By a show of hands, who among you owns a video game console of any kind? I know I do. Even though it is quite out-dated, my PS2 still provides me with hours of endless fun. Please allow me a few minutes to just glorify the wondrous and blissful video game. Whether it be an Xbox, PlayStation, Sega Saturn or old school 8 bit, I don’t think our post-World War II civilization would have gotten too far were it not for video games.
Some of my happiest childhood memories are of me playing video games. In fact, I have similar memories throughout adulthood. I derive such unparalleled excitement from holding that controller in my hands and immersing myself in the awesome graphics. Every time I turn on that little black box and pop in a disk I enter a realm of fantastic possibilities. It’s as if the world around me just fades away into my peripherals. Scream “Hell yeah!” if you know exactly what I’m talking about. There is no sensation like it. It’s better than sex! Forget I said that.
In my view video games are the fiction books and board games of our age. Say what you want about it, it is an integral part of our society and there’s no going back now. I don’t see what the big fuss about video games is anyway. Your child is exposed to worse atrocities on the 7 o’clock news alone. The reality is that reality is far more vicious and horrific than any game could ever be. No matter how graphically lifelike game developers manage to make a game it will never fully be able to create what we have to put up with in the real world. Playing the latest instalment in the Need For Speed series for 8 hours straight won’t get you busted by the fuzz. I don’t care what some psychologists have to say about it because they have obviously never experienced the thrill of scoring a goal in the final of a FIFA world cup or taken out some terrorist with a sniper rifle from a hundred yards. Gaming is essentially just a safe and legal distraction from the chaotic world we live in. If you could choose, would you want your kids to escape the madness through video games or alcohol and drugs? Personally, I’d rather watch my child sitting in front of the TV with a game controller in his hands than leaning over a mirror with a straw.
Everything in this modern society of ours is automated and digital nowadays, it’s hard to find entertainment that does not involve some sort of electronic device. This trend is only escalating and soon even our parks will be virtual reality. Even wars are being fought with computer programs that are operated like video or PC games. And on that note, wouldn’t it be better if world leaders settled their disputes with a heated battle in Command & Conquer rather than send young soldiers to their deaths or obliterate millions of innocent souls with nuclear missiles? Or what about a friendly game of footy in Pro Evolution Soccer? Don’t you want to see heads of state go toe to toe in Smackdown vs Raw or Tekken? How many precious lives would this save? I for one would love to see Barack Obama take on Muammar Gaddafi in Mortal Combat.
