The Other Kind of Football Game

   I know what you're thinking. This is going to be another inflammatory post about how one sport's video game is "better" than the other. However, I'm not here to shove my ideals down your throat. What I am here to do is lay down some simple facts and let you make your own decisions. Let's get down to business, shall we?

   We all know what the most popular sports game franchise in. I dare you to find someone who hasn't played Madden football at least once. Almost every family in our nation watches football, so you'd obviously expect that almost every family has at least played Madden football at least once. However, as popular as the series is, I don't think that it deserves the amount of praise it garners. There is another EA game, however, that does.

   The FIFA series I think has been the most underrated sports series EA has put out. It seems like whenever someone brings up sports games put out by EA, FIFA always seems to be left out. I can understand that the sport isn't as popular as it is in other countries, but I think too many people are being shallow about giving the game a shot. It's almost laughable, because FIFA requires much less memorization of inputs, but rather focuses more on strategies to score.

   I think it's that difference that really sets FIFA apart from Madden. Despite Madden's popularity, it's a very difficult game to learn. Sure, most people in the USA know the rules of the game and how it works, but the play calling is very hard to get a hold of unless you've played the sport yourself. You have to remember formations, what each formation does, and plan routes for each and every play. Do you realize how many button combinations and inputs that requires? It's ridiculous.

   FIFA however only requires one thing: on-the-fly planning. All you need to know is how to run, how to pass, how to shoot, and how to tackle. Once you've got those down, you get a solid grasp of the rules and penalties of the game, and the fun shortly follows. Don't believe me? Ask my friend JR. He has never played a soccer game in his life, nor has he watched soccer all that much. However, after two weeks under my wing, he's very solid competition for me. I have played Madden for years, and I still don't have a total grasp of everything you can do in that game.

   Also, this simplification doesn't hurt FIFA in the slightest with regards to fun. I have a huge blast with FIFA, as the intensity of trying to score a goal with tons of defenders swarming on you is not only strenuous, but very challenging. When you actually succeed in scoring under these odds, the reward is just fantastic. In fact, I've found myself actually getting out of my chair screaming "GOALLLLLLLLL!" at the top of my lungs.

   However, please don't get the wrong impression out of this post. The Madden series is a fine series of sports games. I really love how they have captured the spirit of American football. However, I don't understand why such a convoluted game manages to garner so much popularity when there is a much easier and much more enjoyable game created by the same publisher. I don't care how popular football is in the USA, because when you have a game with tons of convoluted controls, I think all the fun of virtually playing the sport goes down the drain.

Do they suck your heart out too?

Warning: If you are a die-hard Twilight fan or fan of vampire romance stories, you may be offended. Just thought I would give you all a heads up so I don't have to hear less-than-intelligent fangirl/(God forbid) fanboy complaints.

Ahh, the Twilight movies. Ever since the very first installment, prepubescent girls scream their little hearts out at the sight of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner like little twits. Let's face it, these movies are just an excuse to have two typical well-built guys parade in front of a screen just to make girls squeal(which in my opinion almost seems like reverse pedophilia, but I digress.) However, I've noticed more than just the shallowness of these movies...it seems as if though a somewhat hidden stereotype existss among females. Apparently, many women seem to be attracted to these blood-sucking pretty boys.

When I was working with my friend as a volunteer at a store centered around helping abused women, him and I were in charge of sorting books in their collection. As we went through the donated books, we saw a copy of Twilight(just a note here, I have the utmost respect for these books. It's the movies I have a problem with). We both laughed at the reminder of the terrible movie, and he said that the whole vampire craze is a little out of hand, especially the romantic side to this craze. Apparently, a girl he knew was addicted to this craze, and for the remainder of the time we spent working, we were trying to figure out why women are so attracted to these mythical creatures. This is what we came up with.

The first major thing we noticed was the new portrayal of vampires that would make Dracula cringe. Instead of looking like evil, powerful beings, they just look like buff pretty boys. Sometimes there does exist just a pretty boy vampire, such as the ones in A Little Less Sixteen Candles music video by Fall Out Boy. Regardless, our culture has bent the identities of these beasts into tools to appease women.

The next big thing we came to isn't so much a current thing, but still appealing to women nonetheless. That would be the immortal qualities of a vampire and their ability to turn others. In many of these romance-themed vampire stories(Twilight for example), the vampire becomes attracted to a human. Despite the fact that this vampire most likely wants to munch on the girl like a chew toy, their love overcomes this violence and they become inseparable. However, there is still another obstacle: death. In order for these two to be together forever, the vampire usually ends up turning the human girl into a vampire so they can live a happy nocturnal life of love, murder, and indulging in blood. Sounds so romantic, doesn't it? Apparently, girls actually think so. These love stories appeal so much to a woman's sensitive and emotionally attached nature that they think getting bit in the neck to be with your true love is like marriage, but more bloody and long-lasting.

