For as much as I had to admit it, especially after spending my entire high-school years pretending to believe otherwise, there is a currency tied to being cool. It’s not something that’s easy to pin down and it’s even more difficult to replicate, but there is a lot to be gained by being instantly recognised as being cool.
In the world of video games especially, publishers and developers spend tens of millions on trying to achieve this same instant appeal, keeping an eye on current trends and what’s in vogue to deliver a must-play title that appears effortlessly charming (but which in reality has probably been focus tested to death).
Of course, for every game that nails this tightrope walk, there are ten others that fall off, break every bone on the way down, and then crawl over the finish line. The worst part is, they don’t realise it, and still they’ve nailed the landing.
