Sometimes, traveling off of the beaten path can be a tricky endeavor, as the trail to travel lacks the guide book that can help one safely navigate the terrain, even if this safe navigation one seeks ends up being about something as silly as writing about video games. I say that in relation to the notion one is suppose to write about the latest and greatest, what’s popping off, sharing an articulate thought about an experience, or essentially informing one about whether or not they should go out and pick up the game in question.


As in, sometimes it’s suuuuuper easy to say holy shit this game sucks

Given that visual example just now, I guess you could add just regular ass entertainment into the mix as one of the reasons for a write up, as a “product” per say doesn’t necessarily have to have a deeper meaning, it’s just a time killer, some light fun, a thing to do when one is bored. Viewing something akin to an article in such a simplistic manner is a major weight off, as you don’t have to worry about being the next Walter Cronkite thinking you’ve got to live up to the idea of delivering the news about the assassination of a president, or not worry about making people laugh the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in penning a novel.


Don’t focus on the word slaughter: it’s funny, I swear

The atmosphere of all this fits with the idea of this write up, as being late to the party on a console launch means being years behind everyone else in some respects, and attempting to keep ones head up in staying relevant in that moment could be a herculean task…if viewed through a lens with an intense amount of metaphysical pressure weighing down upon it. Hence my mentions of such high heights involving writing intrigue and presentational gravitas coming into the fray, as when one is writing about what is essentially a tech demo for a nearly 5 year old game console, one has no distinctly defined role in doing so, certainly not a role as queerly adjacent to enthusiast press, as an enthusiast member of said press would have been there day one, like any good aspiring bot following a wrote script, if one wanted to be exceptionally bleak about the “state of play” or the press thereafter.


Probably why they don’t manufacture existential Roomba’s: the floor vacuum is going to waste more time asking “What *is* dirty?” (implying perspective) rather than cleaning dirty (objectively incomplete), you’re going to get done dirty as a wanting consumer (the took fool you are)

Which I guess is why it’s safer to land on the side of literate hobbyist or eager scribe during this whole crisis of identity process , as I never felt quite right trying to “sell” games, in a way. Not to narrowly imply that the field of gaming journalism is only just that, but when writing about a game, one kind of has to have an angle or take a route when discussing said title. In the grand scheme of a tech demo for an expensive piece of new hardware, if one was gifted the opportunity to be exposed to such product, I’m guessing one would be feeling quite privileged and psyched to do so, hence kind of the conflation of complication when discussing expensive new “toys” one gets to play around with. The whole matter almost boils down to a sense of finance, as if saying” I have the privilege of finance or access to maintain this opinion and you don’t so you’re wrong and you’ll have to trust me on this because of money and you’re poor.


Imagine if a member of the Yachting Press got a chance to tour on some mega Goliath and showed his article pitch to his editor with the title: Would Not Yacht: Black Plague on the High Seas (fantastic copy for Pirates Monthly mind you; awful press for bourgeois tourism: know your demographics)

And yeah, I guess this could come off as me sucking the fun out of the room with this overly serious analysis of an industry, or the interplay between consumer and company, but the alternative is just being mindlessly hedonistic I suppose, which never really fit my style. I think there always been this notion in even the fluffier, more trivial aspects of society that dictate one should be all for something, or not bother. A sense of patriotism imbued with getting behind even something as inane or minuscule as a consumer product. I’ve had weird thoughts looking at different forms of media through maybe a too intense scrutiny on the why of the matter. Like looking at an episode of the Power Rangers and the excited fans who are excited about a transformation they’ve seen an nteenth number of times and thinking to myself: this is an awful lot of fanfare for a half hour long toy commercial.


Go Go Purchase Plastic Figures! (don’t get fucking salty with me, you know what this is all about)

Even turning to the idea of video games, which is a hobby I’ve engaged with for over three decades at this point, even working within the confines of the industry itself, and I still have similar moments of disdain, especially when I use to have to review games for deadlines as part of my profession. Sometimes, the games would be so garden variety, or such predictable bog standard annual affairs, scraping the bottom of the barrel of creativity in such lackluster ways, it kind of felt like I was reviewing a bag of potato chips. How many points of interest or articulate ways can one really discuss the essence of a bag of chips: it’s greasy, it’s crunchy, it’s salty: buy them. Or the inverse: it’s healthier, it’s mushier, surprisingly sweet….: don’t buy them, unless you like that kind of thing, then buy them.


Who knew a vital selling point for food would involve getting shit all over your fingers to help remind you of the disgustingly greasy slob you yearn to be?

Which really, it does just come down to time and money, right? Proving to the masses you are within the authority of preference to proclaim upon such matters? Having the breadth of experience and meaningful insight or tempered enough wisdom to be X person with Y opinion to say emphatically and with crystal clear perspective that Z product is good or bad? If one wanted to use the shield of artistry to hide behind, then anything could be good or bad, based on subjectivity, and if one wanted to take the route of benevolent intent in waving the flag of camaraderie, then having fun is all that mattered in the first place, and thus anything worthy of a smile would be a great investment, given you have the capital to do so. Between the madness of the delusionally branded sycophant, or the shallow ravings of the egotistically driven influencer looking to score internet points, there is no shortage of idosyncratic flaws that come with the basic notion of where one’s loyalties lie, and how genuinely authentic an opinion can ever truly be when considering this realm of bias involved ,when taking the myriad of selfish ways a single entity may have even arrived at their final conclusion, the endless number of axes they wish to grind, or favoritism they seek to acquire, when conjuring up their final verdict that may be layered with hidden motivation.

Anyways, I just finished Astro’s Playroom for the PS5 and I think it’s fun.

~Pashford