dilemma is it if one choice ruins what you have been doing the entire game?

There are many other examples I can bring to up to show how little the moral choices really affect the games we play. No matter how noble you are when you meet Marle in Chrono Trigger, you will still end up having to fight your way out of jail. In the original Mass Effect, saving Wrex was more about getting charm or intimidation leveled up than it was about the choices you made. Modern Warfare 2 tried to force gamers into making a moral decision in the “No Russian” level, but since you cannot change the fact you are going to be shot and killed at the end of the level no matter how many innocent people you gun down, it kind of loses its teeth and becomes something many gamers, myself included, feel has no business being in the game. The list of games which just do not seem to get it goes on and on, but there have been a few which seem to be catching on.

Not all Moral Dilemmas fail

As easy as it is to rag on games where your moral choices just do not matter, there have been a few examples recently where designers seemed to have started to make them count. Fable II is one of these examples. While many of the moral choices are pretty obvious, a few do have more far reaching consequences. In the beginning of the game, you have to earn enough money to buy the music box. You go to Oldtown Bowerstone to try and find ways of making money and are presented with different quests where you can either help the honest people of that district or help the local crime lords. If you choose the former, Oldtown Bowerstone will become a thriving community later in the game. If you choose the latter, the area will be overrun with crime. Add to this the loss of experience when you choose to not be cruel in the Spire and the ultimate choice at the end, and you have a game which tries to make more out of its dilemmas than most others.

As much as Jordan ragged on it in his article, Mass Effect 2 actually does a decent job with some of its moral choices. There are a couple of times in particular where this comes into play. The first is during the loyalty mission for Samara. When Samara and Morinth are facing off, you get the opportunity to sway the outcome of the battle. Choose Samara and Morinth dies, while the Justicar pledges her loyalty fully to you. Choose Morinth and Samara is killed, with Morinth coming with you pretending to be her. This does make a difference as Morith’s powers are not the same as Samara’s, and if you do take the Ardat-Yakshi onto the ship, there is a chance you can lose Shepard. Then there is what happens after the Collectors kidnap the crew. While Jordan may not have known there was a danger to the crew if you did not go after them immediately, I figured there must be based on the comments about keeping your crew alive through the final mission. The problem is that event will be triggered a certain amount of time after trying to integrate the Friend or Foe tech into the Normandy. So what do you do if you have not fully gained the loyalty of your teammates before your crew is captured? Sure, you can go after the Collectors and try to rescue your crew, but without the loyalty of your team, your chances of making it back in one piece or at least with all the members of the team in tact are greatly reduced. What makes this work as a moral dilemma is it is not about being Paragon or Renegade; it is about how you played the game up to that point and whether you are willing to risk your teammates to save your crew.

Of all the games I have played where the moral choices have truly made a difference, the one which stands out is one which has been blasted by the critics. Alpha Protocol has many flaws, but one thing the developers did with this game has set it apart from any of the others on the list: they made your moral choices matter. At the end of the first chapter, you are given the choice t0 kill the terrorist who was responsible for shooting down the commercial airliner, arrest him for his crimes or set him free him  to help you get the information on the corporation that set you up to die. From that point on, every decision you make matters. Choosing to only disable the CIA agents in the infiltration mission will raise your reputation with Mina, which benefits you. Madison Saint James can be a great help in Rome, but getting her involved could get her killed, which could help you deal with a major enemy later if you play your cards right. If you choose to kill Brayko in Russia, you will not learn who really smuggled in the weapons and will miss out on an entire mission. You are even faced with some real moral dilemmas, including one where you must either decide to rescue the Taiwanese president or allow him to be assassinated but stop the riots designed to let his assassins escape. Unlike most moral choices in games, this one forces you to decide which you think is the lesser of two evils: letting a good man who has worked to help his people die or saving him at the cost of the lives of many of the people he has chosen to protect. Oh, and thanks to the time limit you face when making most decisions in game, you do not really have the time weigh the pros and cons of both sides. It is choices like these that set Alpha Protocol apart. While the game may have several frustrating bugs that make it difficult to play at times, it more than any game I have played shows how moral choices can be integrated into video games properly.

Where do we go from here?

