Less Is More (Sometimes)

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Prowler and I sat down to watch a few movies that we caught on TV. This included the likes of Shanghai Noon and Rush Hour. (Who doesn't love classic Jackie Chan movies, right?) Something jumped out to me while watching these movies, though, that I had never really thought about before. These films had extremely basic concepts. Quite possibly the most basic of all time! Seriously, each movie starts with a kidnapping and the two protagonists start off at odds but slowly become unstoppable friends by the time the credits role. No one I know would sit there and argue these movies deserved Oscar nods or should be considered the greatest of all time. But I also find it incredibly difficult to find anyone out there who dislikes these movies.

So what's this got to do with video games, Prowler? I'm so glad you asked! It's quite simply the K.I.S.S. method. Keep it simple, stupid. I promise that is not me calling you, the reader, stupid. It's just emphasizing that at the end of the day, we can all take a step back and recognize that easy and simple ideas, stories, gameplay or really anything, can be the best solution. I started this blog talking about basic Jackie Chan movies and those movies use the K.I.S.S. method to absolute perfection. Back when those films were released, you knew going into the movie that you were going to get plenty of martial arts, great comedic moments and a happy ending for all characters. (Well at the very least, the good guys.) I think video games, developers and even gamers need to be reminded that simplicity can be the best path to success.

For example, some of my favorite games growing up barely had a story to follow. When I played my first Sonic game, all I knew was head to the right side of the screen, try not to die along the way and look for the goal post or boss to beat up to conclude the level. Obviously, that's a crazy oversimplification of what the Genesis Sonic games were but look at the bumps in the road the franchise has had since then. Another example is Super Mario 64, a game that is considered by some to be the greatest platformer of all time. How many cutscenes do you recall in that game? How much dialog did Mario have from beginning to end? (Other than the goated "It's a me, Mario!" line of course!) The gameplay, the levels, the enemies, the replay ability, etc. were all the reasons this game is still beloved to this day. Unlike Sonic, Nintendo has managed to keep the Mario franchise rolling along while adding things like dialog and cutscenes to the formula. (Don't stress Sonic fans, I'm still picking the blue blur for my favorite franchise!)

Now don't get this twisted by assuming I think games need to have zero story, dialogs or cutscenes in order to be considered good or great. Like I said before, no one would pick Shanghai Noon or Rush Hour to win an Oscar, just like I find it extremely hard to believe I'll ever see a Sonic game win game of the year. There are hundreds, if not thousands of examples of games that pull off masterful storytelling to compliment incredible gameplay and character development. The last of us is one of those games where I actually consider the story alone that makes it a masterpiece. However, somewhere along the way, I believe developers have forgotten the happy medium to create really special games.

These days we're constantly bombarded with statistics about game sales, company revenue and even concurrent player counts. Caught up in that bloated mess, are teams and employees who have fantastic creative visions. Who grew up imagining incredible worlds to share with all of us through the power of game designing and development. Who now, unfortunately have insane deadlines to meet while being told they're millions of dollars over budget and will have to push unfinished, grind fest slop out the door, just to be able to collect a paycheck. Let me be abundantly clear: I do not blame or hold this against the majority of game developers or their teams. I blame the CEO's, the shareholders and the money hungry clowns who look at franchises like assassin's creed, mass effect or dragon age and only see dollar bills instead of the games that defined genres and made players celebrate the latest release. We are in desperate need of a correction where developers and teams have the freedom to take risks with new games. Give me brand new characters or worlds to explore! Give me new styles of gameplay that breaks the barrier on tried and true game tropes! Give me games that don't require a budget of 300 million to make me feel the passion and joy someone put into a character or setting that made me fall in love with video games in the first place. I know money talks and I'm not ignorant enough to realize this isn't an easy fix. But at the end of the day, I'm gonna sit down and watch a Jackie Chan movie that I know I'll enjoy rather than some bloated pretentious Oscar winning film that insists upon itself. I think the gaming world could benefit from doing the same once in a while.

How do you feel about video games today? Agree with me or is gaming better than ever before? Let me know!

Is Super Mario 64 one of your favorite games?