Happy Birthday to ... well ... me

I have to admit that I missed it. It wasn't on my calender to be honest and then the end of October came and went with me doing other things. Anyway, my brother pointed out that it was the anniversary date for the creation of the cynical gamer. My on again off again blog has reached 12 months old. I must admit that I didn't think cynical gamer would be around that long. It started as a spur of the moment thing in complete frustration with parts of the gaming industry and has been maintained by continued frustration with the gaming industry and the machine which supports it.

I have been a gamer my entire life, which started with the Atari 2600 and has continued through various different computer and console systems (long live the Commodore 64 and the Amiga). It is good that a forum such as cynical gamer can exist where people can criticise an industry which is massive. Without the criticism we would just be "yes men" slaves to the products we purchase. I wouldn't not even begin to consider that cynical gamer makes any type of difference (as I don't believe a lot of people read it), but it is good to let off some steam about an industry which we are all so passionate about. You don't have to be a game creator or Game reviewer to be passionate about an industry. Gaming is unlike any other form of entertainment. For the time that you are playing the game you are the hero or you are the villain. If you watch a television show, movie or read a book you are nothing but a passive observer in someone else's adventure. In gaming you live the adventure. You make that character a part of your life and it is for that reason that the gaming community and the gaming experience differs from any other form of entertainment. It is also the reason why people should be passionate and opinionated about what they purchase. They are not making a two hour investment of their time in a game, it could be time spent playing over a number of years. There is nothing else out there like it. Nothing else where you can live and participate in the story.

Next month we will be getting an Xbox 360. It will be an opportunity to pick up a console controller again. While I have an Xbox I haven't played a lot of current Xbox games. Unfortunately consoles don't age well. They are stuck in the time warp in which they are created. While PCs go on advancing the poor console is stuck with the components in which it was purchased. Unfortunately, console games to me just can't keep the graphical pace of PC games. They qucickly become dated and the casual gamers lifestyle piece. PC gaming is where hard core gamers spend their spare time.

Anyway, thanks to those readers who have stuck with the cynical gamer over the last twelve months and to those who are just new to this blog. I look forward to giving you some more cynicism in the future.