While a few game designers seem to understand that morality involves more than just black and white, it appears many have not realized adding true moral dilemmas into their games is going to take work. Of the three examples I listed of games where the choices mattered, it can be argued only Alpha Protocol truly demonstrates how morality can affect the game in more than just subtle ways. If game developers really want to add a level of realistic moral choices to their games, they will need to realize the choices need to involve more than the standard options of hero or villain.

Of course, there could very well be a downside to this. Adding moral choices which change the game can upset gamers who want to experience everything about the game in one sitting. That, however, is a discussion for another time.

Can Gaming Become an Addiction? A Gamer’s Story

There is a debate raging in the gaming community right now. Everywhere you look, gamers and those who do not play are arguing over whether or not there is such a thing as gaming addiction. The studies are inconclusive; every time you hear about a study backing the existence of video game addiction, you find numerous stories debunking it. Even gamers seem to be split on the issue; while many want to argue it does not exist, others say they have experienced symptoms similar to that of other addictions.

So in the middle of all of the turmoil, the question remains: can someone get addicted to video games?

The Basics of Addiction

So what do we mean when we use the phrase “addiction?” I mean, we all have our own ideas of what an addiction is, but if we are going to get the the bottom of this, we need to have an agreed upon definition of the term itself. Dictionary.com defines addiction as:

the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

The state of being enslaved to a habit. That is a good place to begin. Addiction is a form of enslavement. This is something I would argue most of us have probably seen throughout our lives. Ever known someone who was addicted? Serious addicts ruin their lives as they chase after their fix. If you have ever known anyone who was addicted to serious drugs, you have probably witnessed this first hand.

Still, it does not have to be something like heroin or meth. I have known many smokers throughout my life who are enslaved to their cigarettes. They know smoking is killing them, they know the packs are costing more and more money, and yet they just cannot stop. Just as a slave must obey its master, an addict must obey his or her cravings. They are not impossible to beat, but you just cannot walk away from them either.

Addictions are not just limited to things that give you a physical sensation, however. Look back at the definition; addictions can include things that are psychologically habit forming. People can become addicted to porn, gambling, companionship or any number of other things. Anything you use as an escape from reality can become an addiction, even work.

So, if we are taking this view of addiction, you could argue that someone could become addicted to video games. Believe it or not, however, that is not the point of this article. We here at Everyday Gamers are not looking to prove or disprove to anyone the existence of video game addictions.

So what is the purpose of this article? Well, I want to tell you all a story. In order for you to fully understand this story, I needed you to understand what my stance on addiction is. I want you all to know what I mean when I say I consider myself to have been a video game addict.

The Story Begins

It was my sophomore year in high school. I was trying to figure out who the heck I was in the midst of the changing world around me. My mom and dad were divorced; my mother was actually just working on her second divorce, while my dad had just recently remarried. I was living with my dad, and at the time, my relationship with my step-mom was not the best. One of my best friends had just moved to Alaska, which was a heck of a long ways away from Albuquerque, NM, and I was trying to find a way to deal with all of the changes around me and the usually issues of just being a teenager. It was not a good time in my life, and many times I found myself needing some form of escape.

Around this time, I was really getting into running. Nothing seriously competitive; I just enjoyed going for runs, especially the occasional event style 5K run. Well, my dad and step-mom insisted that if I was going to do this, I needed to practice, which makes sense. There was a great bicycle/walking path not far from my house, so I would often head there and run a mile or two.

Well, this was 1990-1991, which if you remember from reading the Retro Active article on the arcades was just when they were seeing their resurgence. Not far from my house was a local arcade, and it just happened to be the same direction as this path I ran. As things got harder at home, I found myself going to this arcade instead of doing the running I was supposed to do. After all, this arcade had my favorite game: Street Fighter II.

That was how it started. I used the local arcade and that game in particular to escape the world around me. In the arcade, I was a decent player; not the best, but far from the worst. I was fairly respected among those who came there, and while I lost many battles, I put up a good fight. More than anything, I felt like I was among people who understood me. I felt safe.

