Sky Render said:
The wails and mournings of the hardcore continue into the twilight of the Cinematic Cycle's day in the sun. Bemoaning the fate of their beloved hobby, they refuse to listen as the wise men tell them that this is nothing new and that the future still holds bright things. All they can see is the setting of that movie-esque sun, and the demise of a genre that they thoroughly entrenched themselves in, and the creeping sunrise of the Social Cycle's sun, with its games focused on many players doing simple but fun tasks together.
"Petty!" one of the hardcore scoffs, "Shallow! Unrefined! I shall never play such dregs! Send them away and give me my Metal Gear Solid!" But nobody answers their cries, and the Cinematic sun continues its inevitable descent, the Social sun its inevitable rise.
A lone figure approaches the angry hardcore who cried out. "Why do you belittle the Social Cycle? It is young," the figure reasons.
"Pfah! Look at it! All cheesy party games! Not a single good game in there!" the hardcore declares, spitting bitterly on the ground.
"But," says the unknown man, "what of games like Mario Kart Wii? And Super Smash Bros Brawl? Are these not games which appeal to your tastes?"
"Speak not the name 'Nintendo' to me!" the hardcore yells, angrily. "I will only hear the names of 'Microsoft' and 'Sony' uttered in my presence!"
"Why?" the stranger asks, bemused.
"Because...! Because...!" the hardcore struggles to find words. "Because I hate Nintendo! They've killed gaming!"
"Ah," says the stranger, nodding knowingly. "Turnabout is fair play, you know. When your Cinematic sun rose, do you know what those who worshipped the Arcade sun said? Much the same as you, that Nintendo had killed gaming."
"No!" the hardcore shouted, angrier than ever. "Nintendo did not bring the Cinematic sun to us! It was Sony! Sony! SONY!"
The stranger shook his head. "You know not your history, I see. Pray tell, did you ever play the Nintendo Entertainment System?" The hardcore shook his head. "Well, let me show you the start of the Cinematic sun's rise, then."
Just then, a large screen popped up, and Final Fantasy started playing on it. "That doesn't count!" the hardcore yelled.
"Why not?" the stranger asked, bemused. "It's most definitely a cinematic game, albeit one of the earliest. And here it is, on a system which predated the PlayStation by a decade. You see, Nintendo brought about your beloved Cinematic sun just as they've brought about the Social sun."
"It doesn't matter!" the hardcore yelled, sounding desperate. "Nintendo didn't give us the greatest Cinematic games, Sony did! And the third parties that supported Sony! Nintendo abandoned the Cinematic game!"
The stranger smiled. "Yes, they did. Because the Cinematic style was proving to be unprofitable. Tell me, what do you think is the most important thing to a company that makes video games?"
"That they make good games!" the hardcore said, mildly irritated at such an obvious question. "Why are you laughing!?" he demanded as the stranger chuckled.
"Poor deluded gamer," the stranger said, shaking his head. "The ends do not make the means. Companies that make video games value profit above all else if they are to survive. Making good games is the end of that means, not the means to the end. And Cinematic games do not make a profit; many of the companies making them are now expiring."
"So what!?" the hardcore shouted impatiently. "The games are still great! I don't care if a few companies go under, I just want my games!"
The stranger sighed. "You don't get it, do you? Who will make your Cinematic games if all of the companies die? Who will give you your fix then? The age of the Cinematic game is over, and with it, all those who will not flock to the Social Cycle which is rising. You cannot make the sun stop setting, and you cannot stop the cycle from ending. Do not hate Nintendo, for they are only the heralds of the inevitable shift."
"I refuse!" the hardcore spat, and turned to chase the setting Cinematic Cycle's sun.
"Futility..." the stranger muttered, walking off towards the rising Social Cycle sun, shaking his head. The hardcore would only find darkness at the end of his journey, but the stranger at least would find a brilliant day awaited him in the near future.
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