The Magic of Video Games

[Tex]

This is a topic I started on the Vsauce forums. I felt the need to share it with you guys, because it's something dear to me.

I've heard much talk, some from non-gamers, some from adults or seniors who can't fathom why us younger generation is so into video gaming, so I want to say here, surrounded by fellow Kerbonauts, my beliefs.

Video games are a magical invention. We have become like like artists, like gods, in creating worlds for our amusement. Playing video games is like reading a book. You immerse yourself in this fictional place that is as every bit as real as you devote yourself to believing its real. For those who say that video games are pointless and don't accomplish anything... well, I have some news for them. Never in the real world could I have toppled a pacific island dictatorship (Just Cause 2), rescued my friends from insane pirates (Far Cry 3), brought the gift of clean water to an atomic wasteland (Fallout 3), mine for diamonds deep underground (Minecraft), built rockets and fly them to other worlds (Kerbal Space Program), and so much more. Video games unleash a completely new side of people. Instead of being the school know-it-all, I'm a wild west outlaw (Red Dead Redemption), street gang kingpin (Saints Row series), brain surgeon! (Surgeon Simulator 2013) and a PhD certified freedom fighter (Half-Life series)!

The only one who can know all of this, however, is just myself, who these non-believers can never understand. Video games are an escape, a blank canvas, a shooting range, stress ball, pretty much the ultimate tool of creation and destruction. We become gods while sitting in our little swivel chairs, sipping on Mountain Dew.

Whew. Any thoughts on this? Who's with me?

[The Destroyer]

I agree, but some people won't allow JC2 for shooting

[DisarmingBaton5]

I hiked the amusement park admission price up to $60! Oh, the power of a monopoly...

(In Rollercoaster Tycoon, most guests spawn with $60 in the wallet)

And, you know, took over Earth. Many, many times. (Civ4)