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Playing Games Seen as Brainless Hobby?
Richard Goodness writes "Recently I watched Simon Bysshe's film Modern Day Gamer. The film is a natural springboard for some talk of the shared experience of videogames and the legitimization of gaming as a form of entertainment. Therefore, in '2 Legit 2 Save and Quit,' I come to some conclusions." A good article, with some excellent points. I took this to heart, but I see a weekly D&D session with friends as being akin to a weekly poker game but with less financial repercussions, unless one counts all the books needed.
I'm still downloading the Modern Day Gamer video, so I can't comment on that yet, but here's a basic summary of the article:
Video Games are not seen as a legitimate hobby, while other activities that may or may not be as brainless or antisocial (watching tv, reading books) do get respected as legitimate hobbies.
The author makes the point that video games actually do foster a community, both in the sense that MMORPGS are played with other real people with whom you can communicate, and because even single player games can develop an online community with forums where players share tips, tricks, and strategies. Furthermore, video games also provide players with levels of shared experience, from watching the same intro clips to beating the same bosses. These shared experience can form a foundation for social interaction.
The author concludes with observation that like other media, there exist both bad and good video games. However, people seem to be judging video games based on the lowest common denominator, games like Grand Theft Auto, instead of the games that have a more obvious social and intellectual value.