Extreme Gamers

It has been long that I have taken pen to paper to write directly to you about the world of games around us, and I am glad to do it now. When I speak of extreme gamers, I am not speaking of those kids that know the weights of all 150 (or is it more now?) pokemon. Nor do I speak of the little rich kids that own every game out. I am not even speaking about the gamers-with-nothing-else-to-do-at-all that play video games…all the time…far into the night. Nay, I am speaking of those gamers that will get up and rejoice at Lon Lon Ranch with the Kokiri when they beat OOT. These are the same gamers who will cry when the see Ganon's version of the future. Now, I've felt emotion in video games before. However, I have never been moved to tears. I believe I "felt" the most while playing Final Fantasy Tactics. (If you haven't played that game already, go out and find it.) Real things happen in that game. Main characters die, friendships are made and lost, but it is still all an assortment of data on a CD. When the attacks of September 11th hit, I even heard some gamers talking about how it reminded them of the falling of Ganon's Castle in OOT. I was shocked. A lot of crazy stuff was going through my mind, but none of those thoughts were about video games. I didn't see how the death of thousands of innocent lives could be compared to that. I'm not too sure I really understand extreme gamers. I'm not saying that I don't get all into the storyline like the rest of you. I mean, I could recite the entire history of the Warcraft Series off at any moment. (I've done it…it takes over half an hour of non-stop talking). I think one of the reasons I don't actually feel emotions is because the game makers never take a chance at anything. Square does. They'll kill off main characters, etc. But Nintendo, when was the last time someone you actually cared about died? I think I already talked about this in my "Zelda Should Die" article. Well, I'm done. I'm sure I'll get the hate mail for this one ^_^

~Daniel Rendleman