I was talking to someone on Twitter last night, and some of the fundamental differences we had in our perception of video games brought up a question in my mind:
Why do you play games? I ask this in all seriousness. Have you ever thought about it? What is it about video games that you enjoy?
This is an interesting question to me because I think video games are more versatile as a medium than almost anything else. We have everything from Skyrim to Call of Duty to Mario, and everything in between. We have games that focus on telling an interesting story, to seeing how many fantastic ways you can kill things, to just making the path to the right end of the level as entertaining as possible.
All these different forms of games are designed to be worthwhile in different ways. Some people play because they enjoy the progression from weak to powerful, from nothing to everything. Some people play because video games offer ways to tell a story unlike any other. Some people play video games because they enjoy the actual act of playing the game in and of itself. Others play video games for reasons that would never even occur to me (not that I can't think of plenty more).
Most people enjoy some mix of the above, and that mix is different for everyone. This is why the quality of a game is so subjective. It is perfectly reasonable for one person to enjoy a game and another not, even if the game is technically "good", because different people like different things.
So next time you're thinking about writing a game off as pointless trash, remember that not everyone is looking for the same things you are.
As a conclusion, I'll repeat the questions I started this off with: Why do you play games? What is it about them that you enjoy?
I play games because nothing wastes time like games, and I have a lot of time to waste.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much the reason I play games as well, although I will add that I enjoy and immerse myself way more into a game than I do a movie or book. I think it stems from experiencing all the senses in the gaming medium (sight, sound, touch and imagination) as opposed to the movies (sight and sound) or books (pretty much only imagination).
ReplyDeleteI'll make a ramble of this. I play games very rarely. The times I do I use it more as a way to do something with my friends. I usually just go along with what they want to do. The games they normally play are RPGs that once you put enough time you feel like zues and thor at the same time and especially if it has bonus content that continue the challenge. BUT ME, I like a really good story with shooting and rpg elements are my favorite. I like aiming a gun even though I suck at it, and still be able to achieve my objective. I like a world that has themes that make me thing about my real life and how I'm living and what I can do in it. I like getting stronger as a game progresses cause I'm practically a cripple. I like to play all types of games cause I know there is knowledge especially cause I want to make games/I'm making them now. And I like games with messages that really make the player think with gameplay that reinforces the theme, it has to be consistant in that message I want to give... wow... that was a ramble lol
ReplyDeleteThose are all valid reasons. That's a good illustration of how people have different reasons for playing games, and how that mix is extremely complex for everyone.
DeleteThanks for commenting! :)