Welcome, yet again, to a long-delayed yet much needed addition to our content here at Game Academy HRO.
If you're reading this, then congratulations! You are, most likely, a gamer of some kind. I've ranted on "hardcore" versus "casual" on here already, so we'll avoid that again. Instead, today we're going to talk about a whole different aspect of games, and those who play them, and that is what games we enjoy, and why.
Games are more than children's toys. Sure, to many of us this seems like a given: after all, who would ever mistake the contents of a game like God of War or Europa Universalis as the playthings of youth? And yet, this is a misconception that many people have. This misconception is not limited to the video game industry, mind you: board games and, to a lesser extent, card games (of both the trading and non-trading varieties) face the same stigma. Even role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons or the World of Darkness titles see feedback from groups claiming that they are aiming to corrupt youth when the target audiences of many of these products are individuals in their twenties and over.
Luckily, this is a stigma that is gradually wearing thinner in our culture as those who have grown up with a wide variety of games as an integral part of their life become our cultural leaders. Film stars, musicians, even politicians are known to play games nowadays, and much like the animated film medium has managed to (mostly) overcome its image as a childhood pastime to be avoided by those of more "mature" sensibilities, gaming, in all its various forms, is reaching that same point.
One thing that gaming does lack in comparison to many other artistic or expressive mediums, however, is individual legitimacy, by which I mean, people's acknowledgement of what games, or even a specific game, have meant to them during their life, and how that game has changed them.
There are stories of this out there. Only a few months back a well-known gaming site (who will remain nameless) released an article from one of their writers about how the Tomb Raider series helped to inspire her to be a strong, action-oriented woman. Likewise, within the industry itself there are plenty of people willing to express how one game or another influenced their decision to jump into the industry themselves. Outside of those who are already considered "gamers" by definition, though, and are already a part of the community as it were, gaming has yet to find a true voice among the populace.
Ask any film star or politician and they can tell you their favorite film, favorite song, and favorite book. More than that, they can tell you why those properties are their favorites, whether it comes down to emotional content, aesthetics, or simply quality of construction and storytelling. Many of those same stars and businessmen/politicians would simply glare at you or shake their heads, though, if asked about a favorite board or video game, and this needs to change.
As I stated at the beginning of this article, if you are here, and you are reading this, then you are in all likelihood already branded a "gamer" of some type. Those of us already in the community can attest to the fact that games can and do have a profound influence on those who play them.
So, why don't we admit to this influence in our day to day lives more?
Imagine it is the 1930's, and you are talking to a friend about artistic merit. You mention Mary Shelley, she mentions Lovecraft, and you summarily chew her out for choosing such trash and trying to call it art. This is our situation now, and though time will, one day, give our medium the love and respect it deserves, for the moment we are pop, we are pulp, and we are laid low by the lack of respect we receive from other sources.
How can we change this?
Simply through expressing our love for our medium, and letting others know that games, just like any other form of entertainment or art, can influence you, and help you to define who you are.
There are dozens upon dozens of games that I have loved during my life, but like with books, movies, or songs, there are only a happy hearty few that I would say have helped to define who I am. Dungeons and Dragons sits right there at the top of that list; I was a latecomer to the series, twelve when I first picked up a used Dungeons and Dragons second edition starter set at a yard sale and already well versed in video and board games, yet the impact of that box set on my development was profound. From that box of pamphlets and crude pictures, and the books I have read since, I have learned more about storytelling, world building, and character construction than I ever picked up from a class in school. By reading about and playing Dungeons and Dragons I learned to apply more than pure imagination to what I wrote and built: I learned about logic, and balance, and action-driven narrative, and many other elements that apply not only to my artistic interests but also to my interactions with other people, albeit in a more cerebral and sardonic way.
With video games, my biggest influence has likely been Doom. As part of the first generation to really grow up with 3D games as a major part of their youth, Doom helped to define for me what tech was capable of, and as I grew older and learned more of the history behind ID and the game' development, it helped to show me what a small, dedicated team of enthusiastic individuals could accomplish with a little perseverance. It was something so much more than an engine or a new graphical aesthetic: Doom was, in many ways, the dawning of a new era in games, for better or worse, and is to this day one of the games I find myself most often delving back into to experience again. The impact Doom had on me as a child was profound, but the influence it has continued to hold over me as I have grown older has been no less important.
These are only two of the many, many games that have helped not only to entertain me, but to teach me, and to help me grow as a person. As much as books, or art, or movies or music or anything else, games have helped to give me artistic direction, strength, and determination in life.
What more can you look for in a work of art, than to influence, in some small way, how you define yourself, either in relation to yourself or to others?
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