All the media in human history have travelled a long path from their creation to the time they became available for everyone.
Several institutions of catholic church wanted to forbid other books than bible, saying bible provides all knowledge necessary and reading other books thus makes you a heretic. They even proceeded to burn books, no matter their quality or content – just because it were books.
Then the movies came. At first moving pictures were a cheap entertainment at circuses and a hobby of several weirdos. People were pointing their fingers and saying „Soon, they’ll get over this craziness and return back to the real performance art: drama“.
And today, we have video games. The greatest invention in the world of media since films, probably the last one of such magnitude in the close future.
And what is the public outlook on video games? „Stupid fuckin‘ fat kids play ‘em to kill their worthless time“.
Au contraire, my dear! What we’re witnessing here, I think, is something great. For the first time in history, people are allowed to change their story. They’re not just watching or reading what will happen, they get to edit it, make it their own.
Of course, no one yet figured how to make a good video game yet, but it used to be like that with everything. In one or two generations, people will hopefully start looking at games more positively, will finally accept them as a form of art. A mighty one.
Addition: I thought about the evolution of video games and of movies and I found out they were almost analogical. For example, just like arcades started popping up in cinemas, all those years ago movies were only at funfares. Also, the computer nerds nowadays are almost identical to movie fans back in around 1920. You know, weird guys, closed-off communities and rather than noble forms of fun seeking the simple and creative joy.
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