Profoundly Bored (Stalker)

I've still been playing a bit of Stalker. I have some issues with the game, but I'll probably still dink around with it because I don't have anything else I feel like playing. I mean, I've got a pile of games to play. I always have a pile of games to play. But none of them interest me. If someone handed me a copy of GTA IV (for the PC), I'd play it, but I wouldn't be enthusiastic. I'm just burned out right now.

I'm still keeping up with gaming news and various podcasts, but I'm getting a feeling I haven't had for two years. Two years ago, just before E3, I was depressed about gaming. Everything felt the same. Once E3 showed up, the Wii announcement gave me hope. But publishers, and more disappointingly developers, didn't care. I don't blame them. Publishers go where the money is, and third party Wii games, even highly acclaimed ones like Boom Blox, don't do great sales. And hardcore developers are interested in technical challenges, not user interface ones.

But as a result, I find it really hard to care about what's going on in gaming. Admittedly, there are a couple specific examples that have really highlighted exactly how much I don't care recently. Maybe I just need to talk them out to put them in perspective.

First off, Diablo 3 was announced. This is pretty huge news as Blizzard doesn't announce games very often. They built up a lot of hype. They showed off gameplay. People on the internet were so into it they started up petitions to argue whether the game was "too colorful".

I don't care. Diablo felt like a mindless click fest, and I never got past the demo. I didn't hear anything that sounded like Diablo 2 would change that, so I didn't bother. Titan Quest was called a worthy successor, but after the initial stages, I quickly tired of it. Diablo 3 actually looks like it might be a significant improvement. The special moves the character was pulling off made it look like there might actually be action. But with the way Blizzard makes games, it's probably at least two years off. Who cares?

There's a sequel to Stalker coming out soon. That's just completely depressing. I looked at a video showing off the better graphics. I just looked at and said, "It's the same game." I mean, it could be exactly the same game, tree for tree, building for building. Sure, it looks a little nicer, but what's the #%&*ing point? I'm not having fun with the original. I just got a new shotgun, and it couldn't kill a single enemy with four shots to the body. It's like the game has become entirely about head shots. Headshotty McHeadshot in the Land of the Eggshell Skulls. Again, I wouldn't mind a silly game like that, but this game isn't supposed to be silly.

I guess my problem is that the sequel appears to be addressing the element of the game I cared the least about. But I understand why. Everyone can see and have an opinion about graphics. But nobody knows about the gameplay until after the game is released. People sometimes dismiss a game by saying it looks like more of the same, but that's reserved to cases where they didn't enjoy the original. Because we generally accept and are happy with more of the same, there's not much incentive to innovate.

And I am still profoundly bored.