For most of my life I've walked the line between hardcore and casual gamer. When I was in high school my friends and I would spend an immense amount of our free time playing various video and computer games Looking back, I can honestly say I wasted way to much time playing these games, but who knows where I'd be if I had spent my time engaged in some other timesink. This lifelong history with games has brought me many times to the debate on people wasting their lives playing said game. There are all sorts of arguments on how your health degrades if you spend to much time sitting in front of a screen, but rarely does sanyone brings up the remark about the millions of people in offices for 8+ hours a day for 5 days a week. The health aspects of a game are beyond my ability to correctly assess or debate. So I wanted to express my oppinon on two other aspects of the gaming debate.
First off, a little about me. I am a huge fan of stories. I love reading all sorts of stories, from childrens stories to long epics. I watch an endless amount of movies depicting stories in the directing teams beautiful way. I love going to the theatre and watching a new take on a story. This extends to my love of video games. It is their portrayal(and interaction) that sucks me in to a story more then anything else. In a movie or book I am usually pretty good at expecting twists. I am rarely suprised by anything, and that isn't always because the filmmakers are doing a poor job. More often then not I have become accostumed to seperating myself from the story as an observer. In a game I become so entranced in the story, and being a part of the story that I am totally blown away by what should have been a obvious plot twist. By being given the illusion that I am driving the story the elements sink in much deeper.
Another common argument that I hear is the lack of social interaction among video gamers. Being someone who loves and craves interacting with other people I can say that most of my game playing comes specifically from interacting with other people. Whether its playing an online game with other people I've never met or playing multiplayer in person, other people make the most boring games more interesting. Minecraft is a perfect example of this. I can't stand to play this by myself because I get bored of it quite quickly. However, if someone else is willing to play on a shared server I find myself consumed for hours. Interaction towards a common goal has brought more joy then any single player experience I have discovered.
Kendrick
These are the breaks 