One thing in particular that separated game systems by Nintendo from those by Atari was the saving capability. This allowed for much, MUCH longer games. It also allowed for some sort of character development. When you played Pac-Man, the little yellow circle with the wedge missing never changed. He continued to eat the little pellets, continued to chase ghost, and continued to hunt for the elusive fruits. In Super Metroid, Samus changed over the course of the game. Not only did her character encounter a litany of disastrous problems which altered the players emotional attachment to the faceless Samus, but her weapons systems were upgraded, her armors enhanced and so on. In the end, Samus was a veritable fortress storming after Space Pirates in search of her stolen Metroid Larvae.
Once I finished that game, the first thing I wanted to do was start over and do it again. I turned the game on, clicked new game and immediately tried to use all my armor and weapon upgrades, but instead found my newly re-oranged Samus essentially useless. I eventually quit playing because repopulating my armor and weapons systems seemed like more work than was worth it, knowing that I had already beaten the game.
In this same light, I find Google+ to be kind of annoying (though, I still have invites, if anyone wants to join me there). As far as I can tell, Google+ is essentially the same as Facebook: I can chat, I can post messages to my friends, I can share news and information, etc. Except in Google+, I have limited friends and a spotty understanding of the user controls. It just took me ten minutes to figure out how to post a message to two specific friends (Jamie and Rachel) regarding a Skype call. I wanted just to go to her wall, type in the message and tag Jamie in it. On Google+ I have to go to MY way, choose the friends I want to contact from my circles of friends (which are sparsely populated at the moment), and then type out my message. I can only assume it made it, though, because when I went to Rachel and Jamie's separate profile pages, there were no messages.
Like when I got tired of trying to get my less-optimized Samus to do wall jumps, I find myself just getting frustrated with Google+. Yes: Google is internet Utopia, and most of what they do is amazing (the Google Netbook looks sexy, and the Android is like the iPhone for regular people); Yes: Google's stuff works really well on average; Yes: it's nice to have options so that Facebook can't just decide what it wants and force us to all use their free program how they want to (which is another problem I have with people who complain about Facebook - no one is forcing you to use it; if you don't like the interface, don't use the program); Yes: the lack of ads is nice...for now, but honestly, ads have become such a ubiquitous part of my life I barely register seeing them anymore.
I guess my issue here is that I don't understand the difference or the need. Facebook works pretty well. There have been privacy issues (but why would you list information on-line that you didn't want everyone to know?), some of the games have asinine restrictions (I can only play Scrabble when I am here in the States, which puts my Epic Scrabble show down with John Zwarich on hold for six months at a time), and the ads sometimes assume that I am a lonely fat many in need of women and games that feature castles (which is only half true, and I'll let you figure that out); I get these issues, but again, Facebook is free, has been free, and shows no indication that it will be anything other than free. All these complaints about Facebook seem to me like someone complaining about the free cupcakes he or she has just eaten, and demanding more variety in the free cupcakes offered. Maybe a free cupcake that doesn't come wrapped in a paper that advertises for a dating service and is more open source.
As I type this, I realize that I sound quite crotchety. It might just be that I am getting old, and don't want to keep jumping around remaking friends in virtual spaces. I am fine working within the confines of Facebook because all my friends are there. It's a lot of work to reestablish these virtual friendships, making sure I don't leave anyone out. I find it especially redundant considering all of my friends on Google+ are on Facebook, too.
But, again, I realize the old-manish nature of these complaints, and in reflection it seems that my issue with Google+ is really just an issue I have in my life here: I am constantly jumping between two places that are filled with my friends. Both Chicago and Aberystwyth have people that I like to be around, and both places are places that I wish I could occupy at one time. In fact, I wish I could just take the two places and a roll of duct tape to make some sort of Franken-city filled with British and American people that I like to be around.
Like with Google+ and Facebook, though, this just seems to be the inevitable progression of my life. I wanted to live in the world for a while, and because of that I am going to have a wide net of friends cast about the world. No one made me move to Aberystwyth, make friends with people, and then return home to Chicago where I have other awesome friends (including some new ones I made this summer).
What I need to do, both in my life and my virtual social media outlets, is learn how to manage both. I have to spend time with both Google+ and Facebook, getting to know the ins-and-outs of the new guy while returning to the appreciated familiarity of the old guy. Neither one is better than the other, and neither one is a replacement for the other. If I can fit two separate cultures and two separate circles of friends in my life, I should have room for two social networking sites.
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