My thoughts on Video Games

Saw a post on here a few days ago that was a humorous attempt at dissecting a man's relationship to video games. While I don't remember the specifics, the post questioned why men play video games and ultimately concluded that RuneScape was the ultimate video game as it relates to man's truest purpose, which was to till the fields. I was amused by this post and how the predominantly female (and non-gaming) members of this sub reacted to it, but I thought it would be interesting to entertain a more serious discussion about the nature of gaming as a medium. So, I thought to share my two cents about the topic.

I am well aware of the (admittedly well deserved) reputation that games and gamers have, but if we look past its cultural context and attempt to understand gaming as a medium in and of itself, a central question emerges, i.e. why do we play games. And from them, other perhaps more interesting questions arise about the artistic dimension of gaming.

When asked to provide examples of what games they consider art, the average gamer here on reddit (again I hate those guys) might bring up story driven single player RPGs like the last of us, or the god of war and indeed the games industry too has been quick reward these high budget "cinematic" RPGs as being the medium has to offer. However, I had always disagreed with this assessment. To me, these games have always felt very shallow, be it in their mechanics, their systems or even the immersion. Games like these are focus group tested and designed to appeal to the greatest denominator. Which, while earning them incredible financial success as well as great praise from the top minds here on reddit, leave me feeling like they miss the essence of video games.

In the early days of film and photography, artists in both fields in a bid for legitimacy, asked the same question; What makes what we do art. And they (perhaps not wholly independently) arrived at very similar conclusions. Art to them was what can be solely and uniquely achieved through their mediums (In the interest of brevity, I shan't bore you with examples or citations here). Similarly, I think gaming, which is only now beginning to emerge from its fledgling state, merits asking the same question.

If you ask me, the essence of video games is interaction. It is movement, it is action, it is reaction and it is dynamism that makes games unique and special. I truly believe at its best gaming can provide a transcendental experience no different from any other medium.

This is a transcendence that reveals itself entirely through the mechanics of play. It happens in that moment when there is so much information presented to your brain that you stop actively processing and instead just start feeling, in those layered, split-second decisions that can betray the potential for infinite complexity. And, in multiplayer, when competitive play stops being about competition and turns into construction. It turns into a shared experience on another level, an intimate dance where you've co-constructed and inhabit this space that only you and those you're playing with could ever be privy to. To me, It is in these experiences that gaming feels concrete and real, rather than shallow escapism. They define gaming, in them I feel like I am interfacing with the divine, something far beyond myself and something very few other things in life could offer.

Of course, there is a lot more than can be said and my ideas can be better developed, but for now, I think I've said everything that I wanted to.