For all you video gamers out there...

In the last twenty years or so, I've accomplished the following: won a Nascar championship, won the Stanley Cup (more times than I can count), saved Gotham City, helped the Ninja Turtles protect NYC and the space-time-continuum, blew up the Death Star, fought alongside Predators to prevent an invasion by Aliens, saved entire planets from complete destruction, teamed with the X-Men to whup on Magneto, Apocalypse, and Dr. Doom, became a part of the Legend of Zelda, and various other exploits.

Of course, I also saved the entire universe, and my reward was a bunch of dancing prunes. No, really...go play "Zero Wing".

Because of the above experiences and more, video games have been a vital part of my life, for better or worse. It has been a hobby, pastime, social activity, date, stress reliever, escapism, and a milestone. Of course, older generations saw it as a waste of time, but who says I can't play Mario Galaxy while gramps paints a balsa wood pirate ship?!

Yet as I've grown older, I've found that games have grown up, too. Final Fantasy 7 was a game that served as a turning point for me and for games - it was presented in a way that suggested that video games, at their best, could be just as compelling as a movie, book, or tv show. Once the game industry surpassed Hollywood in total revenue several years ago, people began to take notice.

I've mentioned before that I spent some time studying to be a Game Designer. I think if my patience for drawing was up to snuff, and if Shell didn't mind not seeing me for days on end, I'd do a pretty good job. :) Alas, it is a job for single men who don't have other commitments, primarily. One thing I used to share with my classmates during online classwork was how video games could be just as appealing as watching a movie, except you were actually playing a part in it. The story wouldn't unfold the same way every time. The experience wouldn't end after 1.5 - 2 hours. You can rent a game and enjoy it for days for about the same cost (or cheaper) than a movie ticket.

So why aren't games more sophisticated? Well, many of them are - look at Halo, World of Warcraft, Fallout, Fable, Final Fantasy, etc. But there's still the stigma that the story is an afterthought. That's true - playing the game is the main draw.

But you end up having overworked men and women who grew up on comics and movies, struggling to be creative despite long days and tight deadlines. As a result, almost every video game plot is recycled from (often terrible) storylines from other media. How many times must the world be saved? How many times will the princess be in another castle?

I believe that the way the game industry works, definitely works against story innovation. That doesn't mean things can't change. Video games are offering more constructive benefits, particularly Nintendo. You can use DS games to increase your IQ and try new cooking recipes. You can play Wii Fit to keep yourself fit and trim when you can't afford a gym membership.

You can even find friends from all the way across the country over an online game of Halo. I'll end with a story that provided me with exactly that.

So I got my XBox360, and set up the online stuff. When it came time to come up with a username, I thought of my self-proclaimed nickname in college while I worked custodial jobs - Captain Clean. I put on my headset and started playing, and promptly heard immature, snarky remarks from people named iKILLuGOODsucka about how dumb my username was. However, I pushed on and started a game of Capture the Flag.

In the midst of shooting people, getting killed, and trying to defend my team's flag, I found that the score was tied at 2, with the next point deciding the winner. All of a sudden, I heard a teammate talking to me in a Southern accent over the headset:

"C'mon, Cap'n Clean! Get on this here Warthog and we'll wreck these chumps!"

Spotting a Warthog jeep nearby, I hopped on the back while my teammate, named "DynamitePaul", proceeded to careen this vehicle over hill and dale, as well as running over iKILLuGOODsucka and a few of his friends. After clearing a path, I ran into the enemy base, took the flag, jumped back on to our 'Hog, and we made a desperate run back to win the game.

I can't say I've had a better time playing video games than that memory. Since then, I've taken a break from playing Halo online, but when I do, I'll make sure I get promoted to Lieutenant Lysol. It's an easy job when I got DynamitePaul mopping up the floor with the other team.

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