“Stop! You’re Enjoying The Game Wrong!”

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed many different hobbies, and have also explored the online communities attached to each one. No matter how welcoming and friendly some of these communities are, there always seems to be a small subset of these groups that take offense at the way others enjoy said hobbies. Perhaps I will cover some of those other ones in the future, but today, we will look at gaming, and how some of us are having fun wrong.

The first one we’ll talk about is a subject I already brought up in a video, aspect ratio. Someone will share a screenshot of a game they really enjoyed, and instead of having a conversation about said game, you’ll get a bunch of nimrods whining about how the screen is stretched. Who the hell cares? It’s not like this person is coming into your home and forcing 16:9 on all your old game systems. Also, there are many people out there that don’t like wasted space on their TVs or handhelds, and would rather stretch the image than have nothing on the sides. ‘It’s not empty space, they’re black bars!’ While technically you are right, they essentially create empty space. It’s also a weird thing to get upset about.

Another topic that is somewhat related to aspect ratio is modern displays and CRTs. Someone will ask what the best way is to hook up a retro system to a flat screen TV, and their response is, ‘best way is to get a CRT.’ Great job completely ignoring the question, shit for brains. Believe it or not, when people ask how to hook something up to a modern display……..wait for it……..IT’S BECAUSE THEY WANT TO KNOW HOW TO HOOK SOMETHING UP TO A MODERN DISPLAY! Some of us don’t want to deal with those old bulky TVs, but still want to enjoy original hardware.

Some gamers take issue with others using emulation to play their favorite retro titles. While playing a game on its original hardware is great, there is nothing wrong with using an emulator. And this isn’t 2002 anymore. Emulation has come a long way. Sure, it may not be perfect and some games or systems still don’t function properly, but most of the games that people want to play run just fine.

There are others that have an issue with save states, and don’t consider a game beaten if someone else has used them. Why not? If someone is able to complete a section of the game, why make them go all the way back to the beginning if they lose all their lives? The person still played through the entire game, and no matter how often you save, you still need to use skill to advance. It definitely isn’t the same amount of skill as someone playing through the whole game in one sitting, but some skill still has to be utilized.

Now I understand if it’s some kind of speedrun or if they’re going for some official world record because those are based on mastering every aspect of the game. But if it is just someone that wants to play through the game and have fun, why does it matter?

Let’s transfer the logic of this to some real-life scenarios. Let’s say you’re watching your favorite football team. The running back scores a touchdown from 3 yards out, and hands the ball to the referee. The ref then hands the ball right back to the player and informs him that his touchdown didn’t count because he didn’t do it all in one perfect 99 yard run. Sounds fucking ridiculous, right? Well, that’s kind of what the Anti-Save State Alliance sounds like.

Or how about a real-world scenario? Like if I stock something incorrectly at work, my boss doesn’t come into my aisle, pull everything that I stocked off the shelf, and make me do the whole aisle all over again. They ask me to fix the item in question before moving on to the next task. Like any normal sane person would.

I know an argument I often hear regarding video games is that you should play the game the way it was originally intended. You do realize that unless you are playing some old PC game made by a teenager in his bedroom, or a small indie project, that no game releases the way it was originally intended. There are so many hands in the pot diluting the recipe that it’s virtually impossible to release something that way. Plus there are hardware limitations and deadlines to factor in as well. The way it was originally released would be a more accurate term. But wait, these games would generally release in Japan first, and have various changes including difficulty adjustment and the removal of continues, passwords, and religious imagery. So, you’re playing that version, right? Right?

While I do understand the sentiment about ‘original intent’ to a degree, that mindset gets completely shot down when you think about official emulators and compilations. Most of them implement some kind of save state functionality. It’s funny how some people are so deadset on savestates being wrong, and game companies are like, “Here! Save as often as you want!” Now who do you think I am going to side with? Some NPC on the internet that can’t handle other people not playing the game their way, or the company that actually made the game? I know who I’m siding with. Plus many developers probably would have loved to implement some kind of save feature to their games, but the company they worked for didn’t want to pay to add save batteries. Remember, cartridge production was expensive, and game companies would often do whatever they could to keep those costs down.

Also keep in mind that creative people are not always right. Remember how Metallica thought St. Anger was a great album, or how George Lucas thought he was upgrading the original trilogy? Why do you think ROM hacking became a thing? Because the original intent was flawed and some dedicated fans saw the potential for improvement. It’s also worth mentioning that not all art is good. If you need further proof, just check out my music here.

Another issue some people have is when others play games in Easy Mode. Again, how does someone else playing on a lower difficulty affect you? ‘Git gud’ isn’t an option for everyone as some of us just don’t possess that level of skill, no matter how much we try. While it can feel rewarding to some gamers to play a section over and over until they can overcome that difficult part, for the rest of us, it feels like work. Stressful, tedious work. There’s not really a sense of accomplishment, it’s more like relief. Easy Mode lets more people enjoy the game, and if one finds that it makes things a bit too easy, they can always bump up the difficulty until it feels just right.

I swear, if some gamers had their way, they would require people to get a ‘Retro Gamer’s license’ before being allowed to play any old software. The funny thing is that they would probably fail the test as well. You can’t pick and choose what aspects of retro gaming are ‘proper’, and which ones can be changed. That’s not how real OGs roll.

So be sure to;

• Only play on unmodded consoles. Enjoy your TurboGrafx-16 in glorious RF!
• You must sit on the floor with the console right next to you.
• Only use TVs that were available when the game released. Using a 1999 Trinitron to play a 1989 game is inauthentic!
• No modern wireless controllers! You must use crappy infrared controllers from that era if you hate being tethered to the console.
• If you get stuck in your game, you betta hope a friend knows how to get past it, or you have the issue of Nintendo Power laying around with the info you need. Otherwise you will need to dial that rotary phone and call the Nintendo hotline for $1.50 per minute. Your mom will love that!
• No watching live streams or listening to podcasts on your phone, tablet, PC, or any other device while gaming. People only had 1 TV in the room back in the day. You can however use a stereo or boombox to rock some tunes while playing. But you have to use era-appropriate CDs or cassettes, or listen to a radio station that only plays classic music.
• No Everdrives or ODEs either. You have to use the real cartridge or disc.

Oh, hey! Where are you going? I thought you were a real gamer. Come baaaaack!