Sometimes It's Good to Be "Bad" at Video Games

We all know the rush of mastering our favorite video games. Whether it's leveling our RPG characters so much that the bosses feel puny in comparison, crushing speed-run records, or learning Mega Man patterns enough to beat the game without being hit, there are a myriad of ways in which games offer us the reward of overcoming obstacles.

However, the road to these achievements can be quite grueling sometimes. If you fixate on a particularly hard-to-reach goal long enough, the act of playing games to get away from your real-life frustrations might leave you with your blood boiling. "Casual gamers" that only play games here or there are regularly scoffed at by the more devout gaming crowd, but maybe they're on to something.

Maybe sometimes it's good to be "bad."

Fighting games like Marvel Vs Capcom 2 are a prime example. The hardcore members of the "Fighting Game Community" would chase me away with torches for saying this, but I think there's a largely under-appreciated level of fun to be had even if you have no idea what you're doing. When I played with my friends, our teams were typically based on the likes of costume color or fiction-based affiliation rather than synergy, one-touch kill potential, or the most effective assist moves. If you watch "high level play," you're only going to see the same few "top-tier" characters pulling off finger-bending combos that seem to go on and on forever.

This is an impressive sight, and that skill-level can only be reached with a true passion for the game, but that doesn't mean the casual gameplay I shared with my friends was somehow without merit. We loved every second of our nonsensical battles. If we'd been tournament players, the inherent expectations upon us to play to perfection would have made for a significantly less freeing experience.

Casual gaming might have its upsides with single-player experiences as well. I tend to absolutely pour myself into the games I love. I will scour each level for every single secret. If there are items only obtainable after numerous playthroughs (such as the infinite "Chicago Typewriter" gun in Resident Evil 4), I power through and get it done purely for the experience. Now, in the age of trophies and achievements, there are many more items on the checklist than ever before. If I fall for a newer game, I'm going to be left with quite a bit to do.

With Batman: Arkham City, I was hooked enough to go for 100 percent completion. I pulled it off, but at some point requirements like running around to find all four-hundred Riddler trophies felt much more like "work" than "fun." In the end, it actually kept me from loving the game as much as I would have if I'd only focused on the primary story mode. I'm still asking myself if the Platinum Trophy was really worth it.

Of course, grinding away at difficult tasks hits just the right spot for some gamers. Just ask the fans of Dark Souls! This post was more inspired by those who go into a rabid state of attack any time they come across another player not as skilled at their particular favorite game. In a perfect world, the inexperienced players in online "Team Deathmatch" battles or Let's Players that don't know every secret item location would be left alone.

Erasing the negativity that "casual gamers" often face is more easily said than done, but if there's any chance you have been the type to chastise those less-experienced, perhaps consider this moving forward: everyone has their own sense of fun. Just because that of another gamer's is different, it does not mean it's wrong.

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