The University of Idaho Argonaut

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past five months, word has reached your ear of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” — the king of all games. Released earlier this month, it is arguably the most anticipated game in history.

There is no need to mention that games are big business these days. The video game sector rivals Hollywood. “Grand Theft Auto 4” reaped in over $500 million in its first week, and while the rest of the economy was tanking this past year, Activision recently posted a $15 million profit.

Call it old-fashioned, socially backward or just plain stupid, but the concept of mowing down innocent civilians in an airport, even if it’s just a game, doesn’t seem to be entertaining — nor does running through make-believe villages, shooting anything that moves. After completing the single-player portion of the game, it hit me — I didn’t enjoy “Modern Warfare 2” because it was too serious.

Unfortunately, this is not a new trend. A quick look at the top-selling games reveals “Grand Theft Auto,” “Fallout 3” and “Assassin’s Creed.”

What do they all have in common? A hyper-realistic, somber world where you play a believable character bent on killing things.

I remember an antiquated age when games were used to escape from reality. There was nothing more satisfying than controlling a virtual monkey through a myriad of levels in “Donkey Kong Country,” or guiding a small (until that elusive power mushroom) plumber dressed in red over countless pits in “Super Mario Brothers.”

A screen shot of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (above) shows the gritty realism of the game, versus “Donkey Kong Country 2.”

And who can forget about the dynamic and entertaining bear-and-bird duo in “Banjo-Kazooie?” Filled with playful voices, colorful graphics, drop-dead hilarious dialogue, puzzles and levels galore, it was the perfect escape from the fast-paced world we live in.

These games are the remnants of a dying breed, a breed that thrived on artistic creativity and simplicity instead of copying the real world into digital form. What does it say about our society as a whole when the best selling games are about slaughtering countless polygonal characters in a hyper-realistic war environment?

I returned “Modern Warfare 2” after two days, dug out an old Super Nintendo gathering dust, and began to replay Donkey Kong Country 2. The mixture of sounds, colors, a fantastic musical score, and above all, simplicity, was a throwback to the days of old. A golden age when people played games as an escape from the complexities and troubles of their daily lives.

There are still plenty of Kremlins to jump on and banana coins to collect, plenty of pits to jump over and flags to raise. You just have to look into the past. The next time life has you down, treat yourself to these masterful works of art and watch all of life’s problems melt away.

It’s a lesson many modern game developers need to relearn, but until they do, the naging question remains: why so serious?

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