Well, at least since 1975, when I first played “Gun Fight.”  It wasn’t the first video-game I played.  I played the original Space War at Magic Mountain, and of course Pong.  But others may feel nostalgic about those games, or Pac Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders, or even Centipede.  But the first time I played Shoot Out, I was completely immersed in the game.  I can’t say I saw the future of video-games, but I knew they would get better.  And then Star Trek, with it’s Holo-Deck, promised they would get really awesome.

Everything else got better.  Racing games moved up to Burnout Paradise.  RPGs evolved into Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and Oblivion.  First person shooters became Modern Warfare, Halo, and Bad Company.  But Westerns failed to go anywhere.  Too vast, too lonely, guns that don’t reload quickly, stereotypes that often just stare, putting all their wisdom into nearly un-readable eyes.  Great movies, bad video games.

But now there’s Red Dead Redemption.  Rockstar, who can afford to spend $100 million dollars to make sure all that open space is filled, all those guns feel right, and all those stereotypes have a place and a story, did it.  I love this game, so far.  I love wandering around, forgetting what my mission is, and just exploring.  Hunting feels real. (and I did hunt in the desert as a teen).  Not realistic, there’s just too much game running around, and things attack you.  Cougars and coyotes, even wolves.  In the real desert, these animals mostly hide.  But in this kind of archetypal American fantasy desert, they will jump you, and they should.  That’s real, the way it should be.

I’m still a long way from finishing (or even really starting) the story elements.  But the world is beautiful and, after oh these many years, I’m playing the game I was promised.

The World of Red Dead Redemption