Game? Pass. How binge culture and the Netflix-effect has warped how we play videogames.
'Watch until the end' — A message that often accompanies two-minute-long videos posted on social media. Come to think of it, this was a good sign as any that our attention spans were on a downward spiral. TikTok capitalised on this and brought with it a need for instant gratification. An app that serves a waterfall of videos lasting only seconds long, washing you in a steady stream of dopamine droplets. Why should I watch a two-minute video when I can get the same feeling from watching a ten-second one?! Now, I don't use TikTok all that much unless it's to post a viral hit where I throw a frozen towel on the floor, but this mindset has managed to seep into my core, and it's affected how I play video games.
I had a fortunate upbringing because my parents were big into their video games. I say 'big into'; they had a console. But that meant Little Kieran cut his teeth on Nintendo's first home console, the NES. I spent countless hours playing that thing — and while I was more than grateful that I could play this mindblowing piece of tech, one thing that we didn't have a bountiful supply of were games for it. I can count on one hand* the games we had.
- Boulder Dash
- California Games
- Duck Hunt
- Solar Jetman
- Star Wars
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Mario Bros. 2
- Super Mario Bros. 3
*I've got a weird hand.
I didn't care one bit, though. It was exciting enough that I could play this small collection. It's only looking back now that I realise how few games I had to hand (stop talking about hands). But that meant I got the most out of them. Out of necessity, I'd replay them over and over again. Days, nay weeks, lost to Star Wars. One day I finally got to the Cantina, where a Boba Fett-looking motherfucker killed me. I got there again a week later. He killed me again. Eventually, I managed to get past this guy and was thrust into the pilot seat of a Millennium Falcon, where I had to navigate an asteroid field. It was incredible. It was short-lived, but it was incredible. This was the case with most of these games. I never actually finished any of them. Instead, I spent countless hours playing the first couple of levels, and I loved every moment.
Gaming in the Age of Infinite Choice
Nowadays, games are so accessible. Having access to the likes of Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, EA Play, Ubisoft+, etc. means that brand-new games are available at an affordable monthly cost. We're completely spoiled by choice. But that comes with its own problems.
Gone are the days of repeatedly playing the same game because that's all you've got. We've now got 100s of them at our disposal, making it easy to fuck one off if you don't like it because, hell, you can download another. You don't even have to download them! You can stream one instead. It's video game's TikTok. I've ashamedly done this a lot. Baby Kieran would be fuming at my attention span or lack thereof. In my defence, time is a precious commodity, and I don't want to waste it on a shit game, but if I'm banging out after such a short period, how will I know that the game is shit.
The reason I'm writing this post now is down to something that happened to me recently. Something that made me realise how blasé I've been since these Netflix-like services became commonplace. I sat down to play Animal Well the other night. It's an acclaimed indie game of 2024, and I thought it was about time I checked it out. Immediate impressions were good. It looked lovely and felt good to play. But it wasn't long until I hit an abrasive section and found it frustrating. After 15 minutes, I decided to turn it off. Yep. Being conscious of all the shit I've waffled on about above, I returned to it half an hour later. I've now completed it, and I loved it. If I hadn't returned to it and given it its due, I would've never had this experience.
Now that I've seen the light and become a completely changed man, I'm going forward and giving more games their due. I mean, some still won't be for me, but treating the experience of playing a game with the respect it deserves after so much is poured into making it will only result in a more positive experience indulging in this hobby. Probably.
That said, first, I'm going to get a copy of Star Wars and try to make my way to that Millenium Falcon mission because that's really rekindled something, but I know full well it's gonna look absolutely toss and ruin the memory.
Originally published on Kieran McClung's blog
