I don't know about you but I can think back to a time when I could literally spend an entire 48 hours of a weekend sitting in front of a screen completely absorbed into whatever video game I was into at the time. Video games to me are not just and escape and cheap entertainment, they are some of the most fulfilling and influential stories I have ever experienced. One of my all time favorite video games was one entitled Lunar: silver star story complete which was about a boy who dreamed of adventure and went on a quest to find four powerful dragon artifacts to become the next savior of the world. I played this game at a time when I was confused about myself and the direction I was going with my life and i felt a deep connection with the main character. The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the greatest games ever made and was the first game I ever beat completely on my own, I remember feeling an immense amount of pride.
The thing is is that mainstream culture is only now catching up and starting to realize that games are a legitimate form of media/literature many are just as good if not better than movies but us nerds know the truth. Games have always been a place to get deep, fulfilling, character driven stories that can move you and shape your view of the world. Now I'm not saying you'll get a lesson about life after death and how to eat properly just by eating ghosts and fruit in a game of pac-man certainly there are games that have only the purpose of wasting your time for a few hours but other games like (oh I don't know) Final Fantasy 3- 13, Mass Effect, Fallout 1-3, Baldur's Gate, Diablo1 and 2, Elder Scrolls 1-4, Metal Gear Solid, Dragon Age, Dragon Quest, Red Dead Redemption, Breath of Fire, Secrets of Mana, Fable 1-3, Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, Grand Theft Auto 3-4 (that's four games), Star wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2, and Chrono Trigger (just to name a few off the top of me head) have rich character driven plots that make you care and become emotionally invested. I myself recall a well of sadness when I messed up my first play through of mass effect and ended up getting Wrex killed (I love that big lizard). You don't have to take my word for it, play a game, make a virtual friend and tell me if there worth your time or not.
The dozens of poems mourning the death of Aries at the hands of Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 can still be found all over the Internet. People care about these characters just as much as people care about characters in movies. Someone told me you won't find a Sophie's choice moment in a video game, wrong, the difference is that in a video game your not watching that kind of choice you have to make it yourself, ask the thousands of people who spent hours just trying to decide who to save Kaiden or Ashley in the first Mass effect.
I'll remember you always Kaiden
It's dangerous to go alone! Take this. - The Legend of Zelda
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