The Bit Myth

I think if I had to pick one "front" to fight in the Ameritrash war...and understand, I'm using the terminology for war very loosely...it is the myth that Ameritrash fans are solely concerned with quality bits regardless of the gameplay that is contained within.

Hey, I'll admit it--there is a certain giddy feeling when you open a box for the first time and get what I call "Stuff Overload". If anything, yeah, that initial rush would give you a sense of satisfaction--at least from an expenditure standpoint--in that you had spent your money wisely. After all....look at all this STUFF!

This is no new phenomenon, to be sure. Games Workshop games in the 80s and early 90s had that "Wow" factor. Who hasn't seen Space Hulk in action for the first time and just been floored by it? Warhammer Quest...Blood Bowl...games that grabbed attention primarily viscerally and visually.

Sadly (and this is not a comment on GW games, but in general), in days gone by this criticism holds true. Ameritrash-style games in the 80s were notoriously bad at being imbalanced, broken, needing house rules and huge FAQs, some even barely playable out of the box without immediate fixes. Instead, those boxes were stuffed to the gills with metal, pewter, or plastic bits... and usually a very hefty price tag. So, in those days, there was this sense of rationalization taking place...the games were expensive and had great bits, so they MUST be great, right?


To misquote a cigarette ad..."We've come a long way, baby."


Despite some of the criticisms launced against Eurogames my some of my Ameritrashin' brethren, Eurogames were the best thing that ever happened to Ameritrash titles.

(Well, someone had to say it).


Eurogames came along and the focus was on strong, clean gameplay AND great gaming components. Sure, those wooden bits weren't exactly what you were used to, but they were durable and high quality. Plus, the games were GOOD. Yeah, they stripped away the theme connection in the process...but again, Ameritrash titles should be grateful for this.


So what did SMART Ameritrash publishers do? Well, when the writing's on the wall, you'd do well to read it and heed what it says. Those American-style publishers who were able to change with the times stayed around, and those who couldn't went out of business or were assimilated. Then of course you've got companies like Fantasy Flight Games and Days of Wonder who were barely players at all when this decade began but are now both HUGELY successful companies, much of this success coming from embracing strong, quality bits and production values but marrying it to great gameplay and most of all maintaining an evocative link to the theme.


But back to the "bits = good" argument...and honestly, I don't want to dwell on this, but there was a certain game publisher who tended to focus on boxes full of plastic bits but gameplay that was often left to be desired, and that company is no longer with us. Even with big mounds of plastic bits, somehow the "poor, deluded" Ameritrash fan was able to still be choosy in his or her buying and even after purchase was able to look past the gorgeous production values and fairly rate the game contained therein.



So goes my mantra: great bits can indeed make a good game better, but a bad game is still bad even when it is swimming in lovingly crafted plastic pieces. I think if we could get that point across to the non-AT fan--that we honestly do enjoy the games, and not just because we are "blinded by the bits"--then we could close some of the chasm that currently exists between the two camps.



--Ken B.