So in my last post I mentioned that i'm renting Voodoo Vince. Well that got me thinking about platforming games: how much i like them and how little i actually play them. So, of course, I went on Gamespot and checked out what the best platformer games were for each system. The top games I saw (as most of you can probably predict) were Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. Now neither of these games (except the first Jak and Daxter) I really thought of as platformer games because of how more adult their storylines were or cuz they were more violent than i usually associated platformers to be. Now don't get me wrong, violence in video games is nothing new to me and doesnt bother me in the least, its just that when i hear platformer games, I think of Mario, Sonic, other random games where you get 100 of some item and it gets you cool stuff and killing enemies means jumping on their heads and they dissapear.

For clarification on the two games above, Jak and Daxter's first installment is pretty little kiddish but still really fun. However the second game has Jak being tortured for years which, for all extents and purposes, drives him insane and gives him a split, dark personality. Not exactly your ideal childrens game. Ratchet and Clank is completely full of adult humor and shooting. I kind of see this as a show, not only of platforming games getting more adult based, but games in general. Look back at our gaming roots, and you see video game violence as you jump on a monsters head and he pops. Now you get games like God of War and Condemned where the gore is almost overwhelming. Now I'm not going to go Jack Thompson on anyone and start saying these are "murder simulators", I just think that it's kind of a sad show of our society that we cant have entertainment without violence. Well that was kind of a ramble. Just getting my ideas out there. Now im off to play some Half-Life =P. Peace.