Day 5: Your guilty pleasure game.
I generally don’t feel guilty about enjoying any video game, but I will make an admission: I actually kind of liked playing E.T. the Extraterrestrial.
Yes, this monstrosity
Or at the very least I didn’t hate it. It was just one game of many that I popped into my console and would play for a bit before I got bored and moved onto something else.
I guess I could feel guilty about spending actual money on Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, but I don’t feel bad about that either.
Okay, so I googled “guilty pleasures video games” and the lists I found are utter crap. I wouldn’t feel bad about playing any of them. Freaking Rock Band and Guitar Hero are on there. What the actual hell? I’d break out Guitar Hero right now, and if I had people willing to play, I’d totally jam to Rock Band. I used to always be the singer. Apparently, it’s because these games aren’t “cool” anymore (and the site in question doubts if they ever were). I guess I look at it like this: if you enjoy playing it, play it. There’s no need or reason to feel guilty.
To be honest, I’d feel more guilty playing a game like Grand Theft Auto, since your character can literally kill innocent people with no repercussions, or I’d feel guilty playing an asshole character. Like if I played a renegade Shepherd in the Mass Effects, I wouldn’t feel right, because that’s not me. I used to feel bad having Cloud be mean to either Tifa or Aeris in Final Fantasy VII even though Cloud is kind of a dick (or at least he comes off as one due to spoilerific reasons). I feel more guilty about how I play games rather than what games I play.
Any guilty pleasures out there in the blogosphere? Do you agree with my sentiment on it or are there some games you feel the need to hide to enjoy?
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
I love the idea of not having to feel guilty about liking a game regardless of the alleged quality of it. Exceptions might be some of those games of dubious content that come out of some Japanese studios (you know the sort of games I mean, and if you don’t then I envy you).
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Hehe I have an idea what you’re talking about though I can’t claim to have ever played any of them.
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Likewise, thankfully!
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I agree, if you think a game’s fun, play the hell out of it! 😛 I had this old Sega Genesis game called Mick & Mack: Global Gladiators that I loved playing that I’m sure plenty of people would shame me for. lol It’s like this weird game that has McDonald’s stuff throughout the game, like you collect the McDonald’s Arches and at the end of each level Ronald McDonald is there waving a flag, but otherwise than that you’d never guess it was related to it in any way. It’s kind of an odd game but I really enjoyed playing it as a kid, so no regrets! 😉
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I couldn’t understand what the hell was going on in E.T. so I hated it, haha. My guilty pleasure is definitely the Grand Theft Auto series. I feel so ashamed going on rampages, stealing cars, etc. It’s just so much fun and I keep reminding myself they are only pixel people 🙂
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I think it’s a safe way to do those things! The whole video games causing violence thing is way more complicated than just simple cause and effect. It has to do with empathy and whatnot, and the fact you feel bad bodes well 🙂
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I agree with LightningEllen – GTA is definitely a game in which it feels good to be bad, which can make me feel a little bad sometimes if I’ve really ruined a lot of NPC’s days. But I can’t say I’ve ever felt “guilty” playing a game, insofar as I’ve been embarrassed to admit I’ve played it and/or enjoyed it… hm…
Hey, if you liked ET, you liked ET! Not a game that really does anything for me, but if you enjoy it that’s all that matters.
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Friday the 13th on NES is complete trash, but it’s one of my favorite games of all time. I grew up loving horror games and played it a ton as a kid, despite it being one of the absolute worst games of all time. I couldn’t help myself.
The most modern guilty pleasure for me would be the rail-shooter Crimson Dragon on Xbox One. It was made by the Panzer Dragoon folks (which I’m a fan of) and otherwise only caught my attention because it was one of the console’s launch titles. It’s not very good, but I got pretty addicted to unlocking, evolving, and leveling the roster of dragons. There was just something about the game I latched onto and found myself playing it for an hour or three every day for months. If I didn’t know what to play, I launched Crimson Dragon.
As of now I have nearly 200 hours clocked in the game — more than Destiny, Neverwinter, or Elder Scrolls Online on the same console. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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It was your picture for so long so I know how you feel about it!
I was a fan of this game called Eternal Eyes, which I think might be similar to Fire Emblem, but I haven’t played FE so I have no idea hehe. I don’t think it would be considered a guilty pleasure by anyone; it just wasn’t very well known. Some games just grip some people more than others. My humble opinion is if it’s not hurting anyone, there’s nothing to feel guilty about.
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I too played way too much of E.T. as a kid. I believe some of it was because I was six or seven and I only had so many games and well… I knew what E.T was. I still have no idea how to play it though.
I agree that games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are not guilty pleasures, or at least not something you should feel bad about playing. They are legit good rhythm games.
I’m not sure if this would count but I do often feel guilty about playing something like Halo or Titanfall when I have other games I’ve purchased waiting on the side to be played but I’d rather be lazy and not spend the time to invest in learning something new.
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Ah I get that guilt! I feel that way if I’m rereading something when I have almost 500 books on my TBR list. Sometimes though you need to slip your foot into an old shoe to feel comfortable again, and some games are like that especially after a hard day You don’t want to try something that might be challenging/new, you just want something old and familiar. I have a ton of mobile games that I’ll use for that like Chuzzle or even Angry Birds. With a new game, I have to keep notes and pay attention because I’m going to review it later, and while it’s fun, there’s also a work aspect involved.
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All my guilty pleasure are x -rated and so not for your delicates. 🙂
But I have to say – that is one kick-ass article you just wrote there!
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Thank you, sir! I really don’t believe in feeling guilty about anything you enjoy 🙂
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Ah, if only everyone was as enlightened as you. 🙂
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I’m so surprised you’ve played ET! I’ve always wanted to try the notorious game out! I don’t think I can possibly have a guiltier pleasure, but I love trivia games like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. I love the game shows, but I also enjoy playing them in video game form. I tend to get the newest iterations when they come out on consoles, and have no shame playing them during family get-togethers when playing Smash Bros or even Mario Kart fares too difficult.
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I played it when it was newer and not so notorious lol. We didn’t even know it was going to one day be considered the worst game ever. It was just another one in our Coleco/Atari collection. We’d pop it in for ten minutes or so, get tired of playing, and move onto something else. It’s why all of the games for the system are such a blur. We were lucky enough to have a ton of them!
I’m a trivia fan myself! We had Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune et al. I’ve played version of Millionaire. We used to have this Buzz trivial game with these special controllers. We only played it once over a friend’s place lol, but it was fun. I like them because people who aren’t typically gamers can get in on the fun. Its one of the reasons I liked the Wii, too. It was a system that appealed to to non-gamers or not gamers yet 🙂
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T was. I love the game shows, but I also enjoy playing them in video game form.
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Game show games are some of the funnest and most inclusive 🙂
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I agree… if you enjoy it, play it! 🙂 I have ET and it’s not a great game by any stretch (I still have no idea what the hell is going on in that game) but I feel bad for calling it terrible, since someone worked hard on it, ya know? The history behind the game is actually pretty interesting, I watched a documentary on it before. I think it was called Atari: Game Over.
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T was. I love the game shows, but I also enjoy playing them in video game form.
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When they first came out, it finally gave the viewers a chance to try their hand!
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T was. I love the game shows, but I also enjoy playing them in video game form.
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I just find it so hard to feel guilty about something like that! You’re having fun without hurting anyway, so no need to feel ashamed. What’s your favorite game show to watch and/or play?
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