The Plot Thickens

The summer after my sophomore year, everything changed. I had always spent the summers with my mom, but I had modified that agreement so I could stay in Albuquerque to get a job. I was hoping to get some spending money to get myself a stereo among other things, and the job would give me a reason to get out of the house, where relations were getting rough. It did not take me too long to find my first real job: working as a buss boy at the Steaksmith, a local restaurant attached to Coronado Mall. I made less than minimum wage with a cut of the tips of the servers making up the difference, something not uncommon in the restaurant trade.

Now image this, if you will: a teenager who is already using video games as an escape getting a job at a restaurant where he was paid at least partially in cash every day and that happens to be attached to a mall with a thriving arcade. If you are thinking this was a recipe for disaster, you’re right.

Video games began to consume me.

My shift at the Steaksmith did not start will 10:30 AM  and ended around 2:30m PM. this allowed me 30 minutes before my shift to game, and often just a little time afterward to get some time in before I would be too late getting home to be able to hide what I was doing. That was all it was at first. In time, however, I was finding it harder to pry myself away from the games. While I was never quite late for work because of gaming, I came close on several occasions, and I started getting home later than I could really explain. On top of that, I started to take money from my checks to support my gaming habit.

Needless to say, I hit a point where I could no longer hide what I was doing. To say my dad and step-mom were ticked off when they found out what I was doing is an understatement. They started demanding to see my deposit slips to make sure I was actually putting my checks in the bank. They also tried to limit my ex[osure to games, but that was tough to do when I worked at a mall.

I remember when everything really came to a head. My dad and step-mom had just about had it with me, and they threatened to send me to live with my mom if I screwed up one more time. They were headed for vacation, and my grandmother was coming into town to watch me, since I had to stay for work. That first day they were gone, I stayed at the arcade till around 6 PM, finally calling my grandmother who was worried sick. I knew I had blown my last chance, and in pretty short order, I was packing to move to Phoenix.

So how bad did things get? Well, I cannot remember for certain, but in about 2 months time, I spent over $200 on coin-op video games, and this was back when the majority of the games I was playing were still 25 cents a piece. I was out of control. I was addicted.

Breaking the Cycle

You’ll notice that I used the past tense there. I am no longer addicted to gaming, though when I am not careful, I can get lost in them once more.

So how did I get past the addiction? There is no magic formula; all I did was what you would normally do when dealing with an addiction.

1. Admit you have a problem: While I may not have been ready to step out at the time and state I was addicted, I knew something was wrong. After all, I had just blown and inordinate amount of money on arcade games, and though gaming was something I truly enjoyed, I knew there had to be a limit somewhere. When I moved to Phoenix, I think a part of me thought it would just go away, but it didn’t. I had to admit I had a problem, and I had to deal with it.
2. Remove the temptation: So this part was relatively easy for me. When I moved to Phoenix, I was no longer working at a mall, and though I could get to one relatively easy, I did not have the money to spend. So, as you can probably see, removing the temptation was rather easy for me. Still, it was a necessary step, even if it was not one I took voluntarily.
3. Deal with the issues that drove you to game: I’m not going to bore you with all the details of how I dealt with the pressures that were leading me to lose myself in video games. The fact of the matter is I did deal with them. I had been using the games as an escape, and the addiction was not broken until I dealt with what I was using them to escape.

Now I am probably making this sound much easier that it actually was. Though I was beyond the worst of it rather quickly, it took years to be completely over the addiction. I still remember spending $3o some odd dollars at the arcade at Disneyland on one of our church choir trips. Think about it: I was at Disneyland, and I was spending my time and money in the arcade. There was still something wrong with me for quite a while afterward.

In the end, I can point to one thing that really pulled me out of the addiction: my faith. I truly believe God was able to help me get past the addiction itself, allowing me not only to eventually return to playing the games I enjoy, but opening the door for me to write for  Everyday Gamers, something for which I am very grateful.

So that is my story. I am not trying to convince anyone of the dangers of video game addiction here. I am just relaying my experiences with it in hopes that anyone else who might be struggling with it to see there is a way out. There are others who have struggled through it, and it can be beaten.

EDG Podcast Ep. #42 – Underrated, Over Hyped and Disappointing

Listen in as Eric Bouchard and Chris Maeurer discuss the games of 2009 that were underrated, over hyped and just flat out disappointing.

