I went to two Gamestops. Nobody there had any idea what I was talking about. They recommended the summer blockbuster RPGs that we find ourselves playing these days, games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. With one of the clerks, a guy who had the courtesy to seem interested in whatever the hell I was talking about, I rambled for a short while about my criteria: turn-based, strategy-heavy, penalties for losing, labyrinthine dungeon structure, etc., that is to say, old school.
He nodded thoughtfully, then a flash of inspiration crossed his features.
"You mean like Final Fantasy," he said.
"Well, sort of," I said. "Not like the new ones, but I guess more like the old ones, the ones that were modeled on western oldies."
"Oh, I know what you're talking about," he said, now smiling with pride. "I go way back. I even played Final Fantasy Eight."
Pictured above: one of the first RPGs ever created.
I guess that's something to be proud of in today's geek kingdom, but it was also his response that prompted me to rouse my brother from his intellectual Batcave and try to put together a gaming blog of some kind. The fact that this clerk, an expert in his field so to speak, thought that Final Fantasy Eight was some kind of forebear to modern RPG gaming made me realize that there's work to be done. It could be a generation gap, but it's also probably a communication gap; indie gaming blogs, which are maybe the closest thing to an Algonquin D&D Table available today, do exist and are in fact quite numerous, but they're kind of insular and they gladly ostracize themselves from the gaming community at large.
My brother and I are going to give a shot to hosting a blog that explores what makes games good, what makes games bad, which games are good, which are bad, what is notable in certain games, and what some games can signify. Stuff like that. Sometimes we'll be exploring a particular game, sometimes we'll be comparing a pair, and sometimes we'll be exploring a certain theme that deserves attention. Ultimately the goal is to have an interesting conversation and maybe learn a few things. We hope that a few interested geeks will come to join us with their insights.
This may not work, but it's worth a shot. Anyone who plays video games knows that life doesn't always work out.
Next up: Towerclimb.
