The Power Review

USA’s Obsession with FPS’s

This subject of this article shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, however this is more of an investigation as to why this is the case.  Japan has their RPGs, Europe has their RTSs, and USA has their shooters.  But, why?

This goes back to the 1990s when Goldeneye was king.  There was no such thing as online multiplayer, simply getting together with 3 of your friends and fighting in the bathroom of the Facility map to see who would end up with the Golden Gun.  The genre continued to reinvent itself as the implemented Bots with Perfect Dark and like games.  Now, not only should you play with 3 other friends, but also with computers who could challenge you beyond what most of your friends were even capable of. (I swear some of those computers wall-hacked)

From here on out, online multiplayer was the essential, and Counter-Strike paved the way for it all.  This game is the singlehanded reason why most people can identify an MP5, M4A1 Carbine, P-90, and UMP-45, as well as tell you the standard clip size that comes with each of those guns.  Now, why are Americans so attracted to these games?  Is it because of our second amendment rights that we want to bear arms, whether they are digital or actually physical?  Is it because of our violent society that this is a nice outlet to be competitive and show out dominance over others?  It’s a combination of all of these, and it has become a phenomenon that is strictly American.

Microsoft and Bungee have capitalized on this most recently with the success of Halo 3.  This third iteration of the series has put up such impressive numbers as almost 10 million copies sold worldwide, as well as over 10 billion enemies killed through the single player campaign mode (yes, that’s Billion with a B).  The rest of the world may never understand our obsession with this genre, but there is one thing that’s for sure:  That will not change the amount of anger I feel whenever I think of “martyrdom” and “hardcore mode” used in the same sentence.