What do videogames mean to you?

wong

Hey everyone,
I'm currently doing a project at college.
It involves me designing an 8 page supplement for the Guardian on a self-initiated topic.

I'm doing my project on videogames and why they are good great. Sorta like a big **** you aimed at critics of videogames.

Would really appreciate it if you could please tell me why you love videogames so much and anything else you can add to the whole area of videogames (reaction to critics and what they say about videogames, the harmful effects etc..)

Taltos

Hi wong.

To me they are an escape and a relief from the pressures of my 9 to 5 job.

I equate them with both Books & Movies - both a distraction from the general grind that for a few short hours make life on other planets a reality and not just the dreamings of a kid lying on a coal-shed in the back yard staring at the sky...

Much prefer to hack / shoot / kill some faceless alien/zombie/nazi than walk around punching my fists into harmful and dangerous walls...

Hope this helps.

RedXIV

I love video games because they are fun, they entertain me, I love stories, I like to be challenged, I think they are alot more diverse than people give them credit for and some games are proven to engage more of your thought processes than crosswords, sudoku or any of those other things that are supposed to keep your mind sharp.

I love video games!

Otacon

Video games have the potential to be one of the most complete forms of entertainment. You get story and characters to rival the best movies and books, fantastic art and music as well as interactivity and social experiences that the other formats cannot compete with.

We are not there yet, but I am enjoying the journey to get there. The best games for me are ones that propel this potential forward.

Penrose

Video games are an essential part of recreation, when the weather is bad and you dont want to head outside then you can just sit down and relax at the TV or PC playing what ever game you want.

People like to blame violent acts on video games, before that people blamed comics, before that books, before that witch craft.

Motley Crue

I love video games for the escapism. A great example is GTA, it's just nice to free roam and drive around in a game like that, and I like the whole science fiction and magic elements that come from some of the best games like Halo and FF

I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember, just the other day I found a copy of Monkey Island in a bargain bin in a charity shop for 50p, and it brought back all those early memories. I moved onto console gaming with the Megadrive, N64 and then later the Playstation series. I like the sense of community that games bring, the idea that people who play certain titles might be able to relate to in game jokes and actions, and that helps people get along better when they find they have this common link.

I'm a big believer that games can aid mental development, as opposed to hindering it, and I don't think that there are any ill effects to playing responsibly. You obviously shouldn't give an 8 year old a copy of GTA but then on the same token you shouldn't expect to play for an entire weekend and suffer no ill affects.

I also think that video games can help certain kids grow and become more social, giving them that conversation point at school, allowing them to form ideas based on the inspiration they get from video games. Some people will talk about the negative ideas formed, such as killing someone or robbing a car or dealing drugs, but there are a lot of positive aspects - wanting to be an athlete, representing your country, travelling to see the world, tolerance of other races and creeds, dreaming of life on other planets and just inventing ways to help mankind.

I think a lot of good can come from video games, and a lot already does

Also, be sure to mention Video Metal, a new genre of music in the US that is inspired by video games. Check out these bands for inspiration yourself.

http://www.myspace.com/themegas

http://www.myspace.com/armcannon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPy1k6WvzDg

F1ngers

<Moved.>

Duggy747

Video games are as important to me as all other forms of entertainment. I grew up with a massive interest in arcades especially when Mortal Kombat just came out, they were games that no console at the time could reproduce graphically. The variety and artistic style of the games always appealed to me, especially when gaming companies were more agressive in trying to outdo each other. Games were always a talking point with other kids growing up in school.

The myth that kids and wierdos play games is at last slowly going away, as is evident in the style of advertising of gaming; No more "radical" buzz words to be hip with the kids and a lot more mature presentations.

To me, they're a release from things in the day and allow me stimulate my brain be it through mindless shooting games or something that geniunely puts my brain to the test.

Gaming culture has changed hugely in past decade with zillions of servers for most games, creating a social connection online. I used to play online Rainbow Six & Unreal Tournament but I eventually got bored of the online scene. Years later, I started playing on an American server for Left 4 Dead 1 at the start of the year, became buddies with the admin and the regulars through Skype / Facebook / etc, and I have a great laugh most nights I'm on it...............especially since I'm a mod and get to cause havoc :pac:

That_Guy

Video games for me are a sense of escapism. It's a brilliant way to wind down after a hard day of work as you immerse yourself into a virtual world even just for half an hour away from the doom and gloom of the real world.

Games for me offer more bang for my buck than any other media ever could. The fact that you are in full control instead of sitting watching a film where you have no control over anything is a lot more rewarding for me anyway.

valleyoftheunos

Video Games are a rare combination, they mix art, fun, escapism, entertainment, story and a few more things beside. To me the difference between games and movies in terms of value to society is minimal but we are only now seeing the start of that potential be explored.

