GRAND STANDING

This blog entry by Hugo Gomez
The story: "Rockstar sells 6 million units of GTA IV in 5 days"
The analysis:

Wondering how many units of Grand Theft Auto IV were sold, I googled an obvious query that led me to an article with confirmation by the game's publisher, Rockstar, saying that 6 million copies were sold around the world within 5 days. To say that GTA4 is a cultural phenomenon would be a massive understatement.
In a world where it's virtually impossible to set aside borders and prejudices in hopes of joining together for, well, any effort, it's somewhat comforting and at the same time really creepy to see that western culture has at least one common denominator: genocide for sport.

But whatever happened to really diluted, 2-buttoned/basic/almost-deemed- stupid gaming? Pacman, as primitive as it may be, is one of the most entertaining forms of self-inflicted anxiety, but it's fun, and its themes make absolutely no sense. GTA4 is loaded with guns and boobs and guns and boobs and enough suspense to employ Michael Douglas for a lifetime, and its massive complexity had me wondering why the advancement in gaming technology has only meant more games that mirror the complexity of our daily lives, and not happy yellow balls that eat smaller balls. Who run from ghosts.

In the same way that I often wonder if aged pop star Huey Lewis would ever have a career had he debuted in the 21st century, I wonder if Donkey Kong could ever make the same kind of social dent as a GTA4 had it come out today. It's safe to say that simplicity in gaming themes are obsolete, or that we as a people really like the simulation of beating up a hooker for a glowy wad of cash. One can only wonder what kind of games we'll be buying our children 20 years down the road. Maybe then would going retro actually be a good idea.