A Whole New World, a New Fantastic Point of View

Just 3 weeks ago I was the type of gamer who denied he was any such thing. People would ask me about video games and I'd spout off half-knowledge, not wanting to appear to know too much about something so seemingly unimportant. Friends would come over and I'd turn off the video games unless I knew they were "cool." While my hippie friends would decry Call of Duty World at War as contributing to some systemic conditioning of the masses to war and violence, I would subtly bring them into the fold, nodding in agreement to the game's harmful effects on me while I inserted LittleBigPlanet. Soon they were slapping my sackboy around with such sadistic enjoyment as I'd never seen by anyone in Call of Duty.

I began to realize that video gaming appealed to many more people than I thought. There's something for anyone. The historian and I may dispute the accuracy of the newest Call of Duty title, or the plausibility of a future such as EndWar predicts. The athlete may marvel at Mirrors Edge, the pilot tries his skill in the digital cockpit in HAWX, and the person who fancies themself a problem solver is tested by Portal 2.

Video game companies are broadening their appeal, there's no doubt about that. Perhaps spearheaded by Nintendo and their Wii, we're going to be seeing an egalitarian shift by companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo in order to sell more copies. What will be the breaking point though? Will a person who buys a will simply for Wii Fit and a healthier lifestyle be considered a "gamer"? Or the army private who trains with Call of Duty, will he be considered as such? This broadening of video games is what partly makes the industry so exciting to watch, and I see it being the norm for the next several years.

(Author's Note: Yes, the title of this blog is from Disney's Aladdin...it seemed appropriate.)

My views on some of this holiday's biggest titles

This holiday season is packed with huge titles for the PS3 and 360. Most of them are out, or will be out in the next couple days, in preparation for the Christmas shopping season. I've happened to play a few; I rented some, bought others, and here are some of my rulings:

LittleBigPlanet: A very fun, creative, cute game. I feel like I could let my little nephew play and feel comfortable that he'd enjoy it, if not only for the little SackBoys. A huge level of creative input from the player goes a long way. I've really enjoyed playing online, it's loads better than playing along.

EndWar: I was actually pretty disappointed on this one. I was looking forward to it probably more than any other, too. RTSs simply are a stagnant type of game these days. There needs to be a genuine breakthrough either in graphics or in handling of units. Simplicity will not do.

Call of Duty World at War: Waiting for this one in the mail today. Reviews are mild, but I'm itching for another CoD online experience, I've drained out of Modern Warfare every last drop of ingenuity.

Mirrors Edge: I played the demo for this one. Definitely innovative, but I would never buy it. Wasn't expecting too much from it in the first place, reviewers seem to justify that.

Gears of War 2: Pretty good, but not really my style. I knew that going in though, so I'm overly biased on this one.

All in all, I'm rather disappointed with the lineup I was so very excited for just 2 months ago. There may be a saving grace in next years picks though:

Half Life Episode 3
HAWX
Portal 2
Sims 3
Halo 3 Recon