Games are a form of entertainment. So can be most other forms of media, such as movies, books, and television programming. The thing that sets video games apart is the fact that they up until recently have been solely a form of interactive entertainment. Though there are many differences between the various forms of entertainment there are some that tend to be more notable in the public eye than others. Stories in video games are told less in the fashion of the cinematic movies that they are often compared and related to by the onlookers. A video game tells a story not compressed into one two to three hour slot. A video game is more like a book that you can pick up and view at any time and choose to stop doing so at any time. Video games often times have long stories that are told through actions as much as words. They also tend to be up for far more interpretation than a movie, though you have a protagonist, you also can choose what you think that this protagonist is more likely to do or better for doing, through the interactive controls. The video game as a story teller also contains many undercurrents and layers of meaning that cannot be expressed in short straightforward one shots like movies. The differences that they have to books are most notably the fact that video games cannot be constant as books always are, no matter how you play a video game it comes out different whether it's which route you took to get to the goal or how you decided to fight enemies, it's not exactly the same events. This is however similar to books in that it can tell the same story without yielding the same experience to the user of said media. A video game, is a unique medium of entertainment that can also hold deeper messages than many would believe, this is because each time a game is played a question is asked, about the principals involved in the plot and about the game as a medium in and of itself. The gameplay or user experience in a video game is based off of such things as graphics, sound, story, and overall in game playing value as well as conventions within that game. This can be a good or a bad thing based on the way it's looked at. This means that the vision of the developers can be expressed but at the same time you are given much free roam and personal creative experience within a preset world with parameters beyond our own. This gives rise to the question of the god complex video games are often accused of inspiring. It's true that controlling the main character does give you some power but the show must go on. That is to say, you have to complete certain things to complete the game and the games are set up to run a certain way, so you aren't a god so much as you are an onlooker guiding the story to it's conclusion without knowing it for yourself in all earnest. Gameplay of video games also gives a different perspective on entertainment, some see it as uncultured others see it as a new art form. The interactive experience requires user input and allows you to put a certain amount of emotional investment not often found in a movie or television serial that simply shows the images and produces the sounds without any user involvement at all. This can be either a good or bad thing depending on the use of this trait but that is a topic entirely for another topic. The reception of video games is widely varied among the gamers and non gamers in the public. Many gamers have different views on gaming as a whole and on which games are the best. On the flip side are non gamers who often don't comprehend the "odd obsession" that is becoming increasingly mainstream in many parts of the industrialized world. These people often either see something that they have no experience with that has been in it's most notable public appearances been a source of controversy or what has been long characterized a child's play thing. This makes them not only averse to the playing of games but also everything to do with games. However with the many varieties of games out there blanket statements are as hard to make about games as they are to make about people, and happen to be about as accurate. Even some with experience in the gaming world see it as low and uncultured, because it doesn't tell a story or get a point across in a conventional manner, in fact much of gaming today is making your own conventions and breaking through long standing barriers in every aspect of games. As such games are a medium in a state of flux, the future cannot be told but they are most likely here to stay and in doing so are likely going to shape much of popular and even world culture. This really has no direct purpose and is just a rather rambly and not entirely correct jumping off point for a closer examination of the role, mechanics and general meaning behind video games.
You bring up some interesting points here and this is very well thought out. Very intuitive post. Early on, video games really had no stories; same as computer games. They were just silly games like 'golf' or 'duck hunt' or Pac Man. There was no need for a story and they were just things to do for coordination, some competition and to pass the time. Obviously later, with RPG popularity, games expanded where stories, even in most of the shoot out games, have a requirement to be there. The story, as much as the action, propels players to continue on, interact and be a part of events. Another thing that was often considered to not be a real 'art form' or recognized for intelligence etc is comic books. Early comics were just comic strips that ran in papers and were really not that great. Then they'd move up to actual comic books and today we have graphic novels with such well detailed plots written out that some great (or bad) movies have come from them and they hardly seem to be just children's books anymore. Video games get scrutinized by some because what started out for kids or G entertainment, same as comics, ended up moving to games for teens, adults and anyone could play. These games were no longer just cute but were graphical with very serious plots and some have adult themes. Even if you take the game Kingdom Hearts, some themes in the background are pretty mature, though the Disney certainly covers up death, despair and corruption very nicely. The rating system for games should be enough, just as it is for comics, but unfortunately, there are people who are insistent it is ruining people's lives. There are some people who quite naturally have a disorder of obsession and addiction. They can get addicted to -anything- and it is in a way fortunate some get addicted to gaming instead of drugs, alcohol, or some other stupid thing like having 100 cats in their homes. It's sad because these people need help. There are also debates about whether video games make people 'more aggressive' because while playing video games that are tense, of course the adrenaline gets pumping as you have to get that darn character through some battle or tricky scene and a few deaths of the character can really get annoying...however...don't most people feel overjoyed and just yell 'YEAH!" or whatever and are great after they succeed? Adrenaline is not just used for aggression and it would be nice if these religious fanatics so against video games would bother to consider that in their studies...but alas, they will not. In the end, video games are just a form of entertainment that gets so much attention because just like comics, or music, or language...they have evolved and some old people don't want to keep up or some people have their 'bad experiences' or whatever. They now are an elevated form of a book, a movie, a role-playing game, and some are even quite educational. They are very versatile and much to the dismay of those who protest against them, video games probably are going to keep growing and expanding in potential for many years to come and that's just the way it is.
