Description:

If the title made you think this is about VGN, you might get away without disappointment. 
If, to you, that implies a mixture of false sense of security and uncritical misinformation on the subject, that might still hold true. 
If you have other expectations, here's to them!

​

F/ Gaming

If called myself a gamer, I could go on to list my achievements, my records, my hours on record. If it's disappointing to you that I am doing neither of these things, here's to you! A credit to our race.

What I can say is this: I spent more time in a non-competitive, non-cooperative online multiplayer than in many single-player games. 
What I have to show for is a credit card bill that looks very healthy. It could also be said that my sofa didn't fare so well. 

I do not know where the expression "fun & games" comes from - but to think it's anything to do with the video game landscape of late, well, 
the terms "ludicrous" and "fucking nuts" are more appropriate. You might even want to call in a doctor. May he or she or they unshift realities. 

Even though I never liked football, or soccer to you, it's a genre I'd been a good chunk of time on:
At times, in what could be described as an influential series that many drew information and inspiration from, for some to extent of ruining careers
and relationships. At other times, in what is best described as serialised greed with marginal technical advancement. 
It could be said both were released before video games went to shit. You could lie about the matter, and tell yourself what you want to hear. 
If you feel I am letting you down on that front, that sure sounds like a you-problem to me. I have neither indication of what you'd want to hear, 
sufficient information is key to a good, sustaining lie, nor can I make any claim as to when it all went down the drain. 

Suffice it to say, however, the outlook does not look good. It's looking worse, too. 

It's not like in the good old days, where you do a thing in a game and tell a bunch of people about it. And have your name eternalised in a book 
that sounds better than a regular old beer. Records in the making. 
There were also times when you could look like you didn't give a fuck, and play games like you did. Appreciation and respect abound, out of bounds, too. 
That was before we had camera's everywhere. Our phones, our doors, our toasters and we could go to work without our vacuum telling us they have an issue.
Simpler times, maybe. Better times, like fuck. Fun & games weren't necessarily mutually exclusive. There wasn't sufficient money in it. 

I once read that one of the differences between Indie- and Major record labels was the level of honesty they displayed when it came to fucking you over, 
you the artist, and/or you the consumer. Whenever there was room for profit, there was room for exploit. The two went hand in hand. 
That's called good business. Not saying it's good business. For most involved it's not. But that never mattered. 

The more people got involved, the more it got out of hand. And then the tables turned, except they didn't. 
Poor artists had to go through all kinds of motions - at last one thing they wanted. Needed. Didn't. But did so anyways. 
Some things are done, not to pay rent or off the mortgage, but for the mere fuck of it. Nothing else matters, they said. 
Sometimes there's truth in things said. If you look close enough - in all the wrong places. 
I wholeheartedly suggest you don't bet your whole existence on it, this isn't about imaginary assets. It's about bread and butter. 
How boring... 

Gimme sugar-coated sweeteners and cheap thrills. I want to spent my top-dollar on it. If I price it up, to ruinous heights the castle of air
offers improved ROI. Le roi c'est moi. At least in my own head, and my fancy castle. 

There aren't any ways they can take that from us. Not yet. 

Maybe they don't have the need to - as long as they can make you pay for it you're happy. Satisfied. Content. Fulfilled, unfulfilled - ach, who cares...

The old shit's the new to norm. The new shit, yesterday's garbage. Recycled, re-invented, refined. Re-sold. 
Better margins. Better benefits. And the gamers? Still throwing fits. In a lonely room. On a sad little chair. Screaming & shouting, as if it were still Day 1.

Maybe one day they'll learn. Maybe another day they'll grow out of it. Maybe. They'll turn 'round and say "fuck free-will" it's overrated, overpriced.
I can go for another day without it. There's worse suffering than from its withdrawal. Cheaper on the soul. Throw money at it. 

There's always more where it came from. There's always more - especially in the absence of it. 
Moneying and nothinghavingness. 'twas not a French guy who wrote that...

There's about 20 cents on the dollar that splits the two. 

These things are always the same. Names and places change. Hands, too.

My best guess is, once you pay for gaming (not the game itself) it's not fun anymore. 
We all hate loosing. Especially, money, most hate loosing when that's at stake. Fuck pride, fuck participation, fuck silver medals, fuck, well, you read the title... 

I am sure if you look hard enough you'll find someone to screw you sideways, and any other ways you want, for an agreed price. 

If you are looking to get that same pleasure out of video games - I am sure you can. The agreed price, that's another story. An endless one. 

If you are looking for fun in video games, well, good chance you have to look real hard (meaning: it only costs you time - not money).
Get your priorities straightened out while your on the look out... Also, good hunting!!!