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Why Video Games Are More Than Just Entertainment

With all these rumors and talks about Video Games becoming movies, it produces a lot of hype and excitement. As a gamer however, I have a different outlook on it.

The Story

I have found that some of the best stories are not found in books or movies, but rather Video Games.  The fact that you are essentially the character, only adds to the story. With games like Fallout 3, the player makes the choices and those choices affect the players outcome individually. With a movie, the outcome is decided for everyone and makes a much less personal experience.

The Experience

Experiencing something and seeing something are two completely different experiences. One of the things I love about Video Games are the way they can immerse the player into another world. Whether it be fighting the Covenant or surviving the wasteland.  There is no denying this can carry you off to an unknown world. One of the main problems with Video Games becoming movies, is the fact you wouldn’t be able to experience it in the same way.

See, when you pick up that controller and begin to play, YOU get to decide what your character does. Who he  (or she) interacts with. You essentially become that character. You can’t do that with a pre-determined movie script.

The Barrier

While movies can be extremely imaginative, that screen would ultimately become a barrier. You couldn’t choose what  would happen. Only watch, and where is the fun in that? You would lose the experience of being the character.

The End Result

Video Games can provide some of the most unique experiences. Experiences that would be lost in the big screen. The fact is, when you are the character, you feel more emotion and immersed. You go on that journey, not watch some actor do it for you. So, I hope that more people will realize it’s not worth losing the experience, the emotions and the journeys that you ultimately embark on.

Source

Retro Active: The Rise of Retro Gaming

Welcome to Retro Active, a new feature here on Everyday Gamers that will cover the history of gaming, including reviewing some of the games that were the the inspirations for what we play today. For those of you who grew up with video games, we hope this feature will take you back to when you first identified yourself as a gamer or maybe remind you of that first console or game you truly fell in love with. If you are new to gaming, we hope this feature will give you a greater appreciation for what came before the current consoles and PC powerhouses. Maybe you will even find yourself wanting to play some of the games we discuss. There are many that still stand the test of time.

So why are we starting this feature? Retro Gaming is on the rise. You don’t have to look very hard to find games being remade or more and more older games being made available like never before. It is much easier to find and play older games now then it ever has been.

The Rise of Retro Gaming: Retro Gaming is nothing new. Like most things in life, there will always be a group of people who cling to the past. There is also a tendency to look back on what has come before with kind of “rose colored glasses.” We have all experienced this. Think about that old cartoon or movie you loved as a kid that, when you got to see it years later, you realized how bad it really was. Still, there is a genuine love for the things that we grew up with, and that is not a bad thing.

The Virtual Console, Atari Flashback and C64 DTV are examples of the rise of Retro Gaming

Recently, however, Retro Gaming has truly been gaining steam. The last generation of consoles helped spur this on. The Playstaion 2 still allowed you to play PS1 games, allowing those who wanted to play some of the best games from the previous generation to do just that. Then you started seeing the rise of video game collections highlighting anything from the Colecovision to the arcade hits from such companies as Sega and Capcom. As more and more of these collections started to appear, it became apparent that people really did want to play the older games.

Then came the rise of the “Plug and Play” game systems. You could take a device no larger than a joystick and plug it directly into your TV to instantly be able to play gaming classics. It did not take long for some of the gaming giants to jump on the bandwagon. Atari released the Flashback in 2004, which had 20 games built into the system, including Adventure and Haunted House. Many other companies have released plug and play games, including EA with a plug and play Madden and the QVC exclusive C64 to TV, which plays Comodore 64 games.

What really brought Retro Gaming into the spotlight, however, is the Virtual Console on the Nintendo Wii. Back when Nintendo’s next console was still codenamed “The Revolution,” one of the most exciting bits of news for gamers was going to be the ability to download games not just from Nintendo’s rather impressive console library but also from Sega Systems and the Comodore 64. Those of us who grew up with these consoles were excited to get out hands on the games we played as kids. Though it may not have completely lived up to its potential, the Virtual Console has been a welcome addition to the Wii, especially for hardcore gamers who have not really found many games on the console to their liking.

