When I first pitched this end of the year list, I had a certain idea in mind. I played a lot of PlayStation 2 games this year so I was set to write about how I found comfort in a fractured past while living through our broken present, and while that is true, none of those games are my games of the year. The sheer act of playing them helped ground me as my life hit some potholes again and again as 2020 rolled along, but the games themselves paled in comparison to the relationship between myself, the PlayStation 2, and all of the games I played on it. They are all fun, but none of them stick in my mind as much as the system itself. Thus, I thought a bit more about what I played this year, how certain games spoke to me, and why they spoke to me in the ways that they did. I’ve come to some conclusions.
2020: Communal Play and Being Alone
2020: Communal Play and Being Alone
2020: Communal Play and Being Alone
When I first pitched this end of the year list, I had a certain idea in mind. I played a lot of PlayStation 2 games this year so I was set to write about how I found comfort in a fractured past while living through our broken present, and while that is true, none of those games are my games of the year. The sheer act of playing them helped ground me as my life hit some potholes again and again as 2020 rolled along, but the games themselves paled in comparison to the relationship between myself, the PlayStation 2, and all of the games I played on it. They are all fun, but none of them stick in my mind as much as the system itself. Thus, I thought a bit more about what I played this year, how certain games spoke to me, and why they spoke to me in the ways that they did. I’ve come to some conclusions.