Do we look at our most-loved games through rose-tinted glasses? Lover of games, Pippa Tshabalala, believes this might be the case. 

Gamers are a funny breed, and their relationship with their games is in many ways akin to a love affair, something a non-gamer will never truly understand. They are passionate about so many things, often to the point of blindness when hearing anything negative about their gaming obsession. And yet, they will point out flaws in another game in an effort to justify why their fixation is somehow more acceptable.

“You play COD? Why would you, BF3 is way better!” “PES? FIFA is by far the better game!”

Even though we know it ultimately comes down to personal preference, I can’t even distance myself from this argument – I am completely and utterly obsessed with a handful of franchises, and even though objectively I might be able to look at certain games and admit that a specific feature isn’t that good, I’ll defend it against critics regardless.

I think all gamers have that game. Whether it’s Skyrim, GTA, FIFA, COD – if you put enough hours into it, ultimately you become emotionally attached not just to the characters, but to the construction of the game itself. You know every nuance of the controller without having to look, as well as every flaw, but you love it anyway because in your eyes it’s perfect.

You remember the first time you were introduced. Perhaps it was given to you as a gift, a blind date so to speak, or perhaps you went out with the intention to make it yours. Either way you didn’t know each other very well to begin with, but ultimately you began to find common ground. You discovered your game’s strengths, its weaknesses. You sat back and watched its cinematics in awe, you got involved in the story and perhaps even made up your own as you lived and breathed the universe. You put hours of love and effort into your relationship, building up your strongholds, strengthening them, discussing tactics, collecting items. You built a life together.

Then along comes the a**hole who dares to point out that your love actually hasn’t really aged so well. They don’t look as sleek as they used to, they don’t move quite so nimbly as they once did. How dare they? How dare they point out the flaws you knew existed but didn’t care about because there was something that just drew you to that game, something intangible that grabbed your heart and kept you coming back for more. Sure there’s a more recent model, but does that newer, shinier model really understand you as well?

You know that one day you’ll retire your favourite game. It will become the game you reminisce about while playing whatever the latest and greatest title is right now. Perhaps one day you’ll put it back in the machine and will be faced with one of two reactions that both boil down to one thing – rose-tinted glasses. Either they’ll have been removed and you’ll face the crushing realisation that the game you once loved is no longer as young as it once was, and you’ll discard it, disappointed that it didn’t live up to your memories. Or you’ll see the flaws, recognize that it was cutting edge at its peak, and love it even more because of the experiences you had together.

I sincerely hope it’s the latter.

Article first appeared in TechSmart 121, available online here.