Video Games vs. books: A thought-provoking conversation
Published: 2/10/2013 6:00 AM
Last Modified: 2/10/2013 2:31 AM
Editor’s Note: I first posed this question to a few of my friends on Facebook. I wanted to know from them which they thought was better and why. I would like to thank them for the inspiration for this blog post.
In all my years on this planet, people have been trying to hammer two messages into my brain: That TV would rot my brain and video games have no real redeeming qualities. And despite their best efforts, I am an avid video gamer and just love to sit down every night and watch my favorite shows. (Netflix and DVRs are ruining TV, but that is a topic for a later date.) There are still people out there that like to demonize video games that see them as nothing more than murder simulators. And still, there are others that like to believe that thought-provoking stories can only come from a book; that books are the one and only form of media worth anything. When you tell people that you play video games, you may feel like people look at you like you are a child, but tell them you read books and you are deemed an intellectual. However video games have come a long way from playing virtual tennis or running away from ghost while eating cherries and in this day and age when the question is asked: “Which is better; video games or books?” I am here today to tell you books pale in comparison with what you can experience with a video game.
Imagination
This is perhaps the strongest point that a book can have over video games. A book pretty much relies on a reader using their imagination the entire time to stay engaged with the story. All the years growing up, teachers, parents, and other friends have told me that books can take you anywhere and you can be anything. You can be a knight in medieval times saving princesses, a space marine fighting vicious aliens; you can experience anything and everything in the pages of a book. While that may be the case with books, these are things that can also be experienced playing a video game. There are games out there like Mass Effect, Gears of War and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning that all have compelling stories to follow. You are experiencing the world first hand, not just picturing one in your mind. A video game is someone’s imagination come to life. You get to see wonderful colors displayed in front of you. You see worlds that were once just a person’s thought actually realized. It is the visual aspect of a video game that makes them more enjoyable than just reading words on a page.
Interactivity
Books can do a great job telling you a story, but video games not only tell you the tale, it lets you experience it as well. With books, you are simply reading one’s adventure. With video games, you are living one. You aren’t just looking at a world as events transpire. You are a part of the events. You are shaping a world with your actions. You can play the hero of the tale and slay dragons, not just read about a knight doing it. In a book you are merely a silent observer of the world around you. In order to progress the story in a video game, you must take part in the world. You can’t stand idly by and let things happen around you. There are even a select few games that actually let you create characters. This aspect can be the greatest of interactivity. In games like Dragon Age: Origins you must also make choices to progress the story and your choices will change how other people you interact with in the game treat you. Your friends in the tale may stick by your choices, but they might even abandon you in your quest to save the day if they don’t agree with you. With the choices you make in games like these, you can have a totally different experience than another player might have. In books the words are a constant; they don’t change. The story will be the same for every person that reads it. Readers may experience different emotional ties with characters while reading The Half-Blood Prince, but Harry will always casts Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy.
Video games today are complex things. They aren’t the same like in the beginning when it was just shooting at aliens falling from the sky. There are great stories out there to experience within video games these days just as there is with a book. The two are similar on levels. A book and video game can both give you a sweeping tale.
However, with the visual aspects of a video game along with the interactivity of them, they engage people more than a book can.
However this is my opinion on the debate of video games vs. books. This is a conversation that will indeed go on for years. I want to know what you people out there think so we can perhaps keep the conversation going.
Do you have a topic you would like the Prairie Nerds to address? Let us know at PrairieNerds@tulsaworld.com
Written by
Chris Moore
Web Production Tech
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