Escape artist...

I want to talk about why I personally play video games. I do not wish to speak for the entirety of gamers, or game developers... It's just a disclosure that I'd like to get out of the way.

I really like video games. I've played them all of my life. They've always captivated me. They've always been a way to do things, and explore in ways that I can't in real life. I suppose it's because I find reality to be a drag, and nothing interesting ever happens. In video games, everything interesting happens, all the time.

I love a good video game, especially one that is incredibly immersive. One game that I always find myself going back to is Mass Effect 2. I really can't explain why I find this game to be so great. Is it the gameplay, the graphics, the characters, the environments, the cool guns, or the really good story? Yes. It's everything about that game that I can just spend hours and hours in, and just get lost. The only time that I put down the controller, is because I am a human being and I need to eat food to continue to exist, and keep playing Mass Effect 2. The universe that Bioware created for that game is simply amazing. I adore everything about it. I always find myself in awe of it's depth and glory. I love games that make me wish that I could go to wherever the hero is.

Have you ever played Red Dead Redemption? Man, that's a great game. I love the characters. John Marston is my hero. He's so cool, because he's tough and mean, but he's also a gentleman. He's respectful to the McFarlines and others that are helpful and friendly to him, but he doesn't suffer fools that get in his way and slow him down. He's such a great character, I want to be him. And because of video games, I can be. I get to walk in the shoes of John Marston and live in his world. Which is totally badass by the by. New Austin, the setting for Red Dead Redemption, is a huge sprawling wild west landscape filled to the brim with things to do. Despite it's desolate setting, the game can still make you stop in your tracks just to admire it. I remember one time I stopped to watch the sun rise, and it was gorgeous. If you can manage to distract me from my mission just to watch the sun come up, you've won. Another thing that just wows me about Red Dead, is the fact that you can say "Howdy" to NPCs in the game that walk past you. This is one of those nuances that can really immerse you in a game. It was fun walking from my apartment in Blackwater to the general store saying hello to strangers in the street.

Video games can take you many places, and do pretty much the impossible with it's level design. One of my favorite games, simply because of it's overworld and level design, is Brutal Legend. Sure, the game had its shortcomings, but it was different, and I commend it wholeheartedly for that. The most amazing thing about Brutal Legend was the environment. Double Fine looked at an old heavy metal album cover and said, "let's make a game there", and so they did. The heavy metal world is so crazy and awesome that I am awestruck every vista that I can find. Like the giant guitar stones, or Blade Henge, or the wall of pain, a giant wall of amplifiers that let out a powerful wave of feed back that the waves of the blood sea crash upon.

I am fascinated by video games ability to transport me to different places. I'm not saying this world is boring, I'm just saying this world doesn't have dragons.