Video games or real life?

“Are you still playing? You haven’t done anything since morning? Dinner is ready!” These and many more shout-outs are just the tip of the iceberg that you can experience when you are a devoted follower of the Gods of Gaming. Now, you have all heard that games are a waste of time and playing them will not help you in any way possible to become a more fitting citizen. Oh, wait, let’s not forget the most famous “if you play video games you will become violent”. Are these so-called experts for real? Really? REALLY?! Video games make me violent?! Well in that case sign me up for whatever the Vikings were playing back then, or whatever marvelous games the Huns invented, but I am sure it can’t beat the games they played during the Second World War, it must have been the bomb. Too soon?

So basically, if I become violent because I play video games then it certainly means that people who listen to music MUST become musicians themselves, or people who go to church become religious, or people who watch TV become televisions, or people who watch the sky become clouds. Makes perfect sense. Alright, some are true, if you watch the sky too much you can actually become a cloud. Weird, right? Of course there are people who cannot distinguish the fine line of what is real and what is surreal. But you can’t blame a whole generation because a few idiots went too far. With the same logic, if a few zealots started religious wars we could condemn them… oh wait, something like that did happen, and it was forgotten and forgiven? Hypocritical much.

And how dare you say video games are not art? Are you so narrow-minded and oblivious to the world around you? These ‘experts’ claim that certain movies and certain books have more artistic value than some of the most amazing games made just in the past few years. Don’t get me wrong, I would always opt for a good book, but I mean open your eyes, open your senses. Let that game take you on a journey as would a book.

Oh, by the way, did you guys know that thanks to video games and players scientists have had a major breakthrough in science. They have been working on something related to photons for a number of years now, and it took the gaming community only a few days to give them the push they needed. Yeah, science! Just imagine how much we could accomplish if we made quests and missions related to real life problems, we could achieve so much in so little time. But video games are useless, so we better focus on something that is more important to the people, how to prove to the people that the Earth is 6,000 years old. Too late?

Yes, games can be time wasters, but most of the games have some clear goals and if you pay enough attention you can actually learn something. Shocking, I know. Try playing a game that requires a fair amount macro economy, it is hard, but with time you learn how to cope with that game and in the process you learn a thing or two about economics as well. You might not see it right away, but you have been educated.