I already had an impressive resume by age 10.I’d won at least six NBA championships with as many teams. I could fly four different kinds of starships across the cosmic abyss. I knocked out Mike Tyson.I had three girlfriends in three different dimensions. I was a sucker for troubled women. I saved one from a giant gorilla by jumping over no less than 286 barrels. The second fell in with the wrong crowd, the giant pig-type. Zelda – it’s a stupid name anyway. I became a surgeon with the bow and arrow, and all I got was a golden triangle.The last girl really did it to me, though – I never thought I’d find the right castle. I accidentally tripped on mushrooms to save her from a fire-breathing turtle, but she wasn’t even home. Of course the above only happened in a video game, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Today, many games have traded originality for almost mindless shock value. Thirteen years have gone by since I was 10, and the games have changed. The textures are sharper but more unforgiving. The skies aren’t so blue anymore, but the flames are crisper.Yesterday, I played “Fallout 3,” widely called “the best game of 2008.” I walked into a bombed-out home, going upstairs to the kids’ room. Their skeletons were still tucked safely in bed. Model airplanes were strewn across the floor. They looked like the ones I used to pilot.Of course I didn’t notice any of this at first. I just quickly grabbed the rifle ammo off the nightstand, jumped out the window and went on my way. It wasn’t until five minutes later it hit me: What in the hell did I just see? This sort of sight would have scarred me back then. What changed, and why? When did I go from a fat, bouncy, romantic plumber to a “COME GET SOME” space marine?There’s no denying the high production values of games like “Gears of War,” “Grand Theft Auto IV” and “Call of Duty 4,” some of the Xbox 360’s highest selling games. That is, one can really see the attention to detail in the viscera: That’s exactly how I would expect brains and gunsmoke to look!Video games are no longer as gimmicky. They have an enormous stake in the entertainment industry. And so, the audience has broadened. More “average Americans” have picked up the joystick. This is why the most anticipated games are “Halo 3,” “Gears of War 2” and the like. For all their beautiful artwork and sweeping scores, the average Joe just wants a bigger, badder plasma rifle. They want a new kind of grenade, an alien with more detachable limbs.The Wii sells plenty of units. Nintendo’s light shines on, appeasing the kid in us all. But these games with Hollywood budgets – artists – remain the elephant in the room. What gives with the unadulterated violence? Some say it gives them a chance to “do or be something they couldn’t in the real world.” Still, why must we default to linear blood-spilling? Where’s the originality? Pac-Man wasn’t exactly a real-world premise, either. Here we had a half-eaten pizza creature chomping on anti-anxiety pills while he fled the clutches of Technicolor specters.I’m guilty of desensitization, too, but any gaming fan should not forget from where he or she came. Remember the games that gave you a good vocabulary – that taught you about time travel. Sometimes I wish I could go back to the old me. I haven’t taken a full-court shot in I don’t know how long – I predict an airball. Iron Mike could probably knock me out today. The flight controls are covered in dust – I’d likely crash out of the hangar. And the girls? I hope they remember me. I’d jump over a million barrels if they’d just give me another chance. Tomorrow, I think I’ll trade the Widowmaker 9000 for the old trusty hickory bow. Hope it still works. I’ve got some pigs to see. Jack Johnson is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from Fort Worth, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_jjohnson.—-Contact Jack Johnson at [email protected]