The growing popularity of Retro Gaming has not stopped there. XBox Live Arcade is home to the original Golden Axe and Gauntlet as well as the re-rendered Street Fighter 2 HD and Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Games like Geometry Wars have borrowed from an old-school design and ascetic to create addictive games, while the PSP and DS are seeing re-releases and remakes of older games all the time, as evidenced by the recent release of Chrono Trigger DS. We have also seen older games getting completely revamped and renewed, whenther it means rebuilding from the ground up with games like Tomb Raider Classic or completely changing the game like the new Bionic Commando or the unfortunately lackluster Golden Axe: Beastrider.

Some retailers have also caught onto the trend. While GameStop has primarily turned its back on those who want to play games from older consoles, Play N Trade has gone as far as carrying the Retro Duo, a system that plays both old NES and SNES games. Go through a Best Buy or Walmart during the Christmas season and try not to bump into the latest Plug and Play games. You might even find knock off systems in malls that have a few name brand games and a whole bunch of not so well known in an attempt to take advantage of the growing interest in retro gaming. It is here to stay.

Retro-Active: So that is why we are starting the Retro-active feature. Many of us, the writers of Everyday Gamers, have a soft spot for the older games, and we want to share what we know and hear what you have to say about the experiences that lead us to identify ourselves as gamers.

NOT the Only Game in Town

So there I stood on Tuesday, November 25, at one of the few GameStops I could stand. I was patiently waiting for the worker to go trough his shipment and find my copy of Chrono Trigger DS. Though I was pleased with the customer service, the fact that he had not even had a chance to get to the shipment on a day a game as big as this one was coming out just reminded me of why I was happy this was going to be one of the last times I shopped with this company.

When a good thing turns bad: I remember the old days of EB Games and GameStop. It wasn’t that long ago that any trip I made to a mall that had one of those two stores invariably ended up with me in it, probably more than once on that trip. I loved looking at their selection of games, trying to find the one I had been looking for or that gem you could not find elsewhere.

Christmas of 2006: I was working as the acting GM of a local Christian bookstore. Two of my coworkers (twin brothers no less) and I would frequent the EB that was in the same mall. The employees there came to know us, and when it came time to hire some holiday staff, they invited us to work for them. We jumped at the chance to get the discount and “rent games,” so of course we signed up.

It wasn’t long afterward that GameStop bought out EB. We were already being told by those working within the company that this was not a good thing. Most of them felt EB was the better company. At first, it seemed like sour grapes on their part, but it did not take long to see they were right. The change in policies at the stores, as well as not making it an emphasis to hire people who cared about games, started to leave a cold taste in our mouths. I did have to go back to work on a more permanent basis with the company in 2007-2008, and though it was made tolerable by great managers, I was not exactly relishing the experience.

I could go into a long list here of what is wrong with GameStop, but that is really not the idea behind this article. I just wanted you all to know I have seen the company from an insider’s perspective, and I have seen what was a company I really liked turn its back on the people they supposedly are there to serve.

The problem is that GameStop is the big player in the video game market. The company is the most recognized brand.

They are not the only one, however.

The Alternatives: There was a time where it was basically Gamestop/EB or bust. Then Game Crazy came, but it really did not last long; you can still find a few out there, but it is no longer a reliable brand.

So where do you go to get your games, especially used games, if you don’t want to just continue to feed into the corporate shell that is Gamestop?

Play N Trade is a new group of independent franchises appearing nationwide.

1) Play N Trade: never heard of this company? That’s not too surprising. They are relatively new, but Play N Trades are starting to pop-up all over the country. So what makes them any better than GameStop? Each store is an independent franchise and opposed to a corporate shell. What this means is the owners are given much more freedom when it comes to how they design the store, what they carry, and what specials and events they have. A couple of friends of mine just opened one in Phoenix, and the difference between this store and the local Gamestops is HUGE! They have 8 flat screen TVs with consoles hooked up for demoing games, a clean, open environment that encourages browsing titles, and a growing selection of retro games and consoles, something Gamestop refuses to carry. I even bought a Retro Duo there, which is a system that lets you play NES and SNES games. Now like any chain, there will be differences between stores, but if this is peeking your interest, check out http://playntrade.com and see if there is a store near you. If there is, check it out. You may just like what you find.

