The Game

Courtesy of seourpicz

Video games aren't just something I enjoy myself either, obviously, there are plenty of gamers out there like me, enough for there to be a whole community of us. These games aren't just influential to individuals, they are influential to the world itself, just look at conventions and events like Comic Con, although video games and comics are not the same thing you will still see a lot of gamers there, or E3 where gamers and comic fanatics (often one in the same) get to celebrate what they love among each other. Video games effect all of our lives, or at least it effects the 183 million of us in the United States (trust me, I googled it), whether we know it or not.

Courtesy of WiiPlayXbox

Not to mention, these games have insane lore (story lines). For example, most Legend of Zelda games can be summed up within a sentence: You are Link, you must defeat Ganon or Ganondorf before he assembles all three pieces of the Triforce and covers the world in darkness. But, Legend of Zelda has a story so much deeper, like the three timelines, one where the main character, Link, stays young, one where he grows up and the world is basically flooded, and one where he dies. I could go on and on about this, but the point is there is so much to these video games. There is a certain kind of people out there who call themselves Game Theorists (click on that link... hehehe, Link like Legend of Zelda... anyways, it's a good Youtube channel for gamers), and these people try to find the hidden meanings in games that we often overlook. It's insane to think about how simply a string of codes can influence our world in such a way.

Courtesy of Game Informer

Alright, time to diss. I have been told by a lot of people that I am wasting my time, that what I'm doing is worthless, and that it is "turning my brain into mush." First of all, to me, I'm not wasting my time, I am escaping a flawed world where I can do nothing, to a world that I can save, where I can do something, where I have the abilities to defeat those who are evil. People may say that "It's not real so why does it matter?" When you're watching a movie, does it not feel real? No, you are immersed in the movie and you take an experience and a moral from that movie. That's how video games are, but us gamers get to experience it firsthand, and we get to make memories as we continue to play. Second, video games are not worthless, through playing video games I have become more intelligent, more creative, and even a better human being. I have formed relationships with others in games, both good and bad, and these relationships have taught me things, things about people that I could never learn through simple small talk. Finally, if anything, these games are doing the opposite to my brain, I'm learning so much as I play through these games and studies show that there is a multitude of the positive effects of playing video games, just google it. I'm stimulating my brain with impossible problems that I would never face in the real world, teaching it to think outside the box and consider every possibility.

Great show right here, called Video Game High School, 10/10
Courtesy of Wikia

In the end, as a great man once said, "It's all about the game."

I am the Hero

Courtesy of Super Smash Bros. Wikia

First, I know I promised a post within an hour, but as I began to write I started to see that I could not fit all that I want to say into one post, so I decided to write two and post them at around the same time.

Ever since I was a kid I've been playing video games, and they've been a big part of my life. As well as the lives of others. I still remember playing games like Mariokart 64, Super Smash Bros. Meelee, etc. as a kid. I've grown up with these consoles, these games, these adventures, and they've taken part in who I am, how I think, and what I want. I know some of you may be rolling your eyes right now thinking that what I'm saying is ridiculous, but hear me out... or read me out?

Courtesy of Exposed Gaming

My parents often confuse playing video games with mindlessly tapping random buttons on a controller and staring at a screen, when it's really the exact opposite. Video games aren't just an activity in which you move a character from one spot to another. You see, I play games to experience the story, not to waste time and brain cells. When I am looking at my games, trying to decide which I want to play at the moment, I don't see video games, I see adventures. Do I want to be stranded on a lost island trying to save a close friend from the Sun Queen Himiko (Tomb Raider), or do I want to find myself with superpowers and try to save the city of Seattle from a corrupt government organization (Infamous Second Son)? In these games I get to solve puzzles that no one has solved before, discover treasure and lost cities, save people, defeat evil, and that's just the beginning of it. I get to go on adventures that I'll never get to experience in my life, and all I gotta do is grab a controller and play.

Courtesy of ign

These adventures aren't just on a screen either. As you play you get to meet what people call "characters," but as you play you learn that they are more than that. You learn who these people are, you fall in love with them and you learn to hate others, all the while you develop friends and enemies. The narrative of the game is so immersive that you feel what your character feels, all things from pain and sadness to joy and triumph. When I'm sailing the seas of what is now the flooded land of Hyrule, I feel the calmness of the ocean and the ocean spray against my face (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker), or when I'm sneaking my way through an abandoned subway in a post-apocalyptic world without being caught by monstrous Clickers (The Last of Us), I feel the intensity, the pressure, and the fear of the situation as if I am there myself. I'm never just picking up a controller, I'm picking up a suit, a power that none but I can hold, a tool that will aid my quest. In the end, I get to escape a world where nothing but bad news is aired on the news and I cannot do anything about it, and enter a world where I can change everything, where I can save everyone, a world where I am the hero.

My Apologies

Courtesy of Traditional Games

Things in sequential order (first things first), I know it' s been a while since my last post, but I have my reasons. You see, two weeks ago I was working for several hours on a post, yes I work endless hours on these posts, and I had almost completed it, all I had to do was drop in a couple pictures, maybe a meme, something I Photoshopped, etc. So, I finished all the writing and shut my computer to work on something else. Low and behold... what does that even mean, like, who was all like "low and behold... I like it, let us makeith it a universal term, why not?" Why would we still say such a silly thing... Sorry, I opened my laptop to find the post completely deleted... I reached that point of insanity where you begin to laugh and cry at the same time, like when you know you're screwed for a test, or like that guy ----->. So, I started another post, only to find that deleted too. I don't know why it tells me that it is saved when it is not! Welp, I'll have another post up in around an hour, so take off your socks because it would be awfully disappointing if you were wearing socks and they just spontaneously fly off due to your massive amazement at my next post (knock your socks of). Thanks for your patience!

Me right here
Courtesy of Traditional Games