Granted, there is a whole slew of other things I could talk about with these fantasies that I could go on with, but I don't want to bore you all anymore than I have to. So instead of simply telling you more reasons, I have a much more important task at hand. Showing you all why these vampire fanatics need a slap to the face and psychiatric evaluation.

Let's start with the basics. I'm sure you all know the basic premise of vampirism. They can only come out at night(Stephanie Meyer decided to take a creative liberty with that one), they drink blood for nourishment, they can turn into bats, and they're usually incredibly pale. Now that we got clear, here's a question for you all: What the hell is so appealing about this? I've been told by women I'm not very attractive, yet good looking pale guys with crazy hair are apparently the sexiest guys alive. Call me crazy, but something doesn't seem right here.

So, maybe women may have a different set of things they look for in a guy with regards to beauty. I guess I can respect that. However, how do you explain you want a blood-sucking serial killer to be your boyfriend? Nerdy kids and outcasts are made fun of all the time, yet blood-thirsty killers are awesome. Last time I checked, killers usually instill fear, not romance.Seriously, I think there must be something I'm missing. Maybe I need to be instituted? Who knows.

The last and final problem I have with this fantasy is the fact that women want to live forever with these killers. I understand this is basically like marriage, so you may be wondering where I'm trying to go with this. Let's say that this partnership is actually strong(a rarity in society today) and the bloodlust-ridden couple both love each other very much. They both rarely fight, and they have little to no problems. However, you expect me to believe that they're going to be willing to watch everything they once held dear either disappear or die? I don't care how happy your marriage is, not being able to form a bond with someone other than your partner because you know a majority of the others will die could quite possibly be one of the most depressing existences I could ever think of.

So, that whole vampire romance doesn't seem so awesome now does it? It's unfortunate that the trend won't die anytime soon. As long as women are sensitive and attracted to good-looking guys, our society created a seemingly immortal beast that won't die.

Who thought mining was so much fun?

   I already know what you're thinking. Mining in a video game has to be one of the worst ideas ever right? We all remember what Runescape was like. Sitting there for ages doing nothing but clicking a rock could possibly be a better alternative than listening to a Glee album on repeat. However, I not only found a game that gets mining right, but also uses it to make one of the best video games I have ever played. That game is Minecraft

   I'm pretty sure many of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. It's understandable, I would have never found out for the game if one of the people I subscribe to on YouTube didn't do a video series about it(The one and only SeaNanners). I immediately assumed it would be a somewhat shallow game being that it's not only independently produced, but also had terrible graphics. However, when I tried the game for the first time, I was hooked.

   After all this introduction, you probably want to know what the game is about right? Well, I wish I could answer that question myself. The free version just places you on a massive island and allows you to place blocks of all sorts of different materials to build things. You have everything from stone to sand, and also some multicolored blocks that are dyed. You can also build things(or destroy things) with other people as well! The free version was entertaining, but I became kind of shallow due to the lack of possibilties. That's when I found out there was a premium version.

   The premium version of the game is what really got me hooked. When you put down the 10 euros ($14 USD, the guy operates in Sweden), you get a WHOLE lot more to do. Also, the premise of the game is completely changed. The game basically assumes a story that you're supposed to be a castaway on an island. You can dig into different materials to create things such as axes, boxes, and all sorts of things. These all become crucial to your one major goal: Survive.

   The island is incredibly peaceful when the sun is up, but when the sun goes down...well, I just hope you're not afraid of things that go bump in the night. All these crazy monsters come out of nowhere looking to make your life a living hell. If you build yourself a shelter, you will be completely safe from these zombies. As great as this sounds, I found myself running for my dear life from all sorts of creepy-crawlies trying to kill me.

   I think this is where the game really shines. The atmosphere the game creates draws you into the game like a magnet. After creating all your fantastic things, you wouldn't want to lose them due to death after all the hard work you put in. When you're life is almost zero, the lingering threat of death becomes a constant reminder that the last ten minutes you spent building everything will be for nothing. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something. These monsters can blow your shelter up while making creepy noises.

   I really wish there was just some way I could show you all the experiences I've had with this game. There's been many times while trying to fix my house at night, an exploding monster snuck up behind me, moaned, and then BOOM! My house was in shambles. How could I forget the addictive nature of combining random things in hopes of making something to survive and actually come up with something completely different? With all the fantastic experiences and addictive design of this game, I can highly recommend it to anyone bored for 14 dollars. However, I feel as if though I should warn you all before hand about the one bad side-effect of this game: you may have a fear of exploding things should you go outside at night.

