Stupidly Addicting Games (That are Stupid)

Have you ever managed to find one of those games that you play just once, on a whim or because someone said you should try it, thinking it was a really dumb game you would never play again, only to find that you couldn't stop playing it? You play it day after day after day, always trying to do better, to out-do yourself and your friends. You keep telling yourself it's such a dumb game and a waste of time, but you keep going back. Sound familiar?

No, I'm not talking about World of Warcraft. I still haven't tried that game and intend not to, because of it's addictive powers. Instead, I am referring to a game known as Robot Unicorn Attack. Perhaps you've heard of it before, maybe not. I was actually introduced to it through a friend of mine.

if you ever start playing the game, or even just look at it, yes, it is a silly looking game. You run through a level as a unicorn, a level full of rainbows and fairies and purple grass and stars, accompanied by really cheesy music. Yet it's so addicting, trying to out-do yourself from that last time. You earn points as you go, smashing through star blocks and collecting fairies (for anyone interested, there is a version called Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal that is much less . . . yeah).

There are many such games like this out there, and they really are addicting. They do nothing but eat up your time and give you nothing really in return. You can always make an argument for improved hand-eye coordination, but really, it's just a waste of time. And some people really enjoy that.

The Opinion of Blogs

Some people like to sit around all day and ask questions of each other, and often of themselves. They find it a fun way to pass the time, or at the very least, a way to keep from going insane. Understandable. In this modern world of interactivity, downloadable movies and songs, fast cars, and video games, there’s still nothing better than sitting around and asking questions of the universe, which so often seem to go unanswered.

One question that I have seen passed around amongst this milling crowd is the one that in its most basic form asks: “why do blogs even exist? What is the point of a blog? If I really want to know what someone says, I’ll go ask them. They don’t need to put their opinion out for the world to hear without being asked.” Sometimes I just laugh.

Really, first off, one might say that the person asking that questions just wrote a blog, without actually posting it online. “But why would that be a blog? I hate blogs and would never make a blog in my life.” Sorry, you just did. How? Blogs are generally opinions. Anyone can create a blog these days, and the majority of them are simply people putting up their opinions on various things. Whether it be on movies, books, politicians, the weather, or their girlfriend’s mom, blogging is all about opinions. Well, at least in the private sector. Commercial blogging is a different topic by itself, which I’ll get to in a minute. So by creating a blog and putting it up online, I’m making my opinion available to people to be heard. Some would argue, “why bother, if I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.” All I can say to that is, “shhh, when I want your opinion, I’ll come ask for it.” And that’s why your opinion is a blog, just not on the computer.

So what about this commercial aspect to blogging? What’s that all about? Well, if you step back and take a look at it (keeping in mind that blogging tends to involve a lot of opinion), you can see why it would be a useful tool. A blog about a new product, raving about how good it is and why you shouldn’t just by one of them, but three, plus five more to give to your family for Christmas. What do we have here? An advertisement. Nothing new. Ads have been around for decades, informing the general public why the Jones’s are so much better off in their new home with new clothes, new car, new power tools, new leisure equipment, and new everything else. Or why you should vote for Politician A over Politician Z. This is why this company’s products are inferior to ours, which you should purchase in large quantities. Company blogs, designed to sell you products or ideas – opinions. Honestly, you get down to the core of it, it’s all more opinions. This is why product A is so much better. This is why the Jones’s are much better off than you. This is why blah, that is why blah, blah blah blah. Advertising is about giving an opinion of a product and getting someone to believe it, so blogging, which is about expressing opinions, fits right into the category for commercial companies. It’s rather entertaining sometimes to see how people completely miss a blog and think it is something else entirely. Just be sure to check out what it is you’re reading, and you may be surprised to find that it’s just another blog in the sea of blogs.

But what about blogs that aren’t trying to sell you anything, that aren’t just another Joe ranting about how Politician D messed up the world and should be shot, but really are a group trying to get information out, trying to report the news, or something good like that. That’s a fairly unbiased thing, right? Well, it might be unbiased, to be sure, but it’s still got opinion at the core of it. Why are they putting up that specific bit of news? Why did they present it the way they did, with the angle or slant they did (almost everything has a slant/perspective to it, sometimes it’s just really well hidden)? Why is it important for you to listen to this specific person or group, and why is what they have to say on the matter more important than someone else’s? Why did they feel they had to put up this bit of information where you could find it? Opinion. That is what drives the blog, even in the news sector. Even in the unbiased sector. Opinion underlies everything that is out there in the blogging world.

The history of the blog is rather funny, actually. People think that blogging is a new thing, only recently come along with the invention of the Internet. Well, if you look at what blogging really is, you’ll find that really, it’s nothing new at all. Remember the Opinion section of the newspapers? You know, that bundle of paper you use to have thrown at your mailbox by a teenager on a bike, printed in tiny black-and-white print and giant full-page ads for things you’d never imagine needing in your life? That was the dinosaur of the blog. Opinions were given in the ideas of which stories to publish, how they were presented, the Opinions section of the paper, and even the Letters to the Editor section. Opinions were expressed consistently throughout the entire paper.

The blog is nothing new, the expression of opinion, the life-blood of the blog, is nothing new to today’s realm. It is simply a new method of presenting opinions to the world, making them even more accessible to a larger audience, at virtually no cost to those putting forth their ideas and opinions. So the next time you hear someone complaining about how blogs are annoying or that they are something that are useless or pointless, ask them to consider keeping their blog to themselves.