Games are becoming more complex and are provoking different emotional responses as developers do ever more complicated work and explore different themes. themes such as family, love and even ideas like the value of democracy. I'm talking about games like Heavy Rain and the Bioshock series.

In short, games have come a long way from the early 80's, they are no longer exclusively simple, goal orientated and linear adventures designed for children, nerds and teenagers. They can be deep and engrossing, they can tell fantastic stories and provide us with characters as complex as any book or movie and hopefully its just a matter of time before more and more people understand that and more developers achieve that.

The best stuff I've found on this is a guy who produces his own podcast called A life Well Wasted

His website is alifewellwasted.com

Best of luck with it, you've started a great thread.

tman

To me they're simply the most engrossing form of entertainment out there.
Books and films are great once you get into the swing of them, at times they can almost be on a par with games when it comes to being immersive.
Games drag you in from the very moment you first take control, there's no need to switch off and let your imagination run wild, YOU are the one controlling the awesome stuff that's unfolding right there in front of your eyes.

Hell, apparently immersiveness isn't even real word, but for the sake of games I'll make an exception...

As far as what I would say to naysayers - you can't go wrong with the classic "What was the most voilent time in history? That's right, the crusades... And what did they rely on for entertainment back then?..."

deathrider

I like gaming because I'm a big geek

Lol, in reality though- I find myself occasionally writing long, and sometimes very indepth blogs on video games, the reality therein, and why they capivate me in the way that they do. Usually I write them to try and sum for it up for myself, to find out why I'm so into them. So if you want to have a mooch through any of these blogs for research and the like, feel free to PM me, and I'll send you the details, dude.

Jonny7

Pros
Immersive, detailed, interesting escape from reality
Great little time consumers
Challenges the brain


Cons
Antisocial (exception of wii, etc)
Overly addictive (e.g. online games)
Unhealthy (sitting on your ass, staring at screen, except the wii)
Mainly male dominated and male orientated
Not exactly productive entertainment like perhaps other more physical hobbies

As with everything, they are fun/novelty when in moderation, but can be bad in large doses

Fnz

Jonny7 wrote: »

Pros
Immersive, detailed, interesting escape from reality
Great little time consumers
Challenges the brain


Cons
Antisocial (exception of wii, etc)
Overly addictive (e.g. online games)
Unhealthy (sitting on your ass, staring at screen, except the wii)
Mainly male dominated and male orientated
Not exactly productive entertainment like perhaps other more physical hobbies

As with everything, they are fun/novelty when in moderation, but can be bad in large doses

Couple of specious "cons" there:

Overly addictive? Says who?
Unhealthy (sitting on your ass)? - Just like reading?

Entertainment time not being 'productive' isn't something to decry. Also, you did suggest that it challenges the brain.

Sabre0001

Dodgy cons list there Jonny7

Antisocial - I regularly have friends over to play video games and we have a great laugh for the night. Hardly getting up to no good...

Male dominated - so? You may not pick up chicks in-game but that's not really the draw of it really is it? Times are changing too - plenty of girl gamers out there. Thankfully, many of them don't feel they have to express that they are female (unfortunately, some are not given the freedom or they become targets of wierdos).

What do you mean by "productive entertainment"?

Finally, all activities can be unhealthy (and have massive downsides) - everything in moderation and all that!

Placebo

To me its all about making people cry.
And having it streamed live to everyone to see.

Thats what its about for me.

Jonny7

Sabre0001 wrote: »

Dodgy cons list there Jonny7

Antisocial - I regularly have friends over to play video games and we have a great laugh for the night. Hardly getting up to no good...

Male dominated - so? You may not pick up chicks in-game but that's not really the draw of it really is it? Times are changing too - plenty of girl gamers out there. Thankfully, many of them don't feel they have to express that they are female (unfortunately, some are not given the freedom or they become targets of wierdos).

What do you mean by "productive entertainment"?

Finally, all activities can be unhealthy (and have massive downsides) - everything in moderation and all that!

Disclaimer: was the bad in large doses
I've seen friends/girlfriends/even wives down the drain cos of game addictions
Plenty of failing college, loosing jobs, sitting on dole, wasted twenties.. you really don't want to know the full "con" list.. is depressing.

Main culprit is World of Warcraft - couch potatoes having a game of pro-evo less so.

Agricola

Games can bring out emotions like no other medium. Happiness, joy, excitement, anger, fear, frustration - and thats just one gaming session I had this evening!

Immersion - Unlike most other forms of entertainment where you are just an interested spectator, games allow you to play a role, participate in and affect what happens in the experience. Games that allow for multiple choices and provide branching paths are even better.

