admirerofnone
November 25th, 2005, 06:23 pm
Videogames vs. Books
A Short Essay By: admirerofnone
A videogame consists of a few things, a console, a controller, a memory card, and a game. A book consists of a few things as well, such as the cover, pages, bookmark, and spine. For many years, videogames have been considered to be a nuisance and rotting to the human mind, while books have been considered a sign of intelligence and prestige. This is the average mindset of a non-gamer. Videogames are deemed uneducational, with absolutely no supporting evidence except the fact that many people enjoy it thus deeming it an “addiction”. While many people read book after book, they are deemed intelligent and not addicted. Videogames and books are more alike than most anyone wants to believe.
When someone picks up a book, they will have to do a specific process to read it. To read a book is to comprehend words on a piece of paper and form images based on those words. These images become like a motion in the mind, thus creating a story. The story is pushed forward by more images created in the mind, thus creating depth to the story. A videogame is essentially the exact same thing with one less step and one different one. The step removed is creating the image; instead it is placed in front of you to interpret on your television. The added step is the interactivity step. While recognizing the images on the screen, the player must interact with the game to move the story forward, thus creating the essence of reading, progression in an attempt to further the plot. The difference is that in a videogame, the player must use skills and intelligence to progress that story, instead of merely creating images in their own mind from just words. So essentially, videogames are interactive books that use more than one of the five senses. Now, while creating images in one’s own mind is said to be for the intelligent, videogames are said to be non-beneficial and totally useless. It is amazing that two things that are so alike have the exact opposite stereotype of the benefit that they give.
Many videogames have just as engaging plots as books do. One game plot that stands out is called Ico. The plot is easily novel material, although because it is a videogame, it will only get more prejudice. The story is as follows: “A Japanese boy with horns is locked away in a castle by his own people due to his strange appearance. The boy is blamed for all of the bad happenings in the village, because they take his existence as a bad omen. As the story progresses he meets a girl named Yorda, who sees Ico as a regular boy, and he is taken with her. He cannot understand what she is saying, but nonetheless they go hand-in-hand towards the exit. The two try to escape the castle, but many perils await them, and Ico decides that he must protect Yorda at all costs.” This story would be praised if it was in novel form, and yet it does not get the recognition that it deserves. This is because of the one simple fact that videogames have an interactive factor to it, and either people are ignorant of them, they are unaccepting, or they merely have a fear of the unknown. Whatever the reason, the fact stands that due to the stereotype of videogames being uneducational, this wonderful story will never see ninety-nine percent of the world’s population.
As videogames garner a steadily declining reputation, the average gamer is also attacked. They too are deemed unintelligent, and are told the stereotypical quote, “Go read a book or something.” The similarities between playing a videogame and reading a book are very minute education wise, and many do not want to believe that. When a child gets a large amount of enjoyment doing something, others instinctively deem it harmful without even trying it. Videogames are not harmful anymore than books are. People do not bash people that watch television excessively, and this is because most people do watch a lot of TV. Videogames have many different genres such as action, adventure, shooting, and racing, but not all games are about killing or doing illegal acts. Most of the good videogames are not as violent as the media claims them to be, and just have a good storyline. Realize that if someone read for ten hours, then they would be praised, while if someone played videogames for ten hours, they would be scolded. Videogames and books are similar in many more ways than one, but only one of them is accepted, and one of them is condemned.
A Short Essay By: admirerofnone
A videogame consists of a few things, a console, a controller, a memory card, and a game. A book consists of a few things as well, such as the cover, pages, bookmark, and spine. For many years, videogames have been considered to be a nuisance and rotting to the human mind, while books have been considered a sign of intelligence and prestige. This is the average mindset of a non-gamer. Videogames are deemed uneducational, with absolutely no supporting evidence except the fact that many people enjoy it thus deeming it an “addiction”. While many people read book after book, they are deemed intelligent and not addicted. Videogames and books are more alike than most anyone wants to believe.
When someone picks up a book, they will have to do a specific process to read it. To read a book is to comprehend words on a piece of paper and form images based on those words. These images become like a motion in the mind, thus creating a story. The story is pushed forward by more images created in the mind, thus creating depth to the story. A videogame is essentially the exact same thing with one less step and one different one. The step removed is creating the image; instead it is placed in front of you to interpret on your television. The added step is the interactivity step. While recognizing the images on the screen, the player must interact with the game to move the story forward, thus creating the essence of reading, progression in an attempt to further the plot. The difference is that in a videogame, the player must use skills and intelligence to progress that story, instead of merely creating images in their own mind from just words. So essentially, videogames are interactive books that use more than one of the five senses. Now, while creating images in one’s own mind is said to be for the intelligent, videogames are said to be non-beneficial and totally useless. It is amazing that two things that are so alike have the exact opposite stereotype of the benefit that they give.
Many videogames have just as engaging plots as books do. One game plot that stands out is called Ico. The plot is easily novel material, although because it is a videogame, it will only get more prejudice. The story is as follows: “A Japanese boy with horns is locked away in a castle by his own people due to his strange appearance. The boy is blamed for all of the bad happenings in the village, because they take his existence as a bad omen. As the story progresses he meets a girl named Yorda, who sees Ico as a regular boy, and he is taken with her. He cannot understand what she is saying, but nonetheless they go hand-in-hand towards the exit. The two try to escape the castle, but many perils await them, and Ico decides that he must protect Yorda at all costs.” This story would be praised if it was in novel form, and yet it does not get the recognition that it deserves. This is because of the one simple fact that videogames have an interactive factor to it, and either people are ignorant of them, they are unaccepting, or they merely have a fear of the unknown. Whatever the reason, the fact stands that due to the stereotype of videogames being uneducational, this wonderful story will never see ninety-nine percent of the world’s population.
As videogames garner a steadily declining reputation, the average gamer is also attacked. They too are deemed unintelligent, and are told the stereotypical quote, “Go read a book or something.” The similarities between playing a videogame and reading a book are very minute education wise, and many do not want to believe that. When a child gets a large amount of enjoyment doing something, others instinctively deem it harmful without even trying it. Videogames are not harmful anymore than books are. People do not bash people that watch television excessively, and this is because most people do watch a lot of TV. Videogames have many different genres such as action, adventure, shooting, and racing, but not all games are about killing or doing illegal acts. Most of the good videogames are not as violent as the media claims them to be, and just have a good storyline. Realize that if someone read for ten hours, then they would be praised, while if someone played videogames for ten hours, they would be scolded. Videogames and books are similar in many more ways than one, but only one of them is accepted, and one of them is condemned.