(For those of you interested, here's the website to help get your addiction started: http://www.minecraft.net/ )

Cars, and fireballs, and arrows! Oh my!

   And so the rants begin. Here's to a hopefully successful blog! Now that I got a proper introduction out of the way, time to get to the real meat of things.

   As a teenager, my weekends tend to be quite hectic. I rarely spend any time at home anymore. A majority of it is spent either bowling, doing homework, spending time with family, going to church, or meeting up with friends. It seems with all these activities, however, I seem to have developed habits with all of them. I rarely do my homework, I constantly wonder how I'm still sane when half of my family is almost insane, I feel guilty in church, and a majority of the times I meet up with friends, I go to Gameworks.

   Gameworks, for those of you who may not know, is a restaurant, arcade, and bar all combined in one. I like to call it a restaurcadebar. Granted, my friends and I mainly go for the games, the place has fantastic food. Don't ask me about the alcohol, however. I think if I asked someone how their drink was, I'd just get a bunch of mumbles. Regardless, the main focus of Gameworks is for the games

   These games range from a whole variety of things that seem to attract me and my friends. Shoot zombies and save the world, shoot terrorists and save the world, pretend that you're a street racers, or just beat someone down to a pulp. With all these cliche thrills, how could one stay away? However, these thrills aren't the only reason me and my friends go.

   On the weekends, Gameworks tends to be filled with the diehard fans of games(including my friends and myself). We all have our game of choice we love to beat others at. However, when seeing these people demonstrate their skills, an important question arises in my mind. A good majority of these games that people become incredibly adept at have home versions in some form or another. Instead of paying $1 or $2 a time for these games, these people could just pay one flat price and play the game whenever they desired. However, Gameworks still seems to suck in customers all the time, with me being a victim of the same question I ask myself.

 My personal game of choice is Street Fighter IV. I've played it somewhat competitively, and I enjoy the game greatly. I wouldn't say I'm the absolute best, but I can hold my own against very tough opponents. I own both the original and Super Street Fighter IV at home, and I play both somewhat regularly on my Xbox over the internet. I play opponents that range from all sorts of skill levels, and I get my fix of human interaction. However, I still put tons of money into the machine at Gameworks. Until the today, I really couldn't figure out why I still play the game.

   I had an incredibly close match today with two guys I found playing the machine. I ended up coming out on top by the skin of my teeth, but a win is a win. While I was thanking my opponent for a great match, it finally clicked in my head why I keep coming back. When I play these close matches online, I never get a chance to not only see the reactions of my opponent, but I also never get a chance to really interact with them after the match. They just vanish, anxiously searching for their next opponent to keep them amused. However, when I play on arcade machines against people I can interact with in person, it almost feels as I'm playing the game in a new dimension. I not only see the face and appearance of who I'm fighting, but I can also have a nice and casual talk after the game with them. Also, the real hook of the fighting, there are other to see you and interact as well

   Everyone strives to be well liked by others and the support and reactions you gain from a crowd completely outweigh that of a simple little YouTube comment on a replay of your match or a "Good game" message over Xbox Live. Once you play in person, you can feel the tension of the match as you feel the stares of the onlookers, watching your every move for their entertainment. It's hard to really give a tangible description to the sensations my opponents and I feel, but you get the general idea. If not, give it a try for yourself. You'll soon find out why people like me constantly return to Gameworks to play a game a majority of the people there already own.

   However, this isn't the only reason why people keep coming back. There are certain games at Gameworks which provide cards that save your game data. One such example is Maximum Tune 3. You can buy a card which saves all of your race data, as well as your car. Every time you win a race in Story Mode, you get the ability to upgrade your car, leading to an addictive process of making your car faster and more maneuverable with every race. You may be asking yourself though, "Danny, why would you spend so much money on a game just for one really fast car to use? It seems pointless to invest so much money into one game just so you have a high performance car to use." The simplest way to answer that would be to achieve an emotional high.

   Just like Street Fighter, you can compete with other people. In Maximum Tune, you and 3 others can race against each other on the highways to see who has the fastest car. This again, creates a complex that a majority of the diehard fans have. They want to have that emotional high where they feel respected and feared by the others in the building. They want to develop a reputation for themselves and garner the respect of others while basking in the tensions provided by the game for thrill. This desire for an emotional high creates a habit of investing money into illusions of thrill, excitement, and respect. And coming from personal experience, it's a shockingly successful formula.

   I know not everyone has the same mind that I do, but keep this in mind next time you find yourself asking why people waste so much money on these arcade games. The frivolity of these games begins to appear not so frivolous once you realize the benefits of the game. I may have fallen into this trap of playing games for an emotional high, but the trap just hurts so good.