Videogames Are A Miracle And We Should Appreciate Them More

Videogames are cool, right!? These things take so much collaboration and coordination to make while also being the most complicated entertainment medium in the world. But do you ever think about that? About how good we have it? Considering the complexity of any given videogame's production, when they do finally arrive, they’re practically a miracle — especially when they’re really good. With internet discourse being what it is these days and due to some controversial titles coming out over the last couple of weeks, I thought it would be fun to take a moment to appreciate our art form for a change. You might say this article is pointless, but I disagree because taking a step back and enjoying what you have is always in season. Without further ado, let’s do just that — let’s appreciate the videogames.

It’s hard to know where to start with articles like these, but let’s start with the current day. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Bloodborne, Metroid Dread, Death Stranding, and even smaller titles like Cuphead and Celeste. These games have impacted the industry in their separate ways, and while they might not be for everyone, you can’t deny that gaming has never been better. Plus, with something like Breath of the Wild, an incredible amount of ideas and concepts came to be — simply because of how exciting the project was. Though it was delayed twice due to the size of the project, the scale of games continues to grow, and unlike movies or TV shows, designers have to account for the actual playing actual playing experience. It’s easy to forget what it takes for a game to be considered a videogame, we’ve become so numb to what we’re doing with the controller because it often feels so natural, but you’ll never hear a game designer say, “Oh yeah, it was really easy.” So think about that next time you engage in hating a game via the internet.

That’s without mentioning all the other aspects of game design, such as voice acting, music, writing, sound design, and more. All this is to say, the fact that we get games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Elden Ring is a miracle because of how complicated they are to make. Even the smaller indie titles can be challenging to develop, especially with limited resources and without access to a larger budget than some countries’ GDPs. But when they turn out to be good, it is still a miracle because no other form of media takes this much effort. We even have games to look forward to basically every day of the year, too, which is wild because of all the reasons listed. It’s easy to get lost in the nonsense of sites like Twitter and Reddit, but when you sit down to play through the next Mario or FromSoftware title, think about all this because it might just make you appreciate your favourite hobby more. Of course, some bad videogames come out, and there have been bad business practises by some of the most respected companies in the industry, which sucks because most of us just want to play the dang games! So even though you’ve been told to try your hardest not to hate on the next release, there is still merit in holding these companies accountable.

Still, though, videogames have given us so many memories over the years, and series like Super Smash Bros. have continued to deliver in that aspect time and time again. It’s also hard to let yourself enjoy what you love without any outside noise, especially when they won’t stop talking in your ear, but that’s a story for another day. But there is no other industry that gets its fans excited about new products like this one, and that’s because they eventually become part of our life. Movies might get you excited to watch them, but once you do, they’re over. Videogames are enjoyable to play, unlike movies which are a static form of media instead of a dynamic form of media. This means an open-world title can be played in a hundred different ways depending on the person. All of this information is common knowledge by everyone at this point, but still, videogames are kind of crazy, ya know? It’s the most complex form of media with the most loyal fans, and it’s honestly the best of them all. So while it might be easy to get caught up in the industry's negativity, try to take a step back and appreciate the world’s beauty for a moment.

Hopefully, this article has opened some people’s eyes, and if it hasn’t, that’s ok, too. The purpose of this piece was to take a moment and appreciate videogames for a change. It seems like the industry can’t stop itself from getting lost in internet discourse, and we won’t stop arguing over graphics for some reason, but forget all that, let’s just love the videogames for a moment. It’s fun, isn’t it? I think we should do it more often.