GAMES
Do we loo
k
THE
LOVE
AFFAIR
By Pippa Tshabalala Photo: Mike Joubert
Gamers are a funny breed, and their relationship with their games is in many ways akin
to a love affair, something a non-gamer will
never truly understand. They are passionate
about so many things, often to the point of
blindness when hearing anything negative
about their gaming obsession. And yet, they
will point out flaws in another game in an
effort to justify why their fixation is somehow
more acceptable.
“You play COD? Why would you, BF3 is way
better!”
“PES? FIFA is by far the better game!”
Even though we know it ultimately comes
down to personal preference, I can’t even
distance myself from this argument – I
am completely and utterly obsessed with
a handful of franchises, and even though
objectively I might be able to look at certain
games and admit that a specific feature
isn’t that good, I’ll defend it against critics
regardless.
I think all gamers have that game.
Whether it’s Skyrim, GTA, FIFA, COD – if
you put enough hours into it, ultimately you
become emotionally attached not just to the
characters, but to the construction of the
game itself. You know every nuance of the
controller without having to look, as well as
every flaw, but you love it anyway because in
your eyes it’s perfect.
IF YOU PUT ENOUGH HOURS INTO IT,
ULTIMATELY YOU BECOME EMOTIONALLY
ATTACHED.
You remember the first time you were introduced. Perhaps it was given to you as a gift,
a blind date so to speak, or perhaps you
went out with the intention to make it yours.
Either way you didn’t know each other very
well to begin with, but ultimately you began
to find common ground. You discovered
your game’s strengths, its weaknesses. You
sat back and watched its cinematics in awe,
you got involved in the story and perhaps
even made up your own as you lived and
breathed the universe. You put hours of love
and effort into your relationship, building
up your strongholds, strengthening them,
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.
discussing tactics, collecting items. You built
a life together.
Then along comes the a**hole
who dares to point out
that your love actually
hasn’t really aged so
well. They don’t look
as sleek as they used
to, they don’t move
quite so nimbly as
they once did. How
dare they? How
dare they point out
the flaws you knew
existed but didn’t
care about because
there was something
that just drew you to
that game, something
intangible that grabbed
your heart and kept you
coming back for more.
Sure there’s a more recent
model, but does that newer,
shinier model really understand you as well?
You know that one
day you’ll retire your
favourite game. It will
become the game you
reminisce about while
playing whatever the
latest and greatest
title is right now. Perhaps one day you’ll put
it back in the machine
and will be faced with
one of two reactions that
both boil down to one
thing – rose-tinted glasses.
Either they’ll have been
removed and you’ll face the
crushing realisation that the
game you once loved is no
longer as young as it once was,
and you’ll discard it, disappointed that it didn’t live up to your
memories. Or you’ll see the flaws,
recognize that it was cutting edge
at its peak, and love it even more
because of the experiences you
had together.
I sincerely hope it’s the latter.
October 2013 | TechSmart