6 Reasons to Start Understanding Video Games

For those who still think that video games are just pointless entertainment.

Games only for children and those adults who have problems with socialization? Do games make you stupid and aggressive? The Geek Picnic festival team is convinced that this is not the case. Below are six reasons why you should learn more about video games.

1. Games are closely intertwined with other areas of our culture

Only a lazy provincial entrepreneur did not use the image of a Walt boy in his advertising. In a rare city, there is no advertisement for plumbing with Mario. Games penetrate into everyday life more and more, and it is already strangely surprised to raise an eyebrow when someone compares life’s difficulties with the passage of Dark Souls.

We live in a cultural space where originals are successfully lost: most of us are unlikely to see references to a Polish philosophical work of the XIX century or a French film of the 20s.

But to find Easter eggs, to understand where this or that context came from, is a separate kind of irrational pleasure. That’s why the very “biblical references” are being shoved everywhere. Thus, the author appeases the viewer.

2. Games expand your favorite universes

If you love Star Wars, you know what we’re talking about. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, Republic Commando and other games have one thing in common: they all allow you to be in your favorite universe for a while and not just see a new story, but become its direct participant.

Do you like board games or movies, most likely in the world of video games there will be a full-fledged arrangement of them. With special effects, interesting characters and the ability to personally control a space marine from the Order of Ultramarines.

3. Games are good for the brain

Yes, yes. In addition to the fact that they help old people to restore the reaction, they will not harm the younger body. While playing a typical shooter, a bunch of new neural connections are formed in your head, and the achivok system motivates the acquired game skills not to lose. Thanks to all this, the speed of decision-making increases: fans of shooters on average by 25% Faster, Video Games Lead to Faster Decisions that are No Less Accurate to make decisions compared to those who don’t play them.

And that’s without mentioning the most obvious benefit of computer fun — stress relief. It is better to shoot a dozen or two NPCs in GTA than to break down on furniture and even more so on people.

And if we talk about children, then for them in general there is a whole mountain of advantages: starting from the fact that games Help Video games ‘help to read in children with dyslexia’ fight dyslexia, and end with the development of imagination. So, if you’re under the age of eleven, it’s time to start sitting at the computer in moderation.

4. Games are a pleasant pastime

Life is arranged in such a way that we either carry like a squirrel in a wheel, or we do not know what to do with ourselves at all. And in the second case, YouTube comes into play, looking into the distance under the postrock and scrolling the tape in the social network. But as an alternative to TV shows and social networks, it is quite possible to choose video games.

Not to say that there will be more sense in a multiplayer project session, but you’re likely to have a more fun time – that’s the first thing. Secondly, playing again in multiplayer mode, you definitely achieve certain goals, heights and results – albeit virtual. Thirdly, after the game, time will also fly faster – which is very good when we have to wait for something.

5. Games can still surprise

Of course, a lot of time has passed since the appearance of the first games. The main genres, methods and mechanics have long been worked out. Nevertheless, the boom of indie projects in recent years, the constant development of hardware and the increasingly serious attention of developers to video games make themselves felt. Every year there are, if not whole new trends, then interesting projects that stand out from the general mass. Occasionally, developers even manage to “reinvent the wheel”. For example, not so long ago, such a “wheel” was VR technology, which really gives a completely new and unique experience.

In cinema and literature, it is long worth stopping, hoping for something new. But computer games half a century ago simply did not exist. In fact, video games (not all, but most) embody the main postmodern principle, when history in a work of art is created by the reader himself. Even if the intermediary is not the text, but the interface of a step-by-step strategy.

And just the qualitative development of the gaming industry is much more noticeable than the development of graphics in cinema. Just compare what the games looked like in 2005 and 2017, and David Lynch didn’t dream of such sophisticated approaches to the narrative, especially in indie projects. An example is walking simulators like What Remains of Edith Finch or the same Dark Souls series, where the whole plot is in the descriptions of objects.

6. You can earn money on games

There’s just a huge amount of money in the video game industry. The gigantic one is $91 billion for 2016. If anything, this is about five times Moldova’s GDP. And every year this number is only growing. And these billions include not only the games themselves, but also, for example, video content on them. And let me remind you, the most popular blogger on YouTube is the letsplayer PewDiePie.

Not to mention streams, eSports, merch – fallout 4 alone even produced socks and beer as part of a marketing campaign. Maybe you will be able to make money on some stream or gaming site. Identify the most trendy and popular games, broadcast them, collect thousands of rubles on donations or write articles – try it. And if you are particularly persistent, you can even go to a game company. In general, there are a lot of options.

We think that now you have no doubts about the benefits of computer games. Stay tuned and have a great time. And come to Kolomenskoye on August 11-12: this year, a whole zone of old-school games will be waiting for you at Geek Picnic.