The negative video game news stories are always the easy ones to remember. But this past year was not a cesspool of negativity. There was good, too. Lots of it.
It is true that the human brain is able to remember negativity better â hence the reason why politicians run negative ad campaigns. Even going back through things Iâd written in 2010, I sometimes found it hard to recall positive things Iâd covered. Sad, but very, very true.
Yet, when I went back through this yearâs back catalogue, there they were. The stories ranged from romance to research. But one thing was constant: video games donât only have the power to entertain us, they have the ability to inspire us and even make us better people.
True Romance
We not only love games, but we love how games can be used to facilitate romance and make memorable wedding proposals possible. There was the game designer who created Dinner Love and the Quest for Soup to pop the question or the guy who hacked Mother 2 and then filmed himself and his bride-to-be playing through the game in fancy clothes. One of the most adorable proposals featured a muppet playing Halo. And when there werenât proposals, there were wedding rings â lost and found. But do the couples who game together stay together? One Halo newly-wed couple is still fragging a year after being married by Master Chief.
https://lastchance.cc/the-video-game-marriage-proposal-5526002%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Lifeâs Funny That Way
Things rarely go as planned, but sometimes, things really do work out for the best. Take the folks who created an arcade game in hopes of getting free waffles for life or the fans that made an overdue sequel they had no right to make or the scientists who made a zombie game.
https://lastchance.cc/the-waffle-game-that-changed-their-lives-5712626%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Taking A Stand
There are game designers who believe in larger issues, like video game muckraker Nick Marroni and games-are-art defender Kellee Santiago. Maybe itâs because thatâs how they were raised â maybe we should all raise our kids to be nerds. Or at least make sure they have a Nintendo DS with them. It could save somebodyâs life.
The Miracle of Modern Gaming
The stereotype of gamers if âfatâ and âoverweightâ. But this year, folks continue to use video games to get fit. Take the woman who shed 112 pounds with Wii Fit. But video games can do more than that. One British woman who suffers from Parkinsonâs Disease began seeing improvement thanks to a Wii Fit regimen, feeling ânimbleâ and better able to walk. Another British gamer began seeing improvement â literally. Playing Mario Kart helped the young boy overcome âlazy eye syndrome.â
https://lastchance.cc/woman-loses-112-lbs-thanks-wii-fit-5460810%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Gamers come in all sizes and shapes. A young boy with autism found comfort in Microsoftâs Kinect motion controls than with traditional controls, leading the boyâs father to proclaim that it was the best $150 he spent on a console. But there continues to be calls, like from this quadriplegic player, for developers to make their games enjoyable by everyone. Some, like Valve, are listening. Others are doing research â like eyeball controlled Pong or using sound and vibrotactile cues â that could change the way all gamers play.
https://lastchance.cc/kinect-is-a-blessing-for-this-family-5687041%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Using Gamingâs Powers For Good
For a minute, forget about all the jackasses on Xbox Live. Gamers (and game designers!) are good people. Real good. Just look at the evidence: When Company of Heroes developer Brian Wood lost his life in a car accident, a trust fund to aid his wife and their unborn child was established. Or when the Saints Row designer who wanted to help cover a burn victimâs hospital bill by auctioning off a part in Saints Row 3, a gamer shelled out $1,700. Gamers and game companies banded together for Haiti, whether it was Sony Online Entertainment raising $25,000, Forza cars to help, among many, many more efforts. Whether itâs World of Warcraft charitable pets (and the millions of wishes they grant), Maddenâs in-game breast cancer awareness sponsorship, charity bundle after charity bundle or the oodles of cash raised by Gears of War and Gears fans, it is evident that the game industry, even with its prickly exterior, is a big-hearted softy.