2) Local stores: Many larger cities have local games shops that either existed before GameStop and have still managed to hang in there or cater to a specific market, such as retro gamers. In Arizona, one such place is called Bookmans. Now Bookmans is more than just a video game shop: the chain deals in used books, movies, music, electronics, games….basically a little of just about everything. You can buy anything from a paperback novel to a 360 there (in fact, that is where I bought mine). The downside of a store like Bookmans is it only deals in used, which means you are not going to be able to buy the newest and biggest games there unless someone has traded it in. On the flipside, you can trade in anything they sell there for trade credit towards games, which is a VERY nice feature I have taken advantage of many times.

Bookmans is just one example of the kind of local stores you can find. Take a look at your local yellow pages or google video game stores in your area code. You may just find a store that is to your liking.

Sites like Amazon.com, Gamefly and ShopGoodwill.com can be great places to buy games.

3) Internet Sites: There are a ton of internet sites for gamers and game deals. Playswitch.com allows you to buy used games at a set price and sell your games as well. Since it eliminates the middle man when buying or selling games, you get better deals. Game HQ lets you buy or trade games for great deals. You can even consider joining Gamefly; not only do they rent games, they sell them to members at great discounts, and they give you even more discounts the longer you are a member. There’s also Ebay, Amazon, and a whole host of other internet sites that specialize in gaming and have great deals for people willing to search.

The Choice is Yours: I’m not here to tell you to never purchase anything from GameStop again. I can’t even say I never will. All I am trying to say is there are alternatives out there. If you are tired of the practices and attitude of the corporate giant, take a look around you. See if there is a local store you can frequent instead, or do a little research on the web and find a net based retailer you like. The choices are out there.

Gamestop has come to act as if it is the only game in town. Maybe it’s time we as gamers prove the company wrong.

============================ Another Take ================================

David Lange:

Ah yes the good old days of EB games and that coveted trip to the mall that would invariably find you there. I remember those days, when going to a game store was something you actually looked forward to with youthful glee. At least that’s what I’ll tell my children, when I reminisce about the golden age of retail gaming, because thanks to the soulless corporate zombie known as GameStop those joyous occasions are quickly being relegated to fond memories alone. “Son, when I was a boy, I would walk 7 miles through the snow to go to EB.” Today I wouldn’t go to GameStop if someone carried me on a cushioned pedestal. I exaggerate slightly. But not about the lack of joy, or the nostalgia of an era when your local game store was a veritable cornucopia of electronic euphoria (yeah, it was that good).

At the age of 25 (a genuine “old fart” in gaming years) I can speak to a new generation of 13-somethings whose only experience of retail gaming is an irritated sales clerk too busy unpacking a box to go get the Xbox 360 you’re trying to buy (oh wait that’s my experience). Really it isn’t all that bad, but it isn’t particularly good either, and that’s the point. It’s a sad state when a trip to the “game store” means logging onto Amazon.com, but I’d rather do that than go to an over-sized, understocked retailer.

So what changed? Lot’s of things I suppose, but the primary factor is the prevalence of industry giants such as Walmart and Best Buy. As corporations it makes good sense for them to avoid costly micro management of the multitude of product catagories they offer. Instead they focus on the mass market of the mainstream consumer. Jack of all trades and masters of none, as these commercial behemoths increase in size they swallow up various markets, smothering specialized retailers with name brand, mass marketed mediocrity. Each particular industry they absorb is marginalized and even stores such as GameStop that do “specialize” in one department still suffer from the corporate machine, cogs in which they are.

What EDG staffer Eric has done here with this feature is struck a blow for gamers everywhere, and I encourage everyone to look to alternative sources when trading and buying games. As hardcore gamers the video game community we belong to is a great thing that defines who we are. Every time we take the easy way out and buy from companies that don’t care about the individual gamer we contribute to the slow disappearance of this subculture. In the information age there are far better and more enjoyable ways to indulge in our beloved hobby, and going to the local “big box” stores is a lazy excuse we are all guilty taking. Over the next few weeks EverydayGamers.com will be featuring articles that look at unique opportunities to play and save. I hope we’ve got your attention because we’re just getting started.

