Do You Even Art?

I'm sure that I've discussed this somewhere on this blog before, but I want to talk about it again. Are video games art? Yes. I'd like to think that they are. There is a lot of work and care that go into them, and they are an expression of the developers. The people who made the game what it is, did so in a way that only they could. Therefore, making video games art. Quite simply, art is an expression. It can be whatever you want it to be. It is a creation, an action, a performance, or just whatever. So long as its creator did so in a way that only they could, it is a unique creation. But, why does this conversation of games as art matter? It's because games have become a part of our culture.

there are several cornerstones of society that make each civilization distinct. One of those is art. Art can be dismissed sometimes, as people will write it off as "oh, it's just a painting" or "it's just a book". No! these are works of art that a lot of great care went into. These pieces of art have changed peoples lives! They have given others hope when they had none! They opened up someone's mind to think differently than they had before! Games have certainly done so for me!

However, video games are still written off as only pop-culture. Yet, pop-culture is still culture. It may be more prevalent than other forms of art, and I can spout off statistics of how much money the video game industry makes each year, but that wont convince you of why it is still a major part of our society.

Games have evolved so much from when they started. Before, they were just challenges, and children's playthings. Now, with games like Minecraft, they have become creative tools. Children all around the world work at their games of Minecraft to build, create, explore, and learn. There is even a school in New York City that uses Minecraft to teach children. You couldn't even imagine that was a possibility in the days of the arcade.

Games now tell engaging stories, that players can get wrapped up and engrossed in. Mass Effect creates an entire universe that is full of life, culture, politics, peoples, technology, economy, war, turmoil, and all of that which makes it feel like a real place. I love Mass Effect, so I may be a bit bias here, but it is one of the greatest games I've ever played. I have spent hours just wandering around the Citadel taking in the views, and eavesdropping on random citizens having conversations about whether or not there are fish in the fountains of the Presidium. That's just a random kind of thing that real people would talk about, and it only ads to the illusion of realism that Mass Effect creates. The writers of Mass Effect took great care to make a world that was believable and one that players would want to learn more about. There is a novels worth of information in each Mass Effect game that describes the smallest of details about everything in that universe. I can tell you all about Quarian Society, or how long an Asari lives to be, or how many hearts a Krogan has (it's two, by the way). I have fallen in love with this game, and it's all because the people behind it made something that only they can make. They have told a great story, full of character and heart. To dismiss this as "just a game" would be an injustice.

Video games are most certainly an art form. We, as gamers, as a society, need to view them as such. This is a conversation that is worth having, because games are worth while. Players can explore, and express themselves in the realm of video games. They can become someone else, and escape the trappings of reality for a few hours. These video games mean a lot to many different people. I cherish my video game experiences, as do many gamers. Video games have come so far, and so fast, that they are doing things that nobody could have imagined. They break the mold of what games can do, and what art can do, further pushing the envelope of expression and storytelling. Games are a part of our culture, and it is important that we recognize that. They do more good than we recognize, and that too should be a part of the conversation. To shame someone for playing video games is an insult on who they are. No, you do not know what is best for them. You have not walked in their shoes, and you do not yet understand the joy that video games have brought to that individuals life. Do not shame someone for playing video games. Instead, let them explain to you why they love them so much. Open the conversation, and your mind, to video games. Together, gamers and non-gamers alike, we can change the world.

The Value in JRPGs

I wish that I played more JRPGs. I'm kind of envious of people who can put the time and effort into playing them. They spend so much time in them, that I wish that I could get wrapped up in a story the way they do. However, I've played a few, and they just haven't had the same affect on me as those who are fans of them. Now, I've said my fair share about Final Fantasy, the quintessential JRPG franchise, but that's just one series. There's a lot more JRPGs out there that are well done, and there's a lot of value to the genre on the whole of RPGs that isn't just restricted to the Japanese market.

The special thing about RPGs is that they tell great stories. Players can get really wrapped up in them, as they explore the game, and fight the good fight. You can spend time leveling up your characters, and decking them out with the best gear so that they can overcome any obstacle that comes their way. It may seem like a bit of a stretch, but I feel like this can be somewhat of a life lesson in a way.

In life, we have many different talents, passions, and various other things about ourselves that we can improve upon. As with RPGs, we have our party of characters. A smart player will have a party full of characters that will compliment each other and work well together. Players spend time working on this party of characters, and leveling them up so that they can be as effective as possible. Much like in real life, we have talents that we work on so that we can become better at them. We may be talented at a lot of things, but there are some things that we focus on more than others. Most JRPGs give you a party of about three characters, but give players the option of about twelve or fifteen. Pokemon has over seven hundred Pokemon to choose from, but only allow for six at a time. You have to choose wisely, and create a party that is effective enough to overcome challenges.

We won't always be the best at everything right away, though. We have to work at our talents. Much like in JRPGs, there's a grind. I hate grinding in video games. I want to be the hero, and I want to save the world. There should be a reason why I was chosen to save the world and everyone in it. I don't want to be some average Joe that has to train to be good enough. However, in real life, the world doesn't always need saving from some great evil, but we are the heroes of our own story. So, we have to resort to grinding. We have to work on our skills and abilities to improve ourselves and become better. We can pick up pretty much anything, and with effort become a master of it. It might take longer than we'd like for whatever we pick up to get up to speed with the rest of our talents, but sometimes we just have to accept that we don't know much about whatever it is that we just started. Often times in RPGs we're faced with the scenario of getting a new character who just isn't on the same level as everyone else in our party, but this new character is really cool and interesting, so we do our best to level him up and get him up to speed. This is a long and arduous process. This new character ends up dying a lot, and doesn't gain quite as much as experience, because the other characters are landing more hits, and doing more damage than this new character. Yet, he or she is still gaining experience, and slowly is growing. We have to be patient when we work on our talents. We wont always be able to pick up something and immediately be good at it. There's a lot of work that goes into becoming good at something.

I may not play many JRPGs, or any kind of RPGs for that matter, but there is some real world value to them. We're all very talented people, and we all have something to offer. We just have to grind away the hours at leveling up our special gifts.