I'm currently reading Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell and comparing my own life to the life of Tom's. To paraphrase the book, Tom is addicted to video games (the book point out that he missed President Obama's elections to play Fallout 3) and he used to be embarrassed to admit it. I guess he's thought about it more and decided that he shouldn't feel bad about it because video games are important.
Now, the general message of the book - ie that video games are art - is an issue that isn't too important to me; I've thought that they were art for some time and really consider the matter closed. What I am finding interesting is his embarrassment at playing so many video games. I too have suffered from that embarrassment, and I MAKE GAMES FOR A LIVING.
Fortunately, as I've gotten older and met more people who share the view that video games are important I have become more relaxed about the issue. I'm more willing to admit my appreciation for games now and it feels great doing it. More importantly, however, is my thought that within a generation or two, games WILL be considered more significant that ever before.
I think it's only a matter of time before we get more games like Metal Gear Solid. In fact, I kind of think that we already find that today in the independent games community (which is why I like indie gaming so much). So, I guess it's only a matter of time before OTHER people start paying attention to indie games and find out exactly what they are missing. Interestingly enough, I find it interesting that Tom Bissel doesn't SEEM to cover indie games at all (but I've only read the first two or three chapters).
Overall, I feel lucky to be at the forefront of such an exciting and changing field. I've always found it interesting how people can still debate so much on an issue that I consider to be closed...
I can't wait to see what the future holds for video games and I can't wait to realize my own vision of what video games can do! I just wish that I had more time to play video games - making them takes too much damn time :(
If you have any comments, feel free to share them!
