I have been a gamer for as long as I remember. My first games computer was the mighty Toshiba MSX. A legend of a computer which used tapes for games. I still remember getting it on Christmas morning...my parents duped me into believing all the presents had been opened when they brought a bin bag into the living room feigning it to be rubbish but in fact it had the MSX inside. It was an awesome computer with some incredible games: Feud, Ocean Conquerour, Breakout, Flash Gordon, BMX Simulator...the list goes on. From then I had the Commodore 64, Sega Megadrive, SNES, PS1, PS2, PS3, X-Box 360 and PS4. I also own a PSP and 3DS and there is a Wii in the house as well. So yeah, a bit of a gamer...I start a game, finish it then go onto another one!
To me, they are just as important and influential as music or film. In fact, I would say more so because of the interaction involved in playing AND experiencing a video game. The level of gaming today is utterly incredible with graphics, music and story at such a high level it has been known to make grown men, and women, cry like babies. When you think that something, which is essentially just bits of code, can draw you in to such an extent that actual human emotions and actions come into play, where physical and mental feelings become exposed and felt, where your own life and day to day business revolves around a game or the interactions with online gamers, where you become the hero or the villain and what you do affects an outcome...nothing else on Earth does that!!
Shadow Of The Collosus, Final Fantasy VII, Heavy Rain, Silent Hill 2, Ico, The Walking Dead, Bioshock...all these games, and many more, have moments which will shock and hurt you, force you to make hard and fatal decisions, bring you to your knees mentally and physically, ask you to question your own life and actions and so on and so on...basically these games, just like a good film or book, will live with you forever. The games industry is now bigger than the film industry (looking at you GTA 5) with money spent worldwide reaching unbelievable heights...and with good reason, the money spent really shows through with the quality of games released in this day and age (looking at you Alien Isolation).
But is there a downside...is there a negative dirty branch to all this? Can games make us do something in real life that is wrong, illegal or fatal? In my opinion...no. If you struggle in defining real life with fantasy, either by the games you play or the music you listen to or the films you watch, then there is already something wrong with you; the seed had already been planted and the desires were already there. Of course, this is a discussion which could fill a lecture hall or a phone book sized exercise, my opinion is mine and mine alone.
Which brings me to this final paragraph. Like I said at the beginning, I am writing this whilst listening to a game soundtrack...The Last Of Us. If you want to play a game that confirms everything I have said then play The Last Of Us. I played it on the PS3 and am now currently replaying the remastered version on the PS4. It is the absolute pinnacle of gaming up to this point and demands to be experienced!!! I defy anyone to play it and not cry, laugh or gasp at some point...for me, it is more than a game, it is a part of my life - high praise indeed!
