Week of Blogging - Day 7

Today is the final day of the week of blogging. Time for the desperate dash to the finish line.

Why Gaming?

There are many forms of media and entertainment in the world, such as TV, movies, music, books, the Internet, and video games. Regardless of our lifestyles, there's simply too much for a person to remain up to date on all them, so we make choices about what we consume. A number of years ago I made a conscious choice to focus on video games at the expense of TV and movies. I came to this decision after a bit of thinking and realizing that I got so much more out of gaming than the other two. There was nothing wrong with TV shows and movies, and I enjoyed a number of them, but gaming experiences were what really got my interest and I kept coming back to them. I think part of this might be just the fact that video games are interactive media where the player has direct input on what happens on the screen while TV and movies are passive experiences. Of course, one of the consequences of largely sacrificing TV and movies is that I'm missing out on many of the "iconic" shows and films of our day. When people are talking about shows like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, I don't have much of a part in the conversation. Maybe if I was unemployed I would have the time to keep up with these things, but even if I was I'm not sure I would want to. Gaming remains my preferred form of entertainment, and if I had more time I would probably use it (in addition to other things like reading and writing) to play some of the games that I haven't had the time get to.

Is my decision strange? Video games are sometimes looked down upon as a phase in one's life that you're supposed to grow out of. Years ago when I told another person about my passion for video games, I was met with a laugh and the reply that all young men my age were into video games and that with a few years I would be over it. I'm now in my late 20s and I can say that I haven't grown out of video games. If anything, my appreciation for them only continues to grow as they mature as a form of both entertainment and art.



And that does it. The week of blogging is now over. I know the quality of the posts all over the board, but I hope you enjoyed at least one of them.