Hello everyone!
I don't like that I feel like I have to defend something that I love to anybody, let alone everybody, but people will always angst against video games. Don't ask me why, that's just part of the banana smoothie we live in.
Anyways, here's an essay I wrote in my spare time detailing my thoughts on how and why video games are productive and useful.
Enjoy!
I would like to now discuss something about which I am very passionate: the art (yes, the art) of electronic entertainment, specifically video games. I don't think one post will cover all my thoughts, so I've decided to discuss specifically some of the arguments people have against video games and why I believe them to be unfair and unfounded. I will end by sharing my thoughts on why I believe video games to be a constructive and healthy pastime.
The argument I hear the most is that video games are unproductive and are a waste of time. Now I can't conclusively say that video games are never a waste of time. I can't say that video games are productive. However, I also cannot say that about any of the thousands of ways people choose to spend their spare time. Painting, reading, writing, building, driving, shopping, spelunking, blogging, surfing Youtube...Whatever your hobby or favorite pastime may be, who's to say it's productive? Who's to say it's a good use of time? Why is the man who spends hours of day and thousands of dollars a year rebuilding a car any better the the gamer (one who plays video games)? Or the man who spends more time watching football in a day than he does sleeping?
My point is not to tear down the hobbies of others. I respect the way everyone spends their free time as much as I would like them to respect the way I do. However, I don't think anyone can be an accurate judge of productivity and "worthwhile expenditures". If we all spent our free time doing what someone else thought was a good use of our time, how miserable would we be? What if everyone was forced to watch golf tournaments on the weekend, or forced to spend hours watching soap operas, or forming clay models, or designing office space?
Some will say that some hobbies are productive because they have a positive or inspirational impact on society. Take painting for example. A person could spend hours on a painting that may someday hang in a gallery. That's spectacular, and I'm truly happy that that person is successful in their hobby. But what good does it do? Does it solve any problem? Has poverty been reduced, the hungry fed, the homeless housed, or the naked clothed? Has war been eradicated?
Or take professional sports, for another example. While this does not apply to the many to whom sports are a means of income and not a hobby, there are many thousands who spend an almost unfathomable amount of time and money merely watching and learning about sports. What good does it do? What good comes from hours spent watching others achieve greatness, from spending hundreds of dollars to support the already super-rich players, from millions of dollars being spent to build stadiums instead of hospitals, mansions instead of communities, and demi-gods instead of role models? I humbly suggest that this, although socially accepted, is no less time wasting than playing video games.
Another common argument I hear is that video games can be addictive. News flash: anything on God's green earth can be addictive. I once knew a man whose funeral was postponed so as to not interfere with an OU game. I saw a story on Discovery Health about a man addicted to jogging. Lost his home, job, girlfriend, health. I even knew a girl whose father read the Bible so much that he lost his job. Seriously.
Dictionary.com defines addiction as being "the condition of being abnormally dependent on some habit"(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/addiction?s=t). To be abnormally dependent on some habit. I'm sure every reader of this essay could think of ten people off the top of their heads who are abnormally dependent on some habit or other. The thing to remember is that you need to maintain a balance among all aspects of your life. Yes, video games can be addictive, but don't use that as an argument against them, or I'll use the same excuse to explain why I don't go jogging on a regular basis.
The third most common argument I hear is that video games cause a disconnection with reality, that the gamer loses a sense of what's real. We've all heard stories of people who say their murderous rampage started with a violent video game. Let me clear on something here: violent video games are only a factor, not the only factor in cases such as these. Murderers are born with abuse, neglect, loss, insanity, and many other external factors. A normal, healthy person will not kill someone because the saw it done in a video game. It will just never happen. Have you ever watched a violent movie and immediately believed it would be okay to go out and kill someone? No, of course not. The same "fourth wall" that helps you distinguish Hollywood from reality helps gamers distinguish video games from actuality.
In fact, it is my personal belief that video games provide a healthy outlet to anger and stress, like a more interactive form of punching your pillow. Why not let out all our harsh feelings and emotions in a world that doesn't exist? Better then letting it out in the workplace or at home.
I will now end by sharing my positive views on video games. In an over-stimulated world where dramatic expressions of violence and anger have obtained household commonality, where no one ever has to meet in person to be friends, where the mind numbing dredge of television has become the favorite pastime of millions, I'm grateful for the art and grace of video games.
Video games provide a portal to new worlds. Not scripted worlds where you can only experience what the director wants you to, but vibrant, living worlds filled with the beauty of life. Worlds that you choose how to experience on your own terms. Worlds where you can interact with people around the world in a vivid forum of opinion exchange and social networking. I once had the opportunity to stand on a cliff overlooking a vast and beautiful alien desert while a stunning meteor shower took place in the sky above me, and discuss the inspiration of it all with a man from Australia, standing on the cliff next to me.
Most video games provide ample mental stimulation, some in the form of puzzles, others in the formation of on-the-spot strategies in real time against intelligent and often lethal opponents. Some of the hardest times my brain has worked was when trying to figure out how to open the next room in Prince of Persia, or how to defeat the relentless Romans in Rise of Nations.
Video games have taken me to ancient civilizations and far-away galaxies. I have run the streets of Venice, scaled the walls of Jerusalem, raced through the jungles of Africa, and sailed the skies over Peru. I have base jumped off a skyscraper in Tokyo, fought off hordes of ruthless aliens, defended a prison on mars, and rescued a princess in danger. And most important of all, I have done it alongside my brother and my friends. For years to come, we will have a drink together, laugh at old times, and say "Remember on TimeSplitters when..."
For those moments, and for the many moments still to come, I give my thanks to video games.
