A little clarification.
I don’t feel I’ve really expressed this properly yet, so let me get it out in the open: I am a video game enthusiast. Particularly, Role-Playing Games, and within that category Final Fantasy. Some might call me a fanatic, but I picture fanatics as people who lock themselves in their rooms and do nothing but repeat “Final Fantasy” or “Metallica” or “Salami” ad nauseum and to the exclusion of everything else.
The reason I want to lay that out there is because I feel that the video game medium, as a whole, gets very little intellectual credit. I get the feeling that when people say those words together, they envision pale, teenage, white males staring at televisions or computer screens with blank stares on their faces, blowing up countless hideous creatures – or worse, human beings – until the wee hours of the morning. All while writing insults and sw3@Rz in l337 SP33k. Even I mentally cringe at the thought of saying, “I like playing video games.”
But the thing is, there are so many different kinds of video games. To say that all video games are the same would be the same thing as saying all books are the same, or all music. And, in my opinion, a truly good video game is just as rewarding and cultured as a truly good book.
The ultimate example of this, I believe, is Final Fantasy VII. The effects of that game and the emotions it instilled are still with me; it is at once the most wonderfully endearing and the most crushingly grievous experience I’ve had. It’s…powerful. I’m not sure I’d be who I am today if I hadn’t played that game, along with Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger.
And Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Wackiest, most hilarious game ever. And it still manages to be cool.
So, really, I just wanted to voice my feelings about the public interpretation of my (hopefully) future occupational area. Then again, perhaps my perception of everyone else’s perception of video games is biased. Perhaps I only see the outdated stereotype created by mainstream media, and thus my reaction to it as part of the criticized party makes me more prone to being defensive.Â
Really, the whole division of those who play video games and those who don’t is a blow to me; I think I have some sort of sub-conscious idea that people who don’t play video games view those that do as less than people, or at least as less intelligent or courteous ones.
Of course, I haven’t really done a whole lot to justify my position. It’s just that, there’s a degree of separation between experience and the relating of experience, and I wouldn’t do the original justice.
And with that, I urge you all to experience FF VII yourselves. And have a good night.