The Downfall of the Gaming Industry

By Dustin Bell

Well, I’ll start with an introduction, I am Dustin Bell, otherwise known as Duckman73. This is one of a series of three editorials I am submitting to Ice’s Zelda Central. I hope you enjoy them. Expect more in the future.

Now, I was not a real fan of the first Final Fantasy game, but I did find it a good game, nonetheless. I did not find the character development or the story line to be very good at all. The characters had no name besides their class, Thief, Warrior, White Wizard, Black Wizard and Red Wizard I believe, and the story line was not very good. I'm not saying it was a bad game. It was a great game, but the plot was very poor.

I wasn't a big fan of The Legend of Zelda either, but it was still a great game. Not the best in the series, but third. Trailing a Link to the Past in second and the Adventure of Link in first. Then comes Link's Awakening in fourth and Ocarina of Time in a deserving fifth. You may ask me why I put Ocarina of Time in fifth place on my series list, but I'll explain that in another editorial by popular demand.

Now, let us fast forward to the future! Now to the true part of the editorial, the 16-bit Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis days. These are where all of my favourite (No, I did not misspell favourite, I am Canadian and that is the way it is spelt here, Yankees.) games are situated on. Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Chrono Trigger, Contra III, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mega Man X, Mega Man XII, Mega Man XIII and of course, the best game in all of video game chronology, Final Fantasy VI, (I'm real Final Fantasy fan, ain't I?)

I was a fan of side scrollers and Role-Playing Games. They would provide me with hours of entertainment in my secluded home ten miles away from nearly any form of civilization. I probably wasted the most time with Chrono Trigger, even though it would probably only take eleven hours or so to beat. (Hey, that's a very short time compared to what most Role-Playing Games take to beat!) It had over twenty-six separate endings, a great battle system, a stunning turning point, great character development, originality and again, provided many hours of entertainment.

Now, I promise I won't get into an entire review…but I can't resist with this fabulous game. Final Fantasy VI, the best game in video game chronology in my opinion. I loved it from the moment that Locke Cole rescued the fallen Terra Branford, to the climax when Setzer Gabbiani took the stunning Falcon on a crash course to rescue the falling half esper. Final Fantasy VI had great character development, for once, you could actually make a four-person party, from fourteen selectable characters, each with their own special abilities. You could actually have a favourite character in this game, mine of course, the Wandering Gambler, Setzer Gabbiani. This game had a great story line; it shows emotion, moral, life and death. This game had all the characteristics to become a legend, which of course, it did.

Now, I was also a fan of the not so original Mega Man X series…finishing with the thirteenth in the series. They were great games, as were the Contra games, although, I only got to play two games in the great series.

These games were the best in video game chronology. The age of 32-bit and 64-bit gaming have driven video games down a step or two. They are increasing in quantity, not quality. Something, I hope will change. With the new era of 128-bit, etc. gaming, I can only fear the worst that games will get worse and worse. Bringing the gaming industry to an all time low. I can only hope that companies like Square, Capcom, 989 Studios, and Electronic Arts see that quantity may not always bring profit.

Well, that brings me to the end of yet another editorial. Which I hope will not be as controversial as the last one. Feel free to send any POSITVE comments to dustin@zlda.com.

~ Dustin Bell,