Video games are like dreams (and are better stories then movies)
From guardian.co.uk’s What do we expect from our games?:
But for all this, Portal’s story is fantastically involving. The reason is this: stories feel several orders of magnitude more intense when you’re participating in them. Computer games are like dreams. Because they feel like they’re really happening, they don’t need to be complex to be involving. I’ve frequently woken up from a dream thinking “wow, that was the best story, I have to write it down!” only to discover that the story was “someone was trying to kidnap me, so I climbed a wall, found a gun and shot them”; it wouldn’t even make a 5-second action sequence segment in a movie. But because I felt that I was actually there, it was far more powerful than simply watching James Bond shoot some villains.
Very well described. For a while I pondered if time playing video games was time wasted. But I didn’t consider watching movies to be wasted time. Then I saw a fight scene in 3:10 to Yuma that reminded me of a fight scene I enjoyed playing in Half-Life 2. Now I’m perfectly justified with playing video games as a use of my time (as long as it’s in moderation).
Another reason why games are great: They can be played together with friends. Not only are you not “simply watching James Bond,” you and your friend are fighting together, providing cover, flanking enemies, and working as a team. Which can be much more fun than sitting siltently next to someone in the theater.
[Update] On further introspection, I wonder if this can be applied to other things? I normally enjoy watching an Erie Otters hockey game more than playing NHL ‘09 with Matt. But both give me a rush when we score.
What do you think? Are video games like dreams? What video game events do you remember and enjoy? Comment on this post!
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