Thomas Pine:

I couldn’t agree more with what Eric or David have stated. As a former employee of GameStop, I can sympathize with the underpaid minions who call GameStop their employer, but I have no compassion for the company because of what it has done to gaming. Yes, as Eric remarked, there is too much to cover in too little space, but all one needs to do is spend a little time inside one of these stores and the problems quickly become apparent. Fortunately, as the title of this article suggests, there are many other options available for gamers seeking games.

Sure you could bypass GameStop and go directly to the Best Buy or Walmart, but in essence you would be defeating the purpose. GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart – no matter the name they’re all the same monster. So, where should you go to buy your games? Most of the obvious answers have already been stated above, but allow me to rattle off a few of my top choices:

Amazon.com – Want to find a decent to great price on a game without having to wait through hours or even days of bidding? Amazon is one of your best choices. Not only do you have the option to buy games directly through Amazon, but you can also preorder upcoming titles, purchase accessories and hard to find gems, and shop various other sellers items. It’s like eBay without the bidding option. Like a game and the price? Then buy it from the seller. As an added bonus Amazon offers “deals of the day” and “gold box” deals, with both of these options giving you an increased savings over the msrp. Qualified orders also ship for free.

ShopGoodwill.com – This is a little known secret that I have been holding on to for a while. Most of you are familiar with the name Goodwill, but you probably associate it with “other peoples garbage”. Maybe that’s true, but remember the old saying – “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” I have to say that I was completely surprised when I stumbled upon this site. It a retro-gamers paradise, with games and systems ranging from as far back as the Atari to the more modern 360. Choose an item that you like and bid on it, if the bidding ends with you on top pay for the item and have it shipped. It’s a strait forward process with little hassle, but a big payoff.

Independently owned local game stores – Many names have been mentioned above, but these are going to vary from city to city. I have a few in my town that I frequent, and I’ve found that it pays to become friendly with the owners. Once you’ve built a rapport with these guys, you’ll find that they’ll keep an eye out for you if there is something that you are looking for in particular. Obviously they’re not always going to have as large a stock of games as the GameStops or Best Buys, but if you put in a request most likely they can obtain what you are looking for. In addition, you’re most likely going to be able to find harder to locate games and systems through these smaller guys, because the don’t have to go by a corporate standard of what they accept as trade-in items.

Kurt Roberts:

As a self professed budget gamer, meaning I don’t buy new releases at full price and more often than not buy used, I share the same memories of EB back in the day. (Remember free shipping and stackable coupons online that resulted in purchases that cost them more to ship than they would profit?) Without getting into a rant about Gamestop and their incessantly poor sales techniques bordering on harassment, or the insanely off balance employee structure where they either know nothing about gaming or think that they know everything and aren’t open to other viewpoints, I like others have turned to alternatives. In a small town where your only options are Wal-Mart, Circuit City, and Gamestop, I have found online resources to be the best.

Forums like those at Cheapassgamer.com or dvdtalk.com are great resources for current gaming deals, and if you visit frequently you might happen upon a very short lived sale or pricve mistake. Store ads are often posted weeks in advance, so knowing that a game you want will be $10 cheaper next week or come with a gift card is great. In the used market, half.com and ebay used to be decent, but recent policy updates and sellers dishonesty has turned me away. Amazons used markets and selling/trading subforums of the above mentioned sites are great peer-to-peer oppertunities. Gamefly often has free shipping sales with great prices, available to those who aren’t even on a rental plan with them. Patience pays off, other than a very few ‘must have’ new releases, I never pay more than $20 for a game.

Interview with Dylan Cuthbert of Q-Games

I had the wonderful opportunity of being able to ask Dylan a few questions about the series:

Everyday Gamers: In short, how did you get to where you are today?

Dylan Cuthbert: Blood, tears, sweat and a lot of work.

Did you plan from the beginning to release different types of games all under the PixelJunk name? What was your initial vision of what PixelJunk would become?

This is exactly what my vision of PixelJunk was – right from the start I planned to make it a brand for PSN games of a certain type, not casual and bland, but invigorating and interesting.  We don’t do anything the normal way, why copy when you can innovate?

