something i've been thinking about lately is the paradox of media being both more accessible than ever, but also concealed by the monopolization and market-driven curation of storefronts and streaming services. i'm going to talk about games specifically from here, but this is applicable to basically all forms of media.
for most people who play games, the possibility space of "games i could play" is the frontpage of steam and their console's storefront. these platforms offer a few means to further explore their catalog, but usually along limited lines that still float the most popular stuff to the top. so only like 1% of the catalog ends up being seen, and the catalog alone is like 0.0001% of released games.
so this is what most people end up playing and talking about, despite the fact that you can emulate basically every console game made before 2006, pirate any PC game, download a plethora of stuff off itch.io, etc., etc...
so why do so few people do that? the answer, and what i believe constitutes "the wall" of this garden, is awareness and convenience.
the first part, awareness, is simple: most people don't know you can do this stuff, or at least that you can do it easily. it's just not on their radar.
the second, convenience, is that stuff like emulation and itch.io takes just a little more effort to get up and running than it takes to turn your ps4 and start playing whatever free game is on ps plus or whatever. the last twenty years of personal technology, spearheaded by smartphones and streaming services, has been about selling consumers crumbs of (perceived) convenience in exchange for your digital freedom. you can only have what we choose to give you, but we'll put it right in front of you! you won't even have to do the work of seeking out media for yourself!
but that "work" is where the individuality, the novelty, the discovery, the sharing with friends, the real JOY takes place in our relation to media, and games are no different. so as someone who love games, i want to make a plea to you: find and play a game from outside the walled garden of steam and console storefronts.
"how do i do that, though?"... answering this could honestly be its own post, and i invite people with their own answer to reply or repost this with suggestions. here's my own cursory answer, which is just one of many:
- download an emulator. i recommend Ludo for Windows/Linux and OpenEmu for Mac. both are simple to use, and have automatic controller bindings (a big convenience point, imo). alternatively, you could also use telemelt, which lets you play in your browser with other people!
- relatedly, if you have a console, chances are you can probably connect its controller to your computer, either wirelessly via bluetooth or a dongle, or wired via its charging cable.
- find a game you want to play. racketboy has some good lists to get you started. hardcore gaming 101 also has great deep dives if you want to dig further.
- download the game's ROM (this is like a digital version of its cartridge or CD). similar to how you can watch any tv show for free by googling the show's name + "watch free online", you can just google the game's name + "ROM" to find this.
- play the game !! if you're using Ludo, you'll need to load the correct "core" for the console first, which you can do from the main menu. if you're unsure which core you need, check this list to see which console it corresponds to. if you're using OpenEmu, you should just be able to drag the ROM in like it's iTunes and double click it.
hopefully this helps someone! i've complained before about the disproportionate attention AAA games receive despite being such a minuscule part of games as a whole, and i would love nothing more than for people to empower themselves with knowledge to create their own relationship with the medium, defined by themselves and their curiosity instead of a corporation's needs.
P.S.: another good resource to discover games? my "best games of the year" lists and guest lists, all hosted at brlka.com.... he he he ...
