Video games are a fairly recent medium. They have not been around nearly as long as books, music or even movies, and yet in today’s world there is a large amount of appeal toward them. Video games are under constant attack for various reasons. “They are too violent.” ,“They are a waste of time.”, and “They rot the brain.” are some of the most heard arguments. Due to these arguments, and many others, a somewhat distorted view of video games has become very prevalent in our culture. An idea that video games are a poison to our culture. That they truly are a waste of time. That they are played only by the lazy student trying to slack off, or by the inept husband who has a difficult time fulfilling his duty as provider of his family. There are people that say that you cannot be serious about your studies or careers if you play video games. Or that they lead you to close yourself off from the world. These ideas and many others seem to have permeated our mainstream beliefs. This seems evident by the countless displays of these ideas in other aspects of our culture. Look at our media. Who is it that usually plays video games? It is the stereotypical anti-social nerds who care more about their games than making friends. It is that difficult child who disrespects his parents. It is the lazy men who use video games to escape from their responsibilities. In many cases the attitude toward video games is that the person playing them is doing so while refusing to do that which he is supposed to, such as doing chores or homework, having dinner with his family, or dealing with other responsibilities. In short, video games seem to be viewed as the epitome of laziness in our culture. But there are more to video games than that. There is more than the constant negativity. There is another way to look at them. A different view of video games. A positive, open minded view. One that seeks to truly understand video games. Understand the negative, but also understand the good things video games bring to our culture.
When determining the positive aspects of video games it is important to look not only at video games as a medium, but at the individual video games as well. Too often arguments against video games are made by taking an individual game and using it as an example by which to base your opinions of all games. This form of generalization is an incorrect way to make any argument. It simply does not work. Just as books, movies, music and TV shows all have various genres, themes and attributes, so to do video games. Just look at the following example: A parent says that she does not wish for her son to play video games because they are violent, citing Grand Theft Auto as an example. To use Grand Theft Auto as an example of a violent video game is a valid argument, and if she feels that the themes presented within the game are not suitable for her child, she is well within her rights as a parent to restrict that. But look at that fallacy within her argument. She is using Grand Theft Auto to make the argument that video games as a whole are violent. This seems to be a common mistake made by opponents to video games. Using one game that they dislike, or that really is bad, to make an argument that all games are bad. A similar argument would be to say that Mein Kampf is full of bad ideas, therefore all books are full of bad ideas. Not only is this untrue, but the argument itself sounds ridiculous. Yet few, if any, people will ever make this kind of argument against books. But it seems to be something commonly accepted as a valid argument against video games. Fortunately, this is an easy argument to refute. All one needs to do is to ask this parent to examine the game Wii Sports, and to ask her how she feels about the violence in it. I think that she may see her argument unraveling in front of her, as Wii Sports, though it is a video game, has no violence in it. Thus you can see the importance of not lumping all video games together as if they were exactly the same. There are so many different types of video games that there tends to be something for everybody. If you try and treat them all the same you are going to be sorely disappointed, as any argument made that is based on that premise is not going to have two legs to stand on. The varied nature of video games is one of the most important things to remember when looking at them as a medium, and as a part of our culture. Just as with any other medium there are bad video games as well as good ones. There are video games out there that enter to the point of immoral, inappropriate and wrong. Just as with books, movies and music there are games that seem to go out of there way to be horrible. The important thing is to not let our opinion of one game determine our opinions for all of them. We do not read a book, decide we do not like it, and then throw away that book and vow never to read again because all books are bad. So why let one video game decide our opinion for all of them? This kind of generalization is dangerous to any argument, and it does more harm than good when you are trying to discover truth.
Truth. That seems the be the one thing that everyone is always searching for. What is the truth? Everybody has their own answer to that question. People are always on a journey to learn the truth. They are always looking for new ideas, or studying old ones. People are constantly on a quest for knowledge. And though people all take different paths on this quest, they usually meet on one common ground: Once a person learns a truth, gains an idea, or has an epiphany, he usually likes to share it. They share it through various mediums: books, music, art, and (more recently) through movies and TV shows. Through all the various mediums that human beings have come up with we share our ideas. Video games are no exception. Though a relatively new medium, video games have quickly transcended the realm of pure entertainment, and have become something more. True, video games are first and foremost a means of entertainment. The reason that they were invented, and the reason for which they are still created today, is for the entertainment of those who are playing them. Some use this as an argument against video games, saying that by playing them you are wasting your time with frivolous enjoyment when you could be using that time to expand your mind. To those who say this, a good counter argument is to point to the plays of Shakespeare. Considered today to be classics, Shakespeare’s plays were meant for the entertainment of those who watched them. That was their designed purpose. Yet today they are some of the most well known works of the English language. People are constantly quoting them. They are taught in schools. People have discussions in which they talk about the various things taught and discussed in the plays, such as human nature and morality. What was originally intended to entertain has now become the subject of scholarly study. You will find similar stories with various novels and movies. They were originally made for the enjoyment of the consumer, but are now considered classics worth studying for the truths and ideas presented within them. If this can happen to all the various other mediums man has created, then why not video games? There are many video games which do present ideas and truths, discussions and debates, points and counterpoints. Just as books and movies cover a wide variety of subjects, so too do video games. Their topics can range anywhere from morality to politics, religion, human nature and many others. Video games are not only a means of entertainment, but a medium for telling stories. For presenting ideas. For sparking discussions. Video games are constantly under attack for being a waste of time when they should be embraced for being another way to learn and grow. For being another way that man has chosen to tell stories and present and share ideas. For being another way for people to share what they have to offer the world.
Now that video games have become a part of the world we will not see the end of them any time soon. There was a time when many people thought that video games were just a fad. We see now that this is not true. Video games a here to stay, and so we can do one of two things: We falsely portray video games as bad, evil, and something that we need to remove from our lives, and one day the world. Or we can look for the good within many of the video games that exist, and use that to better ourselves and others. This does not mean we all need to be playing video games. Many people have no interest in playing them, and so they should not have to. But for those who do want to play them, it is important to understand that they are not evil. Just as in anything else, there are the good and the bad, and thus you need to examine the individual games and make your own personal choices. What are you okay with? It is the same choice that we have to make with books and movies. Overall though, it seems clear that there is so much good in video games how could they not be positive for society? Video games are an important part of our world. And as such, it is important that we examine them a little differently. Not just as a means of entertainment (though that is an important view of them as well), but as a means for learning, thinking, growing, and experiencing. Video games have many connections to different areas of our culture, and we should examine that. Video games have a lot of good to offer us, and they can help change the world for the better.
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