I have a very obsessive quality in which I must express how good I feel when I see something, or play something, that inspires me. It is as if what is visualized in front of me is absorbed in my body and takes control of my muscles so that my whole physical self, and soon my mental self, has to be invested in what I had just experienced. By the time I run into someone I know, my desire to express my experience oozes out of every pore on my body (imagine the imagery!...sorry) to continually notify me that I have something to say. It is a catharsis, there's no doubt about it, yet there is also a selfless motivation to share my thoughts with someone else.
This happens to me when I read a good book, watch a Chaplin film, or look at an engaging painting. Now, would it be strange to say that I have these same happenings when I play a video game? Some would say yes; others would say no. Nonetheless, I have this desire imbued in me. It has been occurring since my early childhood days, in which I go to bed dreaming of the world I had transported myself into; a world drenched in imagination and foreign curiosity. Now, these ideas have built up within my mind for sixteen years. I feel I need to finally vent this almost limitless dominion of interactivity. Whether or not there will be listeners, well...
The idea, ironically, came from the excellent 'Great Movies' column of Roger Ebert. His appreciation of the significance of each film on the list coupled by his very human way of writing provoked me to think about the ways in which video games have moved me over the years. So, in a sense, I am approaching this list with the same curiosity and the same excitement I think Ebert felt when discussing his 'Great Movies'. This brings me to an important point I would like to clarify regarding this endeavor. I consider video games to be art, through and through. This is an issue that is nothing less than obscure and obfuscated to the point where some gamers don't really know how to explain why their favorite pastime holds artistic merit. I am not going to persuade you, if you have an opposing view, that games are art through rigorous definitions and analyses on video game theory. Rather, I hope to convince you through my illustrations of the infinite imagination and immersive qualities games can have. The technical ambition, the original new worlds, and the striking emotional connection that is made between the game and the player will all be factors that have inspired me into focused thought.
I don't know how much you play video games or if you even play them at all, but there is something significant in this list games in which the games themselves transcend the medium and become something much more. No matter your affiliation with gaming, one must acknowledge the immensity of the gaming industry. Certain games and characters have rested themselves in the realm of popular culture; Mario, Pokemon, Tetris, and Gran Theft Auto 3 all have situated themselves into he same acknowledgment as pieces like 'The Blue Danube', Catcher in the Rye, or Star Wars. Gaming has made an incredible cultural impact as striking as any other medium in contemporary times, maybe even more so. Yet, along with the usual suspects, there lies a plethora of games that have been overlooked by the mass populace. There are stories unfamiliar to the ear, worlds unexplored, and ideas unexamined. Again, if you are willing to listen, there are things I have felt and I have played in games that, dare I say, are enlightening. This project is not exactly one with a definite duration; great games can pop us for a very long time. This is an indefinite project as long as the gaming industry is alive.
In conclusion, gaming is more that a foreign culture of a possibility for obsession. It is a navigation through virtual creativity, where one comes out having experienced something wholly new. There games are special; let us see if I can extrapolate this brilliance and get you to understand, maybe even get you to play it.
No comments:
Post a Comment