Is it any coincidence that we're then influenced by other stimuli, which sparks our interest towards one particular genre or the other?

Lets take the game Tennis for instance. I'm not a jock nor ever was, so I don't have the propensity to go out and buy the latest roster updates for $50 a pop, play it for a month, and then resell it at the local Gamestop for $10. Rosters or no rosters, I may be inclined to get into a genre solely by seeing an ad in a magazine or watching a sporting event on television.

Ah yes! T.V. The great brain drain. Is it really making us dumber or is all the positive educational input from channels like Discovery, The History Channel, National Geographic and others actually making us smarter? It's one thing to be able to visualize something in your mind and create your own perceptions of any given event through literature be it Fiction, Sci-Fi or Fantasy, but it's another beast entirely when you add the actual visual representation of the event be it live or recorded. For the most part, it's these visual stimuli, which make up the ebb and flow of gaming.

Most of the time you'll know what you want to play, and it won't be an issue choosing something newer or more popular to hack away at for a few hours on the weekend or before and after work. You'll spend a week working on Twilight Princess or maybe a few weeks on God of War or Shadow of the Colossus. Maybe Forza has your interest or some Halo or whatever the latest Xbox Live scene has on tap. For the really old school people there's the occasional dip into the roms and isos to go through Dracula X for PCEngine or maybe a round of Radiant Silvergun or Cotton 2 on Sega's Saturn.

Some of these choices may not just be random events fulfilling some innate need to game on a particular platform or in a certain genre, but are choices influenced by other stimuli.

Going back to Tennis (finally).

As of recently I haven't been playing anything in the sports genre, but I did just happen to catch some of the Australian Open tennis tournament on ESPN while surfing the other evening. Whether it was the females in the skimpy tennis outfits or the level of the game being played (semifinals), I was somehow entranced into watching a few matches to their completion. Is it any wonder the next evening I had a strong inclination to play a round of Roland Garros on the PS2? I ended up playing Mario Tennis on the Gameboy Advance and I've already prepared Mario Power Tennis for the Gamecube. Despite the long-winded, questionable storyline, which is forced upon you at the beginning of Mario Tennis GBA, I did manage to log a few hours of solid gameplay before falling asleep (while still watching the Australian Open). Ebb and flow.

I had absolutely zero interest in anything sports related, and had very recently logged hours on Okami, Twilight Princess and Dracula X both PCECD and Circle of the Moon. I had however checked out a few sporting titles on the GBA in the Backyard arena as well as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 GBA, PS2 and PC, but surely it was the television stimulus which inspired the flurry of tennis activity.

Whether it was tennis, soccer, football or golf, I had been inspired. The ebb has come once again and I am flowing with it. Next week it could be anything from Yar's Revenge on the 2600 to whatever incredibly done rpg hits the PS2 or something entirely next generation in high definition on the 360 or PS3 (neither of which I currently own due to inflated international pricing). It doesn't have to be the latest greatest or even the oldest most mundane gaming experience. Game Flux will find you.

Obviously it doesn't have to be sports nor does it have to be television alone. You could notice something throughout your day. Maybe you feel like a trip back to school to relive some fond or terrifying memories so Bully will satisfy this urge. A car passed by while you were at the stoplight and it was a model you know something about or it made you think of your favorite sports or muscle car. You go home and put in Gran Turismo 4 PS2 or Forza Xbox or even hit Monoco GP 2 for Dreamcast. Ebb and flow.

I remember clearly a few weeks back when a student of mine showed me a video he had made of him skateboarding doing some spectacular tricks. He had even bothered to do some editing so there was some slow motion and repetition in specific areas where his skills were well highlighted. The following weeks saw me playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 at work on my PC and at home on my PS2. In fact I was so inspired that I logged enough time on both versions to complete 75% of the game (with the help of a few gifted students). The ebb and flow of Game Flux.

Whether it's Pitfall on the 2600 or God of War on the PS2, the ebb and flow of Game Flux is around us. It may not be as obvious to some of the newer generation of gamers, but to those of us who have been gaming since Pong, it's quite clear. We are swept up in its winds of genre change, and dropped headlong into the mystery, wonder and awe of whatever platform is readily at our fingertips.

I hate it when my PC fan is rattling. I may be inspired to go on a killing spree in San Andreas…