The Videogamer, Vol. 1

Welcome to a new, regular feature From the Sidelines. I, the Moviegoer, play a lot of videogames. Through my new Gamefly account (think Netflix for videogames) and wide range of systems (PS3, 360, Wii, DS, PSP, and PC), I have the opportunity to play every game I want and have the time to play. What does that mean for you? Hopefully, it means you'll never buy a shitty game again.
First up, are videogames the new TV? In the late 1990s, television went through its golden age. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Sopranos" changed the game. No longer was the TV the Boob Tube, home to a plethora of sitcoms and a handful of hour-long dramas about doctors, lawyers, and cops. HBO continued to set the gold standard. FX got in the game. Soon, cinema, which peaked in the 1970s, faced its most serious narrative competition from its little at-home sibling.
Here in the 00's, television has peaked like movies in the 1970s, and videogames, into the next next generation, are at an all-time high, technologically, narratively, and stylistically. (So heavily reliant upon reality shows, TV has almost completely ceded story superiority to videogames and movies.) Last year's crop of games offered five I'd rate a perfect 10 (Metal Gear Solid IV, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Bioshock's PS3 port, and Devil May Cry IV). This year promises similar entertainment (a Bioshock follow-up, a new Resident Evil, continuing the acclaimed RE4 reboot, a second Uncharted, and much more). It's not that television or movies have regressed; it's just that videogames have matured.
Still, games will never be TV, just as TV will never be movies. Some people simply cannot play videogames. Sure, the Wii's a gamechanger, but how many Wii Sports and Fits can Nintendo publish? TV is the great equalizer. Everyone can watch it; everyone can understand it. And that's just fine with gamers, so long as their significant others don't mind them playing for hours at a time.
Next time, reviews!