Video Games and Books
OPINION
How can these people compare video games and books in this sense? My goodness; have these people never played a video game before?
"Sunni, why don't you go read a book?"
"Sunni, why don' you try to learn something rather than playing those stupid games?"
That right there is the basis of this post.
How can these people compare video games and books in this sense? My goodness; have these people never played a video game before? Now, I'm not putting down books here. I love books, and they love me xD. I could cuddle up in my bed, with an epic fantasy novel for hours, even DAYS at a time! But some stories are best told in different kinds of media. Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda; all of these could be turned into books, which would be a very good idea, albeit much of the effect would be lost through the transition.
A key example of this would be Ocarina of Time. I could perhaps use Twilight Princess as an example, but I'm directing my argument towards the story rather than the gameplay; a topic in which no other Zelda game can really compare (in my opinion). Where would Ocarina of Time be without its classically epic tunes? Its a game of music, and without sound the majority of what it transpires to be would be lost. Last time I checked, regular old books don't produce any sort of sound.
Again , I can use the Zelda series as a key example. There has never been, nor do I ever think an implementation of voice acting into any of these games. Yes, theres been the odd grunt and sigh by the Link himself, but never has anyone said a word. The amount of immersion into the story really relies on the reading ability of the gamer. Now, which gamer doesn't want to immerse themselves