T.I.S.I. by The Blogists: Angry Birds Versus Art?

Sunday April 22, 2012

The game Angry Birds has found a new target to crash into and what it is may surprise you.

People have finally begun to notice a huge problem in the video game industry, and no it's not about the violence or sex that has dominated the market. Rather the issue here is the price tag of current generation games. Think of the biggest gap you can and it will only be a plumber crack in comparison with the gap between the one dollar it costs to play Angry Birds and the 60 dollar tag on the top selling game Modern Warfare 3.

This problem can possibly mean the collapse of the Playstation, Xbox and Wii as well as any next generation systems that are being planned, such as the Wii U. What does this mean? Well, basically you are going to need to learn how to aim a camera, shoot, and reload with no buttons, triggers or analogue sticks. Have fun with that Modern Warfare veterans. This also means saying goodbye to Master Chief, Mario, and basically every other great game that has been created on both Nintendo and Microsoft's systems because as they both stated, “We will sell our properties to Al-Qaeda ( Microsoft said the Devil) before we sell them to Apple.”

What can be done to save our precious game industry?

Stop acting like Angry Birds is that great: Yes its addicting and yes it only cost a dollar, but such is the case with a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's. Now try taking a first date to Wendy's with the excuse that its fun and cheap without getting smacked in your mouth. See the issue here? As entertaining as Angry Birds is it has no story, simple graphics and no multi-player. Simply put, how many of your friends look at your Ipad and are blown away by that fact that you killed 12 green pigs with a giant red pigeon? No one. Now imagine a world where the only thing available to eat is what can be found on the dollar menu atWendy's...thats exactly what is about to happen to the game industry. Accept the cheeseburger will be a colorful cast of suicidal birds.
Stop complaining about the price tag for console games: People have no problem paying 80 dollars to go to Six Flags to stand in lines for 6 hours to ride on roller coasters for a sum total of 6 minutes. People are spending 40 d0llars to take their whole family to movies on a Friday night for a 90 minute film. Games cost 60 dollars. Is that cheap, absolutely not, however the price is relative to the experience. In many cases you are getting for 60 dollars a game with great graphics and decent to excellent story telling depending on the content. Also you are buying Online multi-player which in some cases keeps people coming back for months if not years. To top it off you get to keep the game instead of just watching it for 2 hours and walking away with nothing more than a ticket stub. The same people complaining about the price of games are the same people spending 100 dollars a month for cable when all they watch are non cable television shows. Stop Complaining, could it be cheaper possibly, but its not and that doesn't stop you when it comes to any other form of entertainment.

Realize that we are going backwards. Games are art. They are an art form that is evolving and getting better every year. We are basically saying, by focusing more attention on Angry Birds then Uncharted, that we rather stare at stick figures than the Mona Lisa. Seriously, the games being released on iPad, Facebook, and Android markets are good, but we've played these games before back on Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. These games are not pushing the envelope and are a step backwards from games like Portal, Uncharted and Arkham City. Cave drawings are interesting, but I'd like to think that most people rather see a Pixar animated film. Should not this be the same with video games?

(The writer of this article does not promote the playing of games that are rated M or that are of a violent or sexual nature. Certain games are referenced simply because they are extremely popular or best sellers.)