Gamers have "no life"? Society vs Video Games

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is society's general view of video games. Most people think of video games as immature, childish and pointless. "Grow up" or "Get a life" are the usual remarks that hardcore gamers get when they express their undying passion of video games. And I don't blame them, at one point in time, it MAY have been a waste of time. Way back in the old days, in the golden age of arcades, where it was all about getting a high score and beating your friends in a pointless and non-productive friendly competition.

But that's where it ends, unfortunately people still think that's what video games are. But they couldn't be any further from the truth. Video games have far evolved from what they were. Video games are becoming the new medium for expression and story-telling. I strongly believe that they have reached the level of Television and movies, and will one day even SURPASS them. That's right.


See, games now have stories, with well directed scripts, cut-scenes, dialogues, soundtracks and art direction. Some even take it further and have actual movie adaptations, comics, and animated features. Let's take for example, a fairly new (and very successful) series called Mass Effect. It is an amazing and breath taking story with an underlying theme of racism, and how we should all put aside our differences and unite for the common goal. There is no way you can look at this game and not see art. From the beautifully drawn concept arts to the beautifully rendered 3D environments. The soundtrack/music is among the best I've ever experience, it's exactly like an epic motion picture soundtrack you would hear in a huge blockbuster movie. The voice acting/dialogue is on par with any animated Pixar movie, and it's all well directed as a 3-part trilogy, and it also will have a live action movie adaptation.


Unfortunately, new mediums are always the ones that get misunderstood. Much like rap, Rock, and soccer (in america), it will take some time(and a heck of a lot of prejudice) until people realize that video games are no longer just for mindless fun, but for a great story-telling experience in which you will never be able to get from simply watching movies, and I really do believe there will be a time when society will see video games as equally as movies and music


just...keep that in mind next time, before judging people who "still play video games". Same goes for comics and Japanese Anime for that matter. People grow up thinking they're for kids, but truly, as any fans of these mediums can tell you, they are not (especially anime). In fact I would go so far as to say, for the most part, anime is absolutely NOT for kids. Read (or watch) "Death Note", amongst thousands of other titles, and judge for yourself :)


oh God, and please, don't get me started on the whole "violent video games influence people/kids to be violent" stuff. That is crap, and no researchers have ever actually been able to prove it, after 10 years. Its just the media and society putting the blame on "the new guy", so to speak.