Tuned Out
I couldn't give a toss about Mortal Kombat. Even as a
bloodthirsty youth, I saw right through the spine-ripping and head popping
fatalities - I knew it was krap and was far happier mashing my way through
Street Fighter 2. Now, as a fully adult man, I still cannot think of anything
less appealing than playing Mortal Kombat, and I have an excellent imagination.
Whenever a new game in the series is announced, I do my best to ignore it.
Mortal Kombat is one of a handful of major series that I choose
to tune out. I will skip pages, ignore tweets, fast forward through podcasts
and end friendships in an effort to steer clear of them. It's not that I hate
these games, at least not all of them, I'm just not interested in giving them
the time of day. Unless of course I'm short on topics for a blog post, in which
case I'll happily throw five hundred words their way.
Mortal Kombat might have improved since the mid-90s, but
it still looks like it has been designed by a fourteen year old boy and/or
David Jaffe. I'm not the biggest beat-em-up fan, but if I’m going to play a
fighter then it'll be one with a sense of style, something that I'll enjoy
looking at whilst getting my arse kicked.
I'm just not prepared to wade through all the unpleasantness in search
of whatever it is that has kept the series popular all these years.
I have no such disdain for Super Smash Bros., but I'm
equally as disinterested in it. I played a Smash game on the GameCube - I'd
Google the name but I don't care - and haven't bothered with the series since.
The Wii U-owners on my twitter feed seem rather pleased with the latest console
version, and I understand that there is an active competitive scene, but you
won't find a copy in my Wii U. I've never cared for arena fighting games, but
my disinterest in Smash is mostly due to my indifference to, and lack of
nostalgia for Nintendo characters. Put Alex Kidd on the roster, and I'd be
smashing shit up daily, but Mr Mario and the Super Kirby Brothers just don't do
it for me.
While we are on the topic of Nintendo, what the fuck is
up with Amiibos? Grown men are raiding toy shops in search of these relatively
ugly figures which, from what I can gather, offer very little of value when
used in-game. I probably shouldn't judge, as I have bought my fair share of
silly video game merchandise, but I'm sure that I will never add an Amiibo to
my collection. Another thing I'm highly unlikely to ever buy is a Pokémon game.
I've always avoided the series, despite my love of RPGs. The Pokémon boom came
just a bit too late for my generation - I'd already moved on to Metal Gear
Solid and gangster rap - and I've always viewed it, perhaps unfairly, as being
too childish. I'm probably missing out, but I can't play everything.
Unlike MK and Smash, Battlefield is a series that I
should enjoy, yet I choose to ignore it anyway. Even at the height of the FPS
boom and my shooty-game playing days, I was content with just one annualised
shooter; Call of Duty was my game and Battlefield never got a look in. Had
Hardline been a bit more Starsky and Hutch and less World War 3 with police, I
might have considered giving the series a chance. Or not, as my interest in the
FPS genre has reached an all-time low.
I agree with you completely on Mortal Kombat's style and gameplay, but the new games' is bearable enough that I can play with my friends who like it-the only reason I ever bother with any fighting game. Let's face it, drunken boasting and yelling are the real reason we play fighting games these days.
ReplyDeleteSmash I love a lot and I'm normally not a fighting fan. I love the characters, hitting people is fun, and my friends always want to play it, nothing for me not to love. Amiibos I'm mostly a fan because I've wanted figures of Toon Link, Samus, and Greninja even if they did nothing. The extras are just a nice perk.
I'm this way with Monster Hunter, driving sims, and any SMT that isn't Persona. Just don't get those games.
Yeah, I can see myself perhaps enjoying the odd session of MK with friends. Especially if drink was involved.
DeleteI think Monster Hunter is a very common one. I was pretty indifferent to it until it finally clicked with MH3U. As for the non-Persona SMT games, I think I want to like them more than I actually do.
Cheers