Playing video games is like my own personal therapy. They regularly provoke things in me that other mediums can barely scratch. Anger, joy, fear, elation, total confusion.
And sometimes, they’re just really fucking cool.
They are enablers for the heightened sense of NOSTALGIA, aswell as the cause of wild anticipation. They are social connectors, anti-social disconnectors, fun for all the family, unsuitable for all the family, hard, difficult AND challenging. They can be sprawling worlds of escapism and fantasy, sometimes all they need to be is Tetris
For me, its always a personal experience. What you play, how you play and why you play says SO much about you. However unrealistic that next high fantasy RPG is, it’ll always be your own choices you’re making. It explains why you’re deeply connected to this character and why you can’t stand that one. It’s realising that you’re still having fun when you rage quit on that stupid boss for the tenth time – he’s not even that hard, it’s just that stupid fucking thing he does with his sword gets me every fucking time, there’s no way you can dodge it, it’s a FUCKING JOKE!!
Directional Input is a blog covering my personal takes and experiences on games past, present and future.
Mike Tapia – Doing the game since ’91
Directional Input 