Level 7: Nothing New Under the Sun

Nothing New

Pay attention to the gaming industry for any length of time, and you’ll begin to notice a pattern.  When a game is successful, it inevitably spawns a sequel.

Heckler: “Duh.  Money talks!”

Good sequels pay their respects to what the first game did as well as adding their own new twists on the old formula.  Still, no matter how much of the “new” there is, nothing can change the fact that the old is what’s really driving the bandwagon.

Yeah, Twilight Princess had nice graphics and interesting new characters and the Wii Remote and all that good stuff, but it’s still the same puzzle-solving, dungeon-crawling, world-exploring, Ganon-slaying formula we’ve been familiar with since the original Legend of Zelda came out in 1987 (I’m speaking for those of us who are old enough to have grown up with this series).

Just look at some of the games that are coming out over the holidays, and you’ll see that this pattern of unoriginality is alive and well.  Tomorrow, Donkey Kong Country Returns will be unleashed on US shores.  This $50 Wii epic is little more than a massive homage to the three Donkey Kong Country games that came out on the Super Nintendo in the mid 90’s.  Yes, the controls are fresh, and the graphics are all spiffy, but at heart it’s still the same 2D side-scrolling, banana-grabbing platformer we know and love (I’m still speaking to the senior citizens in the audience…you know, those of us over twenty).

Here’s another good example.  On Nov. 2, Activision released Goldeneye 007, a first-person shooter based on the James Bond film of the same name.  The thing is…there’s already been a game based on that film.  It came out in 1997 on the Nintendo 64.  Most gamers consider it a huge classic.  The new Goldeneye is a remake of the N64 game; among the changes that have been made are the replacement of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond with Daniel Craig, and the game’s levels have been tweaked and redesigned and generally improved.  But it’s still a remake, one that clearly relies on its predecessor’s reputation even as it attempts to create a fresh experience.

Oh, and then there’s Super Mario All-Stars: Limited Edition, coming out on Dec. 12 (also for Wii).  This is literally a copy of Super Mario All-Stars, an anthology of the first four Mario games (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3) that we first saw as a Super Nintendo cartridge more than a decade ago.  There are no tweaks here.  No new levels.  No new characters.  Aside from a soundtrack disc and a booklet and a couple of other frills, this is the exact same Super Mario All-Stars.

You know what I say to all these sequels and remakes and thinly-disguised cash-ins on the popularity of well established franchises?  I say bring it on!

Cranky gamers may complain about the lack of originality in games these days, but companies are churning out unoriginality for a reason.  People like these games.  No, they LOVE THESE GAMES!

Almost three thousand years ago, Solomon began what would become the book of Ecclesiastes with these words: “History merely repeats itself.  It has all been done before.  Nothing under the sun is truly new” (1:9, NLT).  Even what appears to be new, deep down, is just a well-disguised copy or spin-off of something old.

Some people find this disturbing.  I find it comforting.  It means that good will remain good, and evil—as much it tries to come up with new evil—will fail and someday be destroyed forever.

The ultimate endorsement of unoriginality is found in Hebrews: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (13:8, italics mine).  Does this mean God is boring and stagnant?  No, it means He’s reliable.  Since He’s good, it means good will never go away.

Unoriginality done right isn’t a bad thing.  It’s a glorious thing.  Besides the comfort factor, it means a whole new generation of gamers (or believers) will be introduced to something that’s good with a long record of being good.

So yes, I plan on buying (or at least playing) all of the remakes and copies and sequels I can get my hands on.

Who’s with me?

Level 6: Cosplay!

Cosplay is a subject near and dear to my heart.

Heckler: "What the heckler is cosplay?"

As I briefly explain in the final chapter of Virtuous Worlds, cosplay is what you're doing when you dress up as a character from a movie, a television show, a book, a video game, or some other medium of pop culture.  That's a simplified definition, mind you, but there you have it.

When I compare myself with some of the folks who have exhibited their work on http://www.cosplay.com/, my own attempts at cosplay seem half-hearted--but believe me, I've had fun doing it!

You may have already browsed the photos I took with my Link cosplay at this year's Gen Con (see the link at the bottom of the page).  Here's another link (pun intended) to my album from last year's Gen Con, when I dressed as Mario:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4927&id=100000044474655&l=9469f1203d

Believe me, if you're a geek and you've never tried it, cosplay is a blast.  Just try walking into your local Taco Bell dressed as Mario or Link and count how many stares you get (I speak from personal experience).  Better yet, attend one of your local gaming or anime or generic pop culture conventions as that same character and see what it's like to hang out with thousands of other people doing the same thing.

Those of you who have a hard time relating to this experience and who may already be on the phone with the local sanatorium hoping you can get me committed before I infect the rest of the human race should hold that thought for a minute.  We all have hobbies and passions and interests that can make us look silly to others.  It isn't a sin, and sometimes these things enrich our lives in ways we're not even aware of!

All this talk of costumes and characters has a point.  When gamers play the part of their favorite characters, whether on the television or computer screen or--better yet--in a costume, they are inhabiting and taking on and representing everything that goes with that character, whether they realize it or not.

Case in point.  When my cousin and I dressed as Mario and Luigi at last year's Gen Con (this was the first time I had ever cosplayed), I knew people would recognize the characters, but I had no idea of the reception we were in for.  One smiling little girl ran up to my cousin and hugged him; her mother said that Luigi was her daughter's favorite character.  I had people shouting things at me in the hallway like "It-sa me, Mario" or "Our princess is in another castle!"

Oh, I'd love to tell you in detail about what it was like doing impressions of Mario on a stage in front of a crowd of 800 people at Tracy Hickman's Killer Breakfast.  Even at the time, I think I was well aware that they weren't really laughing and applauding for me.  They were doing it because they loved the character.

Role-playing Mario that weekend was an experience I'll never forget.

In a similar way, Christians are called to role play as Christ.  No, you don't have to put on a beard and a robe and a sash and sandals and walk around quoting the Sermon on the Mount until your neighbors have you arrested, but we as believers are supposed to role play Christ's characteristics.  "It is no longer I who live," Paul wrote to the Galatians, "but Christ lives in me" (2:20).

That weekend at Gen Con, it wasn't I who lived, it was Mario who lived in me (go ahead and laugh if you want, but it's true to some extent).  And that wasn't such a bad part to play.  Try to find a happier or more pure character in video game history, I dare you.  I feel like a better person for having done it.

Heckler: "Stop making me spew my soda all over the monitor."

Anyway, that experience meant a lot, but I know that even Mario isn't the most important role I'm called to play in life.  Son, brother, friend, and believer in God come to mind immediately.  Those aren't easy roles to play, but they're even more worthwhile than the ones we play for three or four days in a crowded convention center.  And depending on your taste in dress, chances are it's much easier to "cosplay" a son, a brother, a friend, and a believer than it is to cosplay a video game character.

Gamers, brothers, sisters, believers, PLAY YOUR ROLES WITH ZEST!!!!