Would You Rather? — Gaming Edition

Today’s post comes yoinked straight from Krikket, images and all (with permission). In Krikket’s version of this — she answered with the understanding the restrictions would be one at a time, and only for a year. I’m going to take the first part of that but I will answer as if the restriction if applied would last me forever.

Unlike the Five Games for a Year post, I have no intention of picking up or doing any of these. … Although I suppose, fair to say, I didn’t intend to do so originally with that one either.

Right! Onto the questions. :)

Would you rather play games only on console? OR Would you rather play games only on PC?

PC games are my main love when it comes to gaming. I have nothing against consoles, with an Xbox Series X, PS5 and a Switch in the house but in the short term, they’d be hard-pressed to ever truly take over from PC gaming for me. MMORPGs and Shooters while not being my bread and butter as they once perhaps were are still far better for me on PC than anywhere else.

But if I’m thinking about this in the ‘forever’ context, how long will this remain an option for? The next 10-15 years is probably fine, but what about after that? There seems to be an inexorable march toward consoles as the gaming platform of choice.

If I ended up playing on something like Steam Deck in the future, which side of the fence does that land? In utility, it is a console but in reality, it is a PC and can be hooked up to be used in this way…

In the context of ‘forever’, I think I’d have to throw down with console gaming. But I’d still retain a PC as well for blogging and other things.

Would you rather play only single-player games? OR Would you rather only play multiplayer games?

I’m going to further refine this down to single-player or multiplayer modes. So if a game has both options, I could still play it for the mode I’ve selected.

Not that this actually makes the decision any easier. This is a particularly tough one! My gut reaction is to side with single-player games. As much as I enjoy multiplayer titles as well (particularly co-op titles!!) perhaps the larger, if only slightly larger benefit I get from gaming is the time to recharge and get immersed into something on my own.

If I was answering for the short-term — perhaps a year, like Krikket is — I’d come down on the side of single-player, I think. But that ‘forever’ thing really does shake this up. I’m going to assume that if I chose single-player, any form of MMO is off the table — even if playing it solo, or experiencing it effectively as SP anyway — and I have to wonder where, in my lifetime, technology might take this space?

So I’d — reluctantly — choose multiplayer only, but would no doubt pick a lot of titles where it was still possible to ‘get away’ for a while, be it a survival game where I built up in a remote corner of the world or an MMO that supported SP almost as well as it did MP anywho.

Would your rather play only games you already own? OR Would your rather play only games you would need to still acquire?

What I’m learning as I run through these questions with the intent to answer — whether you’re answering for a year or forever makes a really big difference. Still, in either scenario, this one makes me break into a cold sweat. It’s far too close to home. xD

If I was to answer this in the context of a year, I’d go with games I already own. I have so much content there, it’s the only sensible answer. Both answers would be hard — don’t get me wrong. But I think for this timeframe, playing games I already own would be best.

Going back to my intended context for answering these questions of forever? Then, I would go for games I would still need to acquire. There would be some short term pain here for sure, but I can’t imagine letting go of all the advances in games yet to come.

Would you rather play only games that challenge you mentally? OR Would you rather play only games that challenge you physically?

I struggle with this one a bit, but unlike many of the other questions — the struggle is less about landing on a decision and more about deciding a definition in the first place.

There is often a lot of overlap between the two in the games I enjoy and it’s really only at either extreme end of the spectrum I get disinterested.

Then there is also a hugely personal element to this as to where, as individuals, we become challenged. I couldn’t say, for example, that Dark Souls and its ilk don’t challenge me physically. There is certainly timings and muscle memory execution to get right. But there is also a mental aspect to it, in that beyond reactions and ‘hitting the right things’ there is knowing how to react, that rolling into this particular attack is better than rolling out, but this other one here, you need to roll horizontally opposite to the direction it’s coming.

So, as I say- a lot of overlap.

If I was really pressured to choose — regardless of the timeframe in question for once — I’d go with games that challenge me mentally. I have zero interest in precision platformers and games of that ilk. I’d hope I’d still be allowed to retain my access to souls-likes in the deal but even if we took a really hard line on this, between the likes of City builders, Turn-Based Strategy games and RPGs, I’d still go with mental over physical challenge.

Would you rather play only long/endless games? OR Would you rather play only games that are less than 20 hours long?

If we define ‘long’ games as anything requiring 20 or more hours to complete, then I would elect to play only long/endless games. I really enjoy shorter games as palate cleansers though, so this would still be quite the sacrifice.

Hmm… Can I bend this a bit and say that the hours count for completing side quests and whatnot too? That’d expand the pool somewhat. ;)

Either way, it’s not to say I’d finish a lot of these games. But the scope and expansiveness of them is still quite a drawcard.

Would you rather play only games released in the last 10 years? OR Would you rather play only games released more than 10 years ago?

OK, this one I’m going to add some definition to before answering as well. I’m going to take this as a rolling period of time, as the ‘present’ keeps shifting. So in 10 years from now, games released today would be eligible.

I’m also going to say that expansion releases bring the release date forward. e.g., Everquest 2 was released in 2004 but has an expansion released basically every year. So I’d count the overall package as released within the last 10 years.

Although even without the definitions, my answer is probably of no surprise given my answer to games I own vs. would still have to acquire — I’d choose to play only games released in the last 10 years.

There would be some painful losses along the way as time rolled on and pushed games outside of this window. I even checked several of my favourites to ensure I’d still be OK with them, at least for a while longer. Thankfully, for the most part, they are OK to keep playing should this choice be pushed upon me.

Looking out into the future though, and the rapid increases in technology we’re going to see — as much as there might be sentimental value in some of the older classics, future enhancement is too much to sacrifice for 10 years at a time.

This was posted during Blaugust 2021, the annual blogging event hosted by Belghast. Blaugust is an event aiming to welcome new blogger blood into the fold and revitalise those who’ve been at it a little longer.

The Blaugust Discord is still available to join in, year-round!