Introduction

I'd begin this post by apologizing about how there, but well, there's no real point in starting that way now is there? So, as you may be able to guess based on the title of this blog, my thesis statement is going to be something like, say, "I believe that video games have just as much importance culturally and as an art form as any of the other mediums that express stories out there.” And while I do somewhat feel like the kid who always wants to write an essay on why marijuana is legalized, I feel it was the only one that I thought I’d be best suited for, due to an advanced knowledge of videogame culture and the like. Although at this point I feel like I should get down into the nitty-gritty if you will.

         If you’ve ever played a modern videogame, you’ll know that they can be epic affairs. They feature worlds that seem to literally team with life and magic, and feature deep, twisting, engaging narratives that can be anything from a deconstruction of objectivism (Bioshock) to the existential contemplations about the nature of videogames themselves (Braid). I can’t blame people who think what I’m saying is crazy, but if those people ever played videogames in their life then chances are they know what I’m talking about when I say that videogames immerse us in a world unlike any other, a place which can only be seen in this virtual world crafted on the blood sweat and tears of people who care about what they do for a living. Not to say that every videogame is a piece of art in and of itself, but that they’re just as important to popular culture and can be just as insightful as books, movies, or any other number of way used to empart a story or a sense wonder on their audience.