The Underappreciated Art of Video Games
and why the Public is wrong saying "We Waste Time" Playing them
1 Story from Experience
I’ve been playing the Nintendo Zelda Series since I was 4 Years old. It’s definitely my favorite Video Game Series. This last week the newest installment Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released and I’ve been enjoying myself so far with it, not because of it’s novelty, but most likely due to how much nostalgia I associate with it and how much of my life I’ve invested in it. The game also feels very nerdy to me, being able to build all sorts of fun technology to get you around Hyrule, like rocket powered gliders and fan powered rafts.
If you want to try the game, you can buy it here:
Nintendo Switch Console TOTK Edition
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Game
Techies like us love Video Games. For many of us, it’s an escape for us to rest and relax and enter an entirely different world, one where we are in total control. That usually isn’t the case in our line of work. It feels we are spinning out of control most days, not feeling like we have a firm grasp or even opportunity to guide our career in the ways we think is best.
I think that the reason we like Video Games so much is because we can appreciate them as Art better than most people. Rich and Famous people tend to exaggerate their skill in Art Appreciation, but for us, Video Games are an art we understand on many levels. Games are very mathematical, the Art is mathematical, being made of enough square pixels so small now that we can’t even see them individual anymore. Gaming is also very puzzle based. We love puzzles, we solve puzzles everyday when trying to find the reason behind a system failure or why on earth did our production server go down as soon as the dev changes were pushed. Video Games are also very musical, we appreciate music a lot, whether we use it to focus our minds on something or help us to attach meaning to the things we do. They are also one of the few past times that we can attribute old camaraderie too. What kid didn’t want to go to the arcade back when we were young, meeting our friends their with a handful of quarters in our hand, sharing the experience together with friends.
I think the public outcries of Video Games rotting our brains are becoming few and far between now. They are the ones that prefer Art Museums and Books and vilify Video Games because we can spend 8 hours in front of them without even blinking.
Alas, Art is very individualistic. It’s worth is very much judged by the eye of the beholder. I think they are worth a lot to us because we understand them on so many levels, much like an Art Historian can appreciate a Picasso or a Van Gogh. So go ahead, I give you permission to play some Video Games, maybe even the new Zelda game. Enjoy the Art that gives variety and comfort in your life, free of any judgement.
2 Ideas for You
Twitch always felt like the Digital Evolution of Playing a Video Game Console with your Friends at your Friends House. I think what went wrong is that it became more of a “I’m putting on an Entertaining Show using Video Games, now please give me money for entertaining you” kind of aspect. We need a Social Network that prioritizes those Friendly Playing together feelings. Discord is as close as we have now. Who knows what technology will advance to in the next 5 years, or what we end up gravitating towards.
Quit making us pay for subscriptions to play with other people online. There’s a reason why PC has never tried to monetize that, it’s a key feature in the playability of almost every game. DLC and Cosmetics seem to be the norm now, although very lucrative, it makes games feel cheapened now. We pine for finished games that we end up playing over and over again for years. Make more of those type of games.
3 Quotes from Others
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am?! I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"
- Cave Johnson (Portal 2)
"Death is inevitable. Our fear of it makes us play safe, blocks out emotion. It's a losing game. Without passion, you are already dead."
-Max Payne (Max Payne 2)
"What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"
-Paarthurnax (Skyrim)