It seems to me personally that most media of this age is just... creatively bankrupt. Everything is uninspired or copy and pasted over and over again (I'm looking at you, Rainbow Six: Extraction). And to think years ago we could've had a game like Rainbow Six Patriots.

I still get a tingly feeling whenever I load up even an emulated copy of GTA: Vice City and hearing that chime with the crashing waves against the coastline. It was fantastic and almost "nostalgic" even as a child playing that game simply because I'm a Miami native and having this video game based on my city was... pretty daunting. Or just reminiscing of the OG version of Halo: CE on the old Xbox. That giant "LOADING" screen and hearing the chorus progress as the letters lit up across the screen. It was simple, but it inspired a level of intrigue and wonder.

As soon as you step out into the Mojave in New Vegas, even with all the DLCs loaded knowing goddamn well for the 50th time you've played this game and how your quest is going to go, it instills a sense of immersion as the sunlight hits your character's eyes and you're greeted with the sight of a blasted out little town that should've been long gone, but still teeming with life. Its that attention to detail that tends to bring me back to these games.

Its such a somber thing to contemplate the state of video games. They've been a part of my life since I was about 2. Hell my cousins that are pushing into their damn late 40's always bring up at family gatherings about how crazy I was in Smash Bros or Mario Kart. Games have exceeded just being a hobby for me. They were a social hub in the infant years of the internet. They were... much more than just pushing graphical flavor or trying to "poach the whale" as much as possible for a good fiscal year.

Video games were my biggest anti-depressant. And as much as its a part of my DNA, I feel as if I need to find something new