What made you decide to focus strictly on the Playstation 3 console and PSN?

I have a long history with Sony and I like the way their console set its sights solidly on Full-HD/HDMI.  This was really important for the PixelJunk series.

How do you come up with a title as unique as PixelJunk Eden? Where do you start?

You keep trying and throwing out stuff that doesn’t work, then when you think you have it just right, you give it yet another long hard think over.  We were tuning stuff even right at the very end to get everything as exquisite as possible.

Why do you think PixelJunk Eden is a game that everyone should play?

Not just Eden, but the whole PixelJunk series – the games are considered hard but I want to try and encourage players to not be afraid of new things, otherwise everything ends up with the same controls and the same kind of scenarios.  Racers, Monsters and Eden all have some hard core elements in them – these hard core elements are where games originated from.  We’ve tried to wrap them up in a way that allows people who don’t necessarily play games to try them out and feel that “rush” we all used to feel in the era of video arcades. (70’s-80’s)

The more people feel that “rush”, the more they will search out games that give them unique experiences rather than just the “Hollywood blockbuster” type games the market is inundated with at the moment.

Any advice/tips on how to make the most of PJE?

Take it easy!  Learn the rhythm of the game…

Do you have any plans to release more gardens as DLC?

Most likely we do, but no comment as of yet.

How is the future looking for Q-Games and the PixelJunk franchise?

Right now, a day after the simultaneous worldwide release of Eden, it is looking pretty good!  It’ll be interesting to see what is happening around this time next year though.

…one last question, Will you become a fan of Everday Gamers on Facebook?

When I get the hang of Facebook I might just do that.

Stop back for my full review of PixelJunk Eden in the coming days.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

A few nights ago I completed the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 campaign mode with a friend. I was happy to see that they incorporated co-op into the actual campaign instead of just letting you play some levels together as it was in the first R6 Vegas. I knew that I wanted to play through this one with Kurt. Usually I choose to play games alone first and then play them cooperatively but I felt that it would be a great game to just go straight into co-op with. When we first started out I had no idea where the story was going. It was hard to follow and frankly I guess I just wasn’t that interested. The bits and pieces I did follow seemed lame, people were always getting killed or shot and it seemed like we didn’t really do anything constructive throughout the whole game. I’m not saying it wasn’t fun, I had a blast. Story lines aren’t really ever important for me anyways.

The game does have the word “Vegas” in the title but you will only see a casino maybe once or twice. The setting is more of a behind the scenes of Vegas. That was fine with me because I played through enough casinos in the first one. I really enjoyed the settings in Vegas 2. They took us through backyards, convention centers, and even a Vegas junkyard. These new places gave it a fresh feel. The controls felt great as they did in the first one. At first they may feel complicated but you will get the hang of them within the first few minutes and after a while you will really be happy with the way they are laid out. Kurt and I did encounter some random problems such as disk read errors and some freezing up but not enough to make us quit playing. I was excited to hear they were adding experience points to the single player campaign as well as the multiplayer modes. This gave me a reason to go back and play some more of the campaign even after I finished it. I have a habit of looking at the bottom of the screen to see how many more points I need to rank up. I’m always looking forward to unlocking new armor and guns.

After Kurt and I finished the campaign we jumped right into “Terrorist Hunt” mode. We’ve been working at the “complete every map on realistic difficulty” achievement for a few nights now and so far we’ve been having a great time with it. This is definitely a great way to hone your skills before going into some death matches over Xbox Live. It forces you to work as a team and try different techniques to get the job done. The only thing I didn’t like was that it felt like the terrorists were set to spawn only when you reached a certain point. Once you walked past that certain point or threw a grenade into it they would then react to you. A few times I swore nobody was around and then I would look a second later and 3 or more people would just be standing there. This made the terrorist hunt mode a lot more difficult, it forced you to come out into the open and search instead of waiting for them to come to you.

Vegas has a very high replay value and I don’t think I will be setting it down anytime soon. I highly suggest playing through the campaign with a friend. If you want to join Kurt and I for some terrorist hunting just send me a message over Live.