Friday, February 3, 2017

Misconceptions About Video Games #1

This is for people who don’t really understand why someone can love video games so much. Hopefully this will inform you why people love this hobby by disproving some misconceptions about video games.


Misconception #1
Video Games aren’t the Same as TV and Books


You may be saying to yourself, “But video games are different than TV and books, they’re completely different!”. This is true, they aren’t the same. Games have a focus on interactivity and gameplay, while books and TV concentrate on the story and characters. That doesn’t mean that games can’t have stories and character Books tell a story with words, TV tells a story with video, and video games tell a story with gameplay.
Some people don’t realize that there are quite a lot of people who spend a lot of time thinking out complicated plotlines with various twists and turns along the way. Some of the greatest stories in video games can meet and surpass those of other mediums. Story is such a focus in some games, it’s the only reason you would play them. Take a game like Undertale for example. You might not know about this game if you aren’t into gaming, but the basic premise is that you a child who has fallen to a hole in landed in a world of monsters, some of the are good, others, not so much. Saying more would spoil the experience, and this is a game best played blind. This game will make you laugh. This game will you cry. This game may make you feel like you are the worst person on the planet. I would love to go into detail, but, you know, spoilers. So if you’re interested, go online and find it, the game is only ten bucks and I can almost guarantee you will find something in it to like. Maybe it’s the silliness of the world around you, maybe it’s the tear jerking moments, maybe it’s the fun characters, you’ll probably find something to love.
Video games are even in some ways better at telling at telling stories than other mediums due to their interactivity. With video games you can have the person who is experiencing the story have some influence over the world they are in. Think of any big, important choice that a character made in a movie. Now imagine you had to make that choice. Now a whole new way of storytelling just opened up. With player choice, you can make this branching story that will change each time it’s played though. With this choice, you can feel like these characters that had to make these decisions.
“Wow,”, you might be saying to yourself, “Video games really can tell a story like a book or movie! But if video games have these great stories, why haven’t I heard of them before?” And this is where we get to the sad truth. Sure, gamers know that video games a great outlet for storytelling, but the general public doesn’t know this. When people see video games, they don’t the story. They just see Mario jumping on turtles, someone stealing cars and running over pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto, little kids screaming and swearing at the top of their lungs as they get gunned down in Call of Duty. Now I’m not saying that these franchises can’t have great stories and characters, in know for a fact that some of them do. But that’s not my point. My point is that people don’t see the great stories, they just see the news stories about video games making you dumber, video games making you into a coldblooded killer, even when these stories aren’t true! (Trust me, I can prove it. I have facts, and not just alternative facts!:) ) Very few people know about what this hobby can truly do, many people don’t see video games as the art they can be. The world see the stories about how video games are the worst thing ever. They don’t see the Undertales, they don’t see the Xenoblade Chronicles, they don’t see the Fire Emblems. They just see the bad. So, next time, when you’re thinking about the next fictional world you want immerse yourself in, try looking at some video games and give one a shot. You might just find your new favorite story.

8 comments:

  1. You have a very well organized blog here! I love words you put into it. -SF

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  2. nice blog you used good examples of games and it after i read this i knew that some people had misconceptions about video games.--bs

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  3. Dude, THANK YOU, people are always bashing on video games saying crap like that, even though they have never even played one. I think that if people actually took the time to try it and think about the story line they would absolutely love them.- MJ.

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  4. Well Done! This post was well written. I recommend writing a sequel to this. It's success would be Yuge. N.K

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  5. Very good blog! You put lots of good detail into it! -DM

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  6. This is a very well organized blog that stated good strong facts to support what you are talking about. Good job. -LM

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  7. Finally, someone that spoke out about this kinda thing. People just don't understand sometimes. SOMETIMES. -G.A.P.

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  8. This was very well written with lots of strong facts. I enjoyed reading everyword of this post.

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