The Story Behind the First Person Shooter

Have you ever thought about why there are so many games about being a single one-man army of unstoppable force left to take on impossible odds? Why are there so many copies of certain name brand games, or every spin off knock off game? Does it poke at your curiosity? Have you noticed the lack of these types of games in other countries? (Actually, the last one is a slight stretch)

There is a reason for this trend of First Person Shooter games, but to explain it you must first think about where did games start? Simple answer: Japan. Now Japan, as the birthplace of games, wouldn’t you think that there would be a wide range of games in Japan? Honestly, no. Japan, like America, fills the desires of the public. Japan has made a fortune in this, and America is doing a similar job. The cravings of American people are very different than that of the peoples of Japan.

This difference isn’t in our current day culture, but it stems from the legends and myths passed down from olden days. In Japan, warriors weren’t supposed to see their weapons as a tool to kill, but as an extension of the body. The weapon took on a whole new purpose than just another weapon to kill. Think about The Legend of Zelda Link has the Master sword, but he doesn’t use it as a sword all the time. He uses it to accomplish his goal. Now, think about American ideals. We always support the everyday man, picking up his TOOL and defeating the enemy. Americans don’t see our “warriors” as men that use their guns as a part of them. American’s idealize the gun and you can even see it in our military training. In our military we train the MAN. In Japan, they train the Man to use his gun as an extension of himself. Think of the Samurai of old. These ancient warriors never quit training. They strived to make a their sword as apart of them, as their arm.

Think about this. What does the Call of Duty game have you do? You, as a lone soldier, must defeat (honestly the entire enemy army) a horde of fully trained enemy soldiers. American’s have such a fantasy to see this done over and over. We play our Call of Duty’s as almost a wet dream. (Also it’s because one game sold way better than Activision expected, and Activision is a corporate sellout that forces Infinity ward and Treyarch to slave off making these games.)

These long held beliefs have caused the different countries to have a more selective in what types of games can be produced.