The most popular form of entertainment today is video games
According to a recent study by Entertainment Software Association, 47% percent of frequent gamers feel that video games provide more value for money than DVD’s, going to the movies or music. Therefore, it isn’t hard to grasp how video games took the entertainment scene so quick. Ever since Pong blew people’s minds in 1972, it was all uphill from there. As technology has been speeding forward exponentially, video games have begun to rival movies, series and board games as a form of entertainment.
With modern technology, the level of immersion in a modern game is unparalleled from its predecessors. And while this may be the ultimate form of entertainment, it isn’t without its flaws.
With cinematics like these, the line between movie and video game is getting more and more blurry.
It’s interactive and it’s a ton of fun
What brings so many players to the video game world is the level of interactivity that games provide. With RPG’s specifically, it’s like reading a book and writing its pages at the same time.
That, combined with the multiplayer component of the game, combines the narrative of a novel with the socialization of a board game. And leaving RPG’s aside, all other forms of video game genres provide their own addictive element, be it either the thrill of realistic first person combat, the chess-like, brain stimulating quality of a good strategy game or the heart-racing pace of a multiplayer platformer.
It has its bad sides
While video games can provide a ton of fun, the have their flaws. Because they are so addictive they might engulf a player into their world so much, that they basically start ignoring the real world. And because the line between movies and games is becoming more and more obscure, it also serves as a warning to any actors out there, that their craft is becoming ‘obsolete’, as many famous actors nowadays decide to voice video game characters.
Hopefully this wont ever become the case, but it should serve as a warning about what form of entertainment does what. Games try to combine it all, but in the end they are what they are - just games.
