Another year done and dusted—it’s time to take the old calendar off the wall, and hang up the new one. Newness being one of the things we value in our daily life. We’re often so married to our patterns and routines that we find joy in getting to experience something brand new. Sometimes that brand new thing can be as simple as a new flavor of chocolate candy that just came out, or as complex as kicking off a whole new lifestyle as a New Year’s resolution.
In gaming, we often have the same elated attitude to the fresh new thing in videogames. We love our new releases, we love games that defy old genre conventions or invent new ones wholesale. We consume our game news quick and move on just as quickly, we’re voracious in our hunger for hot takes, and our conversations revolve so singularly over new releases. We adore newness. So, this month’s we’re shining a light on our weakness, let’s all take a deep breath and examine the way we look at novelty.
Whether it’s the hot new trend or the hot new release, gaming’s jam is very frequently new. Are we too obsessed with the shiny newness? Do we like new things because games are starting to grow into a comfortable middle age and we’re looking for things to help them stay fresh? Do we overindulge in newness sometimes, often jumping on whatever genre or release catch’s the community’s eye? Is the search for something new stifling the long-term conversations? Or are new things precisely what help keep games as popular as they are? Do the new mechanics objectively help genres progress? Is newness something we should embrace more heartily? Tell us how you do you in this quest for new.
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