Why do we play video games? Well my following article (originally posted on my personal blog) describes why we as gamers, play video games.“Why do you play such bloody games?”- My mother “Gaming just doesn’t seem right. Why waist your time sitting in front of a TV doing nothing?”- My grandfather I know this isn’t just me that receives these questions. Every gamer has had them thrown at their face. Why this, why that? Well I’ll tell you why.
Video games do something that no other entertainment medium can accomplish. They suck us in, they make us feel for characters, and the diversity within the community itself is amazing. Gamers group together to conquer unknown quests, fight against each other in the heat of battle, and make crucial decisions in a short time span. The games we play tell stories that are endlessly re-playable and let us control characters just like they were us. Sure you can sit down and read a book and get enveloped in it, but you can’t control the outcome of the main characters fait. Instead you sit back and watch the events unfold. Movies are almost a mix. This time we watch, instead of read, and we’re are amazed by the awesome effects and graphics. The problem is, for the average person, we can only see a movie in theaters at most 3 times. They’re just too expensive to keep paying for tickets. This is where video games come into play. Once we buy the game we have the gratefulness of being able to play it for endless amounts of time. We can play games from 20 years ago, or from last week, over 20 times if we felt like it. They never die nor are they ever forgotten. Many adults will recount there first time playing Frogger or Pitfall on their first Atari. “Well what’s so fun about them?”- My Grandparents One question that has plagued many non-gamers is what we as gamers find so fun about video games. The answer to that is plain and simple. They captivate us, grabbing on to our personality and not letting go. We make connections with characters. Games are fun because we get to roam the lands of made up worlds and fight the unknown evil. We can create our own worlds and shoot arrows into one’s knee. And we can solve difficult problems to move past difficult situations.
These reasons are why the gaming community is as large as it is today. These are the reasons why we stay up until 4am playing GTA. Games are where fantasies come true and stories are told. Where friends connect and enemies are made.