Yeah, you do a better job explaining it and I appreciate your input. I forgot to add this in before but I think it's an issue that needs mentioning all the same. That is gender and objectification in video games. Itagaki one of the industry's most famous people has only really contributed one thing to the advancement of the gaming industry: jiggle physics. I say this in all seriousness, many of the gender roles in video games are skewed from reality and often portray women in a less than accurate and complimentary fashion. This can be seen clearly in the DOA series and others like it. Though it is nice that women are included and often times portrayed as powerful or intelligent they are also portrayed as a pair of breasts in many more cases. Women aren't only either looked down upon or objectified in the games themselves but are often excluded from the gaming community by it's male population and the culture as it stands.
I can agree with it that women get 'more' of that treatment but I also think males in many games do too. The males and females in video games are often 'better than life' and both attract their fanboys/fangirls. Also, with the way some of the Japanese games in particular make men seem more feminine in appearance than they would be in real life, that can be disturbing too. So, yes, I think women get it more and there are more games that obviously do paint women with the extra boobage and also the scanty clothes, but some of the women characters I've seen really aren't that bad anymore as they were. Old games like Tomb Raider were pretty bad with that. I think more girls hopping in to play video games and also admitting they do is changing the way people portray women, though of course the romanticized versions of men and women in video games are going to keep happening regardless. Just now, we can see that 'ugly' men aren't really so thrilling either so their appearances had to be improved. I suppose a good thing about the graphics improving though and that men and women now freely admit to playing the games etc, is that the artwork seems to in some ways be improving and both males and females look at least more 'realistic'. If they don't in some games, both males and females in the games are done up 'sexy' to appeal to the genders out there. A good game as an example is the Devil May Cry series. I do think some games like Soulcaliber...where I keep watching the girls get less and less clothes and bigger bosoms... makes it clear though that those makers of the game are catering to men nearly entirely.
AS much as I would love to add something too this, you to have pretty much mentioned it all! Give some of us a bit of time would ya! XD But seriously, I agree with both of you. I would like to specify more on the storyline of games more than anything. Video games are in a general way a form of art, like painting, sculptoring, songs playing/writing, and to put it loosely martial arts. By this I mena that they all have a common link. a way to espress your emotions, beliefs or thoughts wityhout being ridiculed. Though I know not all music, games, etc have many eomotions of belief behind them, most arts that have an emotions base, they are usually more succefsful than non-emotional art. Anyway, back to the games. What I find key in a video game is the storyline. A way to grip the person playing into wanting too play more to find out what happens next, even if it's an impossible situation that they have to continue. Most RPG's offera solid storyline base and a way to delve deeper than the basic plot, with side-stories and so on, a reason why they have many more fans than other genres I presume. And while I use this as a weak piece of evidence, if anyone has ever seen or palyed the game series 'Dynasty Warriors' or 'Samurai Warriors', most would say that what it is is basically a hack-and-slash game where you go around a giant battlefield and kill loads of little weak people and bigger stronger people, it is still a thriving and succesful series. One of the reasons for this is that it is based of one of the four greatest novels known in China, based on the book 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. set in a time of war, betrayal, love and loyalty. Though loosely based, and depnding which character you pick depends on the story outcome, it stil stays true to the characters personalities, explotations, relationships between the characters (ok, except for a few) in the book. The second is that the gameplay, though to westerners, the gameplay of overpowered characters slahing through soldiers like no tomorrow and the big impressive fighting between 2 characters may seem repetitive, it is based largely on Chinese movie heritage, in which the main characters have fantasy powers of flying and fighting in the sky, running on water and so on. Using these Chinese movie techniques has won over the eatern public to buy and experience a game similar to a movie, so to speak. Also, the way each character fights, and their apperance, reflects their personality, in which a large character would be slow and use a giant powerful weapon a small, quick character would jump around with weak attacks, it gives a sense of depth (too me atleast XD) in which the creator of each character thought deeply aobut how to portray everything in the way that seems real. Ok, I haven't got anymore examples, and can't really remember what I was going on about now but meh. All I can say with certainty, is that game genres people pick in games are each unique, for each reason, and like a movie or book, can make you entertained and experience something fantasy like or realistic, in a good way. And fianlly, I agree that women aren't portrayed enough in a postive way in games, their or more to things to life then 2 giant breasts on a woman, though I guess thats what attracts certain audiences to it. -__-'
