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For a long time, there has been an ongoing dispute
between bookworms and gamers about which hobby makes more sense. Traditional bookworms cannot seem to wrap
their minds around how video games can help creativity and just label it as ‘pure
nonsense’. And hardly likely do you see a person who is both a bookworm and a
gamer, possibly because of the clearly defined line drawn between the two
hobbies by some narrow minded individuals.
However, to criticize something, you must try it,
get involved in it, experience it, and then, and only then, should you make a
decision. I have done just that – and I must confess I love books and video
games!
As a child, I was drawn to books because of a love
for adventure, action and climax. I fell in love with the characters and was
always sad when the story ended. Even now, after a book ends, I imagine
continued lives for these beloved characters. At times, I disagreed with the
decisions the author made for the characters and would imagine the storyline
happening a different way – my way. Video games have given me the freedom to
experience all these same feelings.
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My six year old son introduced me to gaming. My first
experience was Mortal Combat. At first, I was hesitant and didn’t expect much. But
from the moment I held that controller, I was drawn into this world, full of
action and adventure…just like a good book. I was in control of the fate of my
characters, so I didn’t have to sulk at the author’s choice of ending and if my
character died, I could always press ‘replay’ to avenge him/her. It was
awesome!
The controller is dual shock, so everything my
character experienced, I felt it. It was like I was the character, I was in the
story, I was the author and I loved it! I started wondering, why do some people
hate video games? They’re awesome, it’s got everything a book has, well except
the pages, and the cover and the comforting ‘book smell’.
Suddenly, the storyline could happen how I imagined
it and that was an awesome feeling. I was
excited to discover new games and realised that there were games where I could customize
my characters or their ‘ride’ as well. No longer did I have to imagine my
characters the way an author wanted me to. And man, did I like that idea or
what.
I was worried then that reading a book would not be
the same experience it had been before, now that I had discovered an avenue to visually
create my own story. But when I next picked up a book, I still had the same ‘bookworm’
feelings I had before gaming. I still enjoyed the new book smell, I was still
excited to drown myself in the story, I still cried when the characters experienced
tragedy and I still enjoyed turning the crisp pages.
And that was when I realised, I could be a bookworm and
a gamer too. Gaming allowed me to do things I could not do with a book, but
there were feelings only a book could evoke. These were not two hobbies that
threatened each other, but instead they were two hobbies that could co-exist,
if allowed to.
And then after I realised all those things, a British playwright called Lucy
Prebble realised it too and spoke out about it. She said “video games require
the user to make decisions, giving them the chance to influence the story and
even in part design the world in which the game is played out.” She explained
that she has been a gamer since she was a child, and it had not discouraged her
from literature; today she is a renowned playwright.
So the Lucy Prebbles of the world and I, have
discovered a world in which gaming and literature can live together in harmony.
However, there are still some bookworms who continue to be against it. In my opinion,
these people have not evolved and are still stuck on one page. I say it’s time
to turn the page.
You may want to check out video games that are based on books too -
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