Video games : Claptrap or a Class apart

“To make an embarrassing admission, I like video games. That’s what got me into software engineering when I was a kid. I wanted to make money so I could buy a better computer to play better video games – nothing like saving the world.” – Elon Musk

 

My first tryst with video games goes way back to 2007. My mom had just bought me a PC, a custom made one, which was loaded with the mighty  Intel Pentium dual core, 2 gigs of RAM, “500” GB HDD and other stuff I had no idea about, at that time.

I was ecstatic. My computer! It was beautiful. I explored it as much as I could on the ancient but wise Windows XP. But I’ll try to cut to the chase quickly. The only damn thing I cared about to explore on my PC was..you guessed right…Video games.

Image: The evergreen Super Mario Bros. by Nintendo inc

Finally! All those fancy and cool video games like GTA (Vice City and San Andreas), Prince of Persia, NFS  MW, EA Cricket, Call of Duty among others, were in my reach. I didn’t need to go to my friends’ place to endure looks of disapproval from their parents. You can say that I finally achieved freedom from video games dependency that year. No one could boast about some shiny new game to my face anymore. I was in control, baby!

And so the romance began and I never looked back. I tried as many games I could get my hands on(ahem, legitimately?) and beat one game after the other. My mom wasn’t (isn’t ) fond of them and she put certain restrictions in place, which included deciding the number of hours I spent being fixated  at one spot furiously mashing WASD and LMB.(gotta love first-person shooters, right?)

She was right to do that, though. I really get out of control once I set out to accomplish a virtual,non – existent goal. But well, that’s what drives gamers.

And that’s the reason I decided to write my views on this issue. Gamers are always in a hot pickle for one reason or the other. They are most of the times grossly misunderstood, have certain stereotypes associated with them and are often a subject of ridicule for most of the people around them.

I feel proud to call myself a gamer at heart. The joy of controlling a virtual character in a totally virtual environment to entertain yourself and at times even challenging yourself is unbeatable. However, playing video games as a hobby is frowned upon. How is it different than being a movie buff, or an avid reader?

You are exactly doing the same thing. You’re experiencing events like in the movies or books but it’s just more vivid, detailed and most importantly, a personal experience. If not anything, this is certainly an improvement over watching movies at least.

But who cares. Games are meant for children or just to pass your time when you’re bored. You shouldn’t play a game for more than 30 mins a day. For all they care, Subway surfer and Candy crush are ideal games. They can be played in the metro when you’re being forced to look at faces more defeated than yours, after a hectic day of work. It can’t be considered a serious hobby or interest at any cost.

Well, that’s what the situation generally is, at least in India.

I think a painter can relate to the philosophy of video games more than anyone else. As a painter, you have a goal in front of you but you have a blank canvas. You’re free to paint howsoever you want to but you are expected to reach the goal. That’s exactly what games are, aren’t they?

“The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.”

 G – Man, Half-life 2 by Valve Corporation.

Role Playing Games(RPGs) directly work on this philosophy and other games have this philosophy as their backbone.

Dark Souls series(or the Soulsborne genre, in general) is very close to my heart because of its aesthetics, the ambiguous story, punishing AI, and the fact that you have to stay determined to beat the “boss”. It’s almost certain that you’re going to die a lot when you pick a souls game.

Image: Chosen undead and Knight Artorias(drawn by “remainder”. Dark Souls by Bandai Namco and From Software Inc.)

So there you have it, a game that teaches you to persevere and to believe in yourself. It’s not a sin to die in the world of Dark Souls; In fact, you’re expected to die. A lot. You’re expected to fail. Failures are encouraged in the lands of Lodran, Drangelic, and  Lothric. But you’re also expected to learn from the failures, dust yourself off and live to fight another day. Although, if you commit the same mistakes, die to the same enemy without analyzing its weaknesses and without remedying your approach,  then you deserve all the shit for your repeated failures. But wait for a second…this is very much similar to a very popular and a must-have game that you’ve to play without much choice… Life.

The analogy would be a bit over the top for some readers but it’s very appropriate. I am not saying that the ones who don’t taste the dust in Dark Souls can’t succeed in life. I am of the opinion that those who do try their hands at Dark Souls and similar games, usually learn something. It can bring a very small difference to their life, but it can be a lesson in patience. Or observation. Or learning from your mistakes. Or just never giving up, no matter what the circumstances. All this, while you’re entertaining yourself. I find this more immersive, more customizable and more relatable than movies, at times.

Then there are gems like Undertale. You control a human kid through the world full of demons who are cute, enigmatic and silly. You can befriend them and beat the game unscathed, without even touching them. Or you can be a megalomaniac and kill everyone that stands in your way, and beat the game anyway. This is the beauty of a game like this. You get different dialogues, different endings, the non-player characters(NPCs) react differently to you. You are either considered a friend or a monster, all depending on your actions. It’s your choice. This made me thoroughly mesmerized with the game.

Image: Sans boss battle, Undertale by Toby Fox.

These two games are just a tip of the iceberg. Games have transitioned from being silly and irrelevant to a completely immersive experience. With the kind of effort being put into producing games with cutting-edge cinematic scenes to astounding soundtracks, no wonder they are hogging limelight nowadays. Some games are a work of art and the ones who play video games to enjoy every aspect of them can truly appreciate those gems.

That would be all from my side. Just a word of caution though. This is just my perspective on the intricacies of video games. I just gave two examples from a particular genre. There are thousands of video game genre, which makes it impossible to say something about each one of them. Needless to say, these examples hold true for most of the games out there. It’s just that these are two recently released iconic games that have achieved a cult-like status for being as unique as they are.

I’ve learned over the years that if you start thinking about the race, it stresses you out a little bit. I just try to relax and think about video games, what I’m gonna do after the race, what I’m gonna do just to chill. Stuff like that to relax a little before the race. – Usain Bolt

And finally, I would also voice my opinion on one aspect of video games. Video games are for fun and enjoyment. But loving them should have a limit. Go out and have some fresh air. Engrossing yourself in cringe-worthy stuff only gives the fandom a bad rep. Sadly, this is quite rampant nowadays. And it has certainly diminished some games’ likability.

This blog post will also stand as a reminder of my love of video games and I’ll love to carry the legacy forward.

One thing the video games have taught me is that if you’re encountering enemies in your path, you’re moving in the right direction.