Some games change us. Others remind us who we were. Every one has something to say. My perspectives on video games has changed over the years. As a child, I was just excited to play Kirby Superstar Ultra or the newest Pokémon game. As a teen? Video games were an escape, whether I was fighting various Blight Ganons or a very simple but stressful match of Dota 2. As an adult, I’m obsessed with games, I never stop talking about them. As a result of that, I started thinking deeper about the medium. Sure, the ratings, gameplay, and graphics are important aspects of what makes a video game a video game, but so is the way it makes you feel, makes you remember, makes you experience. At Play Every Pixel, we don’t care much about the ratings, but focus more on how those games make us feel and why those are games we come to remember for years, whether with fondness or with anguish.
Not every game released is a masterpiece. I’ll be honest with you: I love Final Fantasy XIII. I’m also fully aware that Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most hated entries when it comes to this series. But when I was 10 years old, this game was so amazing to me. With my only ideas of video games coming from the graphics of the DS or older Nintendo systems or purely LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2 on the PS3, Final Fantasy XIII was a brand new experience for me. The graphics, the characters, the story, the fact that I watched my dad played it, all fed into what made this game feel so amazing to me back then. It made me fall in love with the Final Fantasy series to the point where I talk about it a bit too much, just ask the people around me. Because of this specific game, I can vividly remember sitting on the floor of my parent’s bedroom watching my dad playing the game on his PS3. I remember the sigh of relief I had when I beat Blasphemous on my Twitch channel. I remember more about playing the Pokémon games with my best friend than I do of the gameplay or story because of the tradition we’ve had since we were kids.
“Every game deserves to be played” doesn’t mean every game is good. Far from it actually. It means that no matter the game, it has value – even if that game is flawed in one way or another. There are more to games than platinuming a game or simply just hitting the end credits. Every game is a moment in time, a window into someone’s creativity, or frustration, or curiosity. Whether it’s a AAA global blockbuster or a student project made in Unreal Engine 5, someone tried to say something with it. And if or when that game fails? There’s still some value found in hearing it out.
We don’t only remember how a game played – we remember how it made us feel, who we played it with, what it represented at the time. Sometimes, it’s not about the game being technically perfect or the best AAA title of all time. It’s more about how it gave us a place to escape after a hard day of work or school. Or how it brought us closer to someone we care about. Or how it was there when nothing else really was. At the end of the day, a game doesn’t have to be a perfect IGN 10 out of 10 to matter. It just has to matter to you.
My friends and I used to play Dota 2 after school every day. Same friends, same heroes, probably the same playlist playing in my ears. I could tell you the exact sound of the rampage notification or the feeling of winning a game we shouldn’t have won. These days? We don’t play the game as much as we used to. It wasn’t because the game got worse, which is a different conversation entirely, but because we changed as people. Life happens to us all – moving, relationships, college, children, other questionable life choices.
But you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that. Games don’t have to be timeless to matter. Hell, games only have to matter to a single person to matter. People are really the only things that change over time in this context. Unless the only video games you play are live-service games, most games could be used as a time capsule to see who you used to be. I remember Dragon Quest IX when I was 10 sitting on the bus for a Hershey Park field trip or Playing LEGO Star Wars on DS Download Play at every sleepover for years. I don’t remember every level or mechanic in every game I play, but I remember how those games made me feel. I remember laughing with my dad or being full of excitement to show my friends the new equipment that I got. Those feelings stick with you way longer than any tutorial ever could. That’s what we mean when we say “every game deserves to be played.” Not because every game is perfect, but because every game could end up being part of someone’s story.
That’s why I started Play Every Pixel, that’s what we care about. Not just what a game looks like or how it scored, but how it connects to people. How it fits into someone’s life, even if it’s for mere moments, and what it leaves behind. I don’t just want to talk about the good games, I want to talk about the ones that meant something. The ones that you played with your sibling on a stormy night. The ones that reminded you of home after a hard week. The ones that were completely broken, but made you smile for some reason. This isn’t a place for just scoring games. It’s a place for remembering them. Questioning them. Understanding them. Because every game has a story, not just the one it tells, but the one it becomes when someone plays it.
A long story short – no, I’m not saying every game is good. What I am saying is that every game leaves something behind. Whether it’s nostalgia, regret, discovery, disappointment, something stays with you. And that’s worth talking about.
Play Every Pixel 