Escapism obviously.

Some of the best times Ive spent with friends have been around a games console. From playing pong with my cousin on his battered old Atari 2600, to Sensible Soccer and Street Fighter 2 on a C64, to experiencing the pioneering 3d games of the PS1 and up to the present day. So many memories of late late nights, having a great time.

wong

Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd post this up.

I designed and created the supplement and have it on my newly updated website.

Have a look and thanks again for the input!

http://www.artofwong.com/#1286363/Game-On

Mr.Saturn

****s and giggles, mainly. Every now and then, there's a game like Mother 2/3 that'll get me to stop and go "this is better than telly+cinema+comics combined", but by and large, just simple jollies.

nyarlothothep

Funny how everyone is stating escapism as the reason, life isn't that mundane is it? I play them primarily as a form of escapism. I like the thought that I can essentially waste time on something completely useless, when everything else has to have a reason/purpose. I value playability above all else and have a preference for rpgs with really really good stories which the player can shape co-creatively if they choose to. For example I'm playing ME 2 (ok its not an rpg per se but it has those elements). In ME 1 I played Commander Shepard as a complete corrupt captain Kirk esque asshole going to alien worlds and generally being an arrogant domineering douche to everyone. However in ME 2 seeing as Shepard has "died" I've decided to play him as a paragon under the aegis that his brush with death has fundamentally changed his outlook on life. I also changed his class from infiltrator to adept as they would obviously want to revive him with cool biotic implants. Someone mentioned that playing games is much like reading a book, I think this is true, its like writing a book with the author, I'd like to see more of this in games. In Dragonage I thought it was quite novel the way you could influence the personalities of the characters through your conversation choices.

Although I'd have to say I try to limit myself playing games as I just end up doing nothing.

richymcdermott

Pros: beats watching tv


Cons: games are expensive

kiad

to get owned by Jazzy

wnolan1992

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Funny how everyone is stating escapism as the reason, life isn't that mundane is it? I play them primarily as a form of escapism. I like the thought that I can essentially waste time on something completely useless, when everything else has to have a reason/purpose. I value playability above all else and have a preference for rpgs with really really good stories which the player can shape co-creatively if they choose to. For example I'm playing ME 2 (ok its not an rpg per se but it has those elements). In ME 1 I played Commander Shepard as a complete corrupt captain Kirk esque asshole going to alien worlds and generally being an arrogant domineering douche to everyone. However in ME 2 seeing as Shepard has "died" I've decided to play him as a paragon under the aegis that his brush with death has fundamentally changed his outlook on life. I also changed his class from infiltrator to adept as they would obviously want to revive him with cool biotic implants. Someone mentioned that playing games is much like reading a book, I think this is true, its like writing a book with the author, I'd like to see more of this in games. In Dragonage I thought it was quite novel the way you could influence the personalities of the characters through your conversation choices.

Although I'd have to say I try to limit myself playing games as I just end up doing nothing.

Nice to know I'm not the only one that used the dieing thing to give my Shepard some bad ass biotic powers

I don't think it's so much that life is mundane, as much as it is mundane when compared to the life of Ezio Auditore, who runs across Italy slitting the throats of unsuspecting guards.

For me, games are a chance to work off frustrations and real life anger. There's no better feeling than passing a mission you thought was impossible the day before imho.
Games are becoming more like movies now, with games from devs like Rockstar, Bioware, Ubisoft, etc, and for me, playing games is way better than watching a movie. Not only can you sometimes get ten times longer out of it (20hrs for an average game, 2hrs for an average film) but your actually getting to interact with the world you see on the screen. And to agree with nyarlothothep here, I like being able to shape my character to myself, so it's a completely unique experience that I get when I play the game, as opposed to the universal experience you get when reading the majority of books or the majority of films.

Redlion

I honestly don't know how to answer that qustion. They mean everything and nothing to me at the same time. There are too many different variables within gaming that it is hard to pinpoint what they mean to me exactly. In the grand scheme of things, they mean **** all to me. There are so many more important aspects to my life that easily push gaming to the bottom of importance. Examples alone being family, friends, my own wellbeing, work, college etc..

However, that being said, when it comes to recreation, they are there for me when I want them. They provide me hours of entertainment, and great stories to grasp onto. Personally, they are a nice medium from which I can escape the all too familar bull**** that can often accompany the more important aspects of my life that I listed above.

Reading back over the first paragraph, I probably come across as ungrateful for gaming or against it. But in reality that's the truth for me. Video games are an interest to me, but I'd survive without the medium. I'd drop it no questions asked, if it affected either of the more important aspects of my life.