Why is it that everything fro the past is put on such a highpedestal? Why do we treat anything new and original in the most hostile of ways? Why has the line between nostalgia and ignorance blurred so much.

In almost every situation, there seems to be this stigma that everything old, was better. We do it with cars, movies, music and even games. Why does the 65 GTO get tagged as an amazing vehicle? When in reality, it was a gas guzzling, steel death trap. If it had been created in our time, it would be condemned and probably not even make it to the streets. Music does the same thing too. Why is it The Beatles are so accepted and loved for being original and new in their time, but when music does something new and unique, we categorize it and toss it aside in hate? Why can't bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy be considered acceptable music? Because they sound the same as each other? Because of their image? Why do we call them gay and insult them for wearing skinny jeans, when every hair metal band in the 80's was wearing leather pants and makeup? But I digress.

Games have come under this stigma too. I recently had a heated debate with a friend of mine as to telling him why I thought The Zelda Games were horrible. Now before you yell at me, I understand that the gameplay and graphics have always been great for whatever system they were on. My issue is the fact that they get away with making the same game over and over, and no one seems to care. Yet if a sports game did that, my god would you hear it for the next few decades. Why does Zelda get away with having the same plot, landscape, and characters in it all the time? Furthermore, why do we accept it? Games like Sonic Unleashed then come out, and people rant and rave about how horrible it is. Well at least it was trying something different. At least in a Sonic game I will always encounter new stages, characters and gimmicks. Not that those are all good things, but at least they try. Yes the game was horrible, but what if they just threw a graphically upgraded version of Sonic Adventure at you, and flipped the landscape around? How would you feel after beating it and realizing you've wasted 60 dollars on a game you'll never touch again. But at least it didn't do anything against the norm.

I really hate to rant, but why is it that games are so idolized? In fact, everything from the past is idolized. Nothing they did back then was wrong, we just got these crazy ideas to be different. My friend complains and complains about how unoriginal Mario games have gotten, but he shys away from the idea of anything new in the series. He jokingly suggested Mario running around in WWII with a machine gun and blasting away nazi goombas. I said, "why not?". He then freaks out screaming that that is a horrible idea. But what if it was good, what if it was executed perfectly? Like a mixture of Halo, COD4, Gears and whatever other "perfect" shooter you can find? WOuld you still condemn it for its wacky premise? Or could you look past that and accept that it was a great game. "BUT THAT IS CROSSING THE LINE!!!", no it isn't. Because a blue hedgehog running at supersonic speeds was much more reasonable right? But look at his success.

No one seems to want to accept that all the games they've come to accept, started off as a crazy idea. The idea of the first automobile, or the television. The idea of the iPod or even Pong. Why are we so quick to cast off new ideas and not try anything out of the norm. This is why sports games and sequels have dominated so many of the recent release years. The facts are that, with past inspirations, the newer stuff can be just as good or even better. No matter what the category it is, we have to accept that the past innovations are there for us to learn from and expand on. New bands will use the inspiration from their influences and craft a style all their own, new cars will learn from the mistakes and defects of their old counterparts, and videogames will incorporate new ideas with the things we've come to expect into something genuine and unique. Just because it gets a low rating, doesn't mean that the developers didn't try at all.

I support indie games, and I will buy as many new IP's as I can next year. Such as Tim Schaffer's new and amazing looking game, Brutal Legend. GIVE ORIGINALITY A CHANCE.