I used to despise message board posters and friends who would utter that phrase.
What's the big deal? It's just a video game, not real life!
I used to get in heated message board discussions with people who had a mentality like that. I always thought, "Yeah, it's a video game, but it still cost me 60 bucks. It better have some semblance of real life in it."
The truth is, it is just a video game. I don't know what took place for me to finally arrive at this opinion. Maybe it is just the fact that I am getting older now, and video games are a small part of my life. They used to be a lot bigger... Having a family will change a man in that regard. The importance of a game meeting your unattainable expectations just kind of goes away.
Don't get me wrong. I still want the games I choose to buy to be as life like as possible, but is that really the goal? Truth is, I get bored of games. I get busy. MLB: The Show is, without a doubt, the game that is loaded with the most immersion that I have ever played. The game is so realistic, it's scary. I bought a new TV not long ago, and when my dad came to visit, he sat on the couch about 15 feet away from my TV and began watching the game, not seeing the PS3 controller in my hand. He asked me what the score was and talked to me like it was a real baseball game. I had to finally tell him that I was playing a video game.
He was floored.
I still get bored with the game, though. I appreciate the SCEA team and how life like they have made this game and I will buy the game for as long as I am playing sports games, but the shine wears off.
The most fun I have playing video games is with EA's NCAA Football 2013. I have bought this game ever since its inception. I have probably the game on release day (night) every year. Every year, I find something to nitpick on. Usually, I don't notice the problems until I come here, to OS, and someone else is talking about it. One thing I will say, though, is that for all the problems this game has, I get my money's worth each and every year due to the fun I have playing it and the hours I put in.
So yeah, these are just video games. They are not real life. There's going to be oversights, there's going to bugs and glitches. It will be like that on the next generation of consoles, too. Patches are here to stay and some patches won't fix everything we want them to fix.
The place I want to get to is where I simply enjoy the games for what they are... Entertainment. My life is fulfilling due to having a wonderful family, great friends, my health, the ability to financially care for my family and a million other blessings that are too great to count. Having a perfect video game is truly not going to make my life any more fulfilling. I am never going to say, "Man, my life is so much fulfilling now! EA finally updated Washington's home uniforms and they added all the new cleats and face masks!" Would it be cool? Sure. But in the grand scheme of things, even when just looking at it from a pure gaming perspective, it's not all that important.
I'll have fun playing anyway. Why?
Because it's just a video game and video games are meant to be fun. An escape from the daily grind.
Most of the time, for me at least, that's exactly what they do.