I have very few things in this world that make me happy. Video games are an example of a daily pastime of mine. Most people would assume that I'm a loser or something for enjoying a video game, but put it into perspective. People watch movies that are influenced from books, other movies, video games, and most importantly, life experiences. Books are the same way. With the exception of some genres such as fantasy or sci fi, books and movies can be described as a reflection of someone's life experiences. Movies are generally the short and straight-to-the-point whereas books are permitted to be drawn out and take time describing all the details. Take a simple landscape for example: A book will tell you that it has many luscious trees, bushes, and clouds, but a movie will simply show you the landscape to see it for yourself. This is where most moviegoers find a problem when the movie they are watching is an adaptation of a book. They see it as either flaky or rushed and exclaim that the book was much better in the sense that it captured you into it's world and the movie just projected it to you.
Now, to my point: video games provide that perfect balance of intricate detail and immersion. They blend together gorgeous cinematics with descriptive dialogue and depth of character. Depending on the game, you can find yourself lost in the world for hours on end, just as you could with a book. You could also load it up and play for an hour or two, then tell yourself you have had enough for now. This compares quite closely with the length it takes to watch a movie and still enjoy a good plot.
Just because something is short does not mean it isn't thorough. This is not always the case, but people need to learn to make room for those who do not have the time to read seven or eight Harry Potter books, but instead opt for watching each movie to understand what's going on.
Now, back to video games. Video games provide me the entertainment I need with the immersion and gameplay that I yearn for, and most video games allow you to do something you can not in most books; control the outcome of the story. Games on today's market tend to have multiple plot twists that you can control depending on how the game is played and how you interact with the characters. This gives reason to play the game multiple times without the player feeling a sense of repetition. Each experience may be so unique that it can sometimes be referred to as a new game entirely. I won't go as far as to name examples, but you get the idea.
What I will tell you is that certain series of video games have as large of a fanbase as some books do. Midnight releases of said games will have eager gamers standing outside of the doors of their local game store, waiting for the doors to open. This can be seen as both blind consumerism and loyalty to the series. All in all, video games provide just as much entertainment to one person as a book would to another. Now that we have that established, I can safely say that I will be standing outside of GameStop's door until Skyrim is released. Later!
