Why do we put up with crap?
So, since I recently acquired an NES and have started collecting games for it, a question raised by one of my purchases has been seared into my mind, and I can't let it go. Why, oh why, do we put up with crappy games? I mean, I know why they get made in the first place, but what is it that compels us, especially when we're younger, to trudge on through the crap, to never give up on those games no matter how much it's clear the designers themselves had given up? What is it that prevented us from seeing the flaws that are so blindingly obvious?
TMNT was one of the first games I owned for the system - I think I got it one year for Christmas, along with Batman (so thankful for that, by the way - Batman on the NES kicks so much ass, and I didn't even know it existed - would've been such a shame if I had missed out on that). If I recall, it was a "friend of the family" gift, kinda obvious in the titles themselves (the combo so screams "Well, kids like Ninja Turtles and kids like Batman, so those must be great games). And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the gift, perhaps telling in that I still keep trying to play TMNT to this day. However, what puzzles me is, despite how utterly crappy the TMNT game was, I couldn't ever put it down, couldn't bring myself to say, "Yeah, this game is crap." It was always, "I must be crap because I can't beat this game." The enemies don't make any sense? Clearly I must not have seen enough episodes of the show, or I'd recognize them. Or maybe the recognizable enemies come later in the game - they're too badass to be mere fodder. Yeah, yeah, that's it. The dam level is damn near impossible? No no, it's just my reflexes aren't that good. Or maybe there's a hint somewhere that I'm missing. The second city level is an impossible maze? No no, I'm just not paying attention. There's clearly a secret exit somewhere I'm missing. Or there's a jump I have to make that I'm just not good enough to pass - after all, that was the case in Super Mario Bros. (World 8-1, I'm looking at you). Or there's a secret item I need to find. So many explanations for my failures, so many excuses, but not once did I ever turn it around and say, "Hey, you know what? Maybe it's the game that's the problem, maybe the designers were the crappy ones who didn't know what they were doing."
I had a similar experience with Enter the Matrix back in college. That game was terribad, buggy beyond all reason, yet I slogged through it. In that case, however, I actually beat the game. However, all throughout, I was blind to the glaring flaws in the game. I did not want to see the technical problems, and so I didn't. Years later, coming back to it, I don't know how I got past the first level without chucking the damn thing out the window (aside from the dorm windows having screens over them, so that would've been a problem). Why is it, though, that so often, we're able to ignore these flaws and keep playing games that don't deserve our attention, that kick our asses without remorse? What gives us the power to see beyond the glitches, beyond the bad design decisions and outright bafflingly terrible gameplay? What causes us to push on?
I know I know, part of it is, when you're young, you don't have many choices when it comes to what games you can get, so good or bad, the games you do have, you have to convince yourself your allowance was well-spent, or darn it, I won't let that birthday present go to waste, or whatever. However, I'm now an adult and still find myself drawn back to certain games that I know are crap - like TMNT. I have a choice now, so why do I still choose so terribly?
