My Love Of Video Games

I’ve recently found that several conversation with my acquaintances have spun into a full on question and answers session about my blog and why I writing specifically about Video Games. They asked the usual questions about whether I play games all day and why I decided to start writing about them but then they grabbed me with…..

“Why do you like games so much? Why haven’t you grown out of them yet?”

The second questions made me feel old but they actually have a good point and I didn’t really have an answer for them. In the last few days and weeks I’ve thought about this a lot and think I’ve finally come up with a suitable answer.

After all is said and done the medium of video games unlike any other presents us all with a sense of endless possibilities. Whether its deep space horror or fantasy worlds filled with elves and dwarfs the medium itself allows us to explore all matter of virtual worlds.

When I’ve slowly become an adult – and I mean slowly – I’ve noticed that the world around me isn’t full of magic, it isn’t adventurous (most of the time) and in some cases it is actually fairly boring. Don’t get me wrong my life is enjoyable and fulfilling but at the same time it is constantly mundane. I go to work, I clean my house, I wash my cloths like anyone else and during this time I don’t get to battle Dragons or fire wasps from my hands.

My love of video games has transpired from my active imagination for the impossible that has always been a big part of my life. I know that the world has plenty to explore but it’s been seen and done by hundred of people thousands of times before and nothing really sparks my interest like doing something that is classed as impossible.

Things can and do happen in the real world to spark our imaginations but probe deep enough and the truth tends to extinguish that original spark of wonder and marvel.

Something I read recently put it best in which the writer spoke about Lake Baikal; the deepest lake in the world. He was saying that his imagine ran wild with all the idea of what might be held in its deepest recesses but in truth there’s nothing down there but mud and stones because lets face it - that’s how the real world operates.

Stick the same situation into a video game though and there literally could be anything down there!

These sorts of situations tend to being forward pieces of equipment, large one off enemies or specific areas to further explore – all of which are far more exciting than mud and stones.

My friend’s second question puzzled me more as I know plenty of ‘adults’ that are regular gamers too. I know that gaming as a hobby has a certain taboo but this generation of games has made it more acceptable and accessible than ever before. The stigma mainly stems from the fact the most people grow out of games as they find less time to proactively play them or that they find adventures of their own in their natural lives. It’s obvious that as a kid the impossible nature of the games we play is more believable but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the odd Harduken now and then.

I’m not saying I’m unsuccessful in my ‘real-world’ life either but I can completely relate to people that stop gaming as they feel more successful in their jobs and with their personal goals. When this occurs there is less drive to escape into another world; especially when you grow to have children of your own. As the time you have for games diminishes so does your enjoyment of them. If I hadn’t found the time to enjoy the gigantic RPG’s that I love so much I would no doubt enjoy them less. I feel that to really appreciate the grandeur of a large scale RPG you need to commit some hours into it.

The real change to playing as an adult is a persons retention of their imagination. We’re wowed by the darkness of space, the longest caves and the deep oceans and I for one want to believe that the real world has some magic in it too.

I don’t always play games for their vast worlds but sometimes for their levels of strategy or physics. I love the likes of Trials and Starcraft but neither of these have the exploratory nature of the games I would class as exploratory adventures (unless you class exploring for minerals as an adventure).

Games are always above discovery, ingenuity and problem solving and I love them!