Westerns haven't been popular for a good 50 years or so, but films like Appaloosa and 3:10 to Yuma and games like Call of Juarez show us that they would be a fantastic setting for video games. So why aren't there more Wild West games?

One thing Call of Juarez: BiB proves is that the Old West is absolutely ripe with possibilities for video games. Story opportunities abound, from darker tales like Bound in Blood, to more traditional tales of the western hero, a man who roams the Wild West righting wrongs and taming the wilderness (in other words, an adventurer!). Western films prominently feature gunfights, fistfights, kidnappings, train robberies, and other action game staples. Most importantly of all though, westerns are about physical space. Even the genre itself is named after geography. Westerns are innately rooted in their setting. In film the “character” of the west can be seen in John Ford’s sprawling wilderness, broken by the sheer cliffs of Monument Valley, in the iconic Rio Grande and the Great Plains. Even more than just showing off the American wilderness, Westerns are about managing space, conquering the wild, leading cattle drives, and expanding territory. What better way to explore the themes of the Western than with the first medium that truly allows the audience to experience space?

Miss Razz via kokugamer.com »