So, I really wanted to post yesterday, but that was too soon, and I just overwhelmed you with my re-introduction so it wouldn't have been right to overwhelm you with me freaking out about video games.
Well, I plan to have some more introspective posts, but this one, right now, will be a lot more fun than that.
Yesterday, June 10th, 2013, I was overcome with excitement. Microsoft had had they're E3 conference, and despite having really exciting looking games to show, they caused a lot of discussion due to business decisions and prices and such.
Coming out of work knowing all of this, I was super anxious for the Sony Conference. It could have been very bad, and I was hoping it didn't go south.
Well, I got myself situated on my bed, laptop out, livestream up, waiting for the conference. I'd seen some leaked trailers of games before hand, and was excited with the trailers Microsoft had shown that were cross platform.
The conference started late, and they played a really awesome intro, and I immediately was overwhelmed with the whole event. Right there I knew why I was a fan of Sony and Playstation.
I eagerly posted on Tumblr my reactions to every little trailer and thing they announced, all leading up to when I would explode with excitement.
You see, if you don't keep up with video games, Sony gave Square Enix some time, and they announced Kingdom Hearts 3.
One simple game. A simple 2-3 minute teaser of a game that is "In Development." That's when my world imploded with excitement.
My Tumblr blew up, I blew up my Facebook, and I frantically texted anyone I knew would listen.
"KINGDOM HEARTS 3 IS HAPPENING GUYS!!"
I made a post a while back, about how much I loved Kingdom Hearts, but I don't think I portrayed that properly. You see, Kingdom Hearts probably had some of the biggest influences on my character development. People know me as being a Blue, and I'll give you that my wanting to serve others was something I picked up in church as a kid, but it also comes from Kingdom Hearts.
I grew up with a variety of video games, and almost all of them had a hero of sorts who went out of they're way to save people. I know my brother was super attached to Sonic as a kid. For me it was Sora.
Something about him drew me in, and I will forever be drawn in. He starts the game off, as this goofy kid just playing on an island with his friends, wondering what's out beyond the ocean. All of a sudden his world is devoured in darkness, and he is given the key to saving all worlds. That's not something you take lightly. And he doesn't! He struggles with it, and just wants to find his friends. He runs from planet to planet, and every single time he looks for his friends. He never gives up hope, even when all seems lost. His best friend steals his Keyblade, and as a result his two companions Donald and Goofy, leaving him completely alone, and yet he doesn't stop. He fights on for his friends.
Like, this kid is the epitome of all things I strive to be. He is nothing but loyal to his friends, and fights for the good of people he has barely met. He's kind hearted, always encouraging others. He's selfless. And he's growing up. The games have done a great job of showing that. He's learning, and evolving. But he's still optimistic and kind. Which is what gets me the most.
Now, I'm not the number one Kingdom Hearts fan out there. I've not played all the games. I couldn't recount to you all the stories and Keyblades, and I forget things. One thing is for sure though, and that is that Sora's attitude, his persona, is the very thing that I continually strive to be like. If I come within a stone's throw of Sora's character I'm ecstatic.
So, with that in mind, it's easier to understand why I flipped out about this next installment in the series. I'm honestly just excited to see how his character grows, and how he develops through the struggles he faces in this game.
And, because I'm so excited about this video game, I'm going to reiterate a point I brought up a long time ago. Video Games are an art form, in the same way that a book is an art form. Video Games are capable of compelling storylines in the same way a book is. Video Games can create worlds and characters that we fall in love with just as a book can.
I don't want someone to think I'm ragging on books though and think that games should replace them, I don't. I just want to make sure you all understand how much video games mean to me, and how much I've grown and learned from them. These days it's common to see news reports about the following:
"Video Games, are they poisoning out youth?"
"Alleged shooter known to play WOW"
"Could video games be behind the murders in..."
Which I find absolutely bogus. It's sort of, as I learned in my English class this last semester, the same argument some people had with Shakespeare. He didn't make his plays follow the Three Unities, time, place, and action. See he made plays that took more time in the play, than it took to present the play. When critiqued, however, one critic said that the audience was smart enough to know that what they were watching was fake, but were willing to suspend that knowledge to believe the play.
Same thing here, none of them play a game and think it's dandy to actually carry that over.
I digressed... I just wanted to talk about how a good video game should not be written off as not being literary. I just think it's new, and people don't quite understand that it takes a good story to draw in so many players, and get them hooked on the characters to the point where people literally thrive off of that character. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the character of Sherlock who has survived the ages, and people today thrive off of that character.
I thrive off of Sora.
I'm not really in the Harry Potter fandom. Never having read the books hurt me in that are. I'm not ashamed of it though. A lot of people needed Harry Potter, and he was right in their lives.
I needed Sora, and he was right in my life. He is still right in my life.
And now he's coming back. And I can't tell you how excited I am to hear this, because there isn't enough space in the world to properly display that.
Now, go listen to some Kingdom Hearts music. Like Dearly Beloved. You'll fall in love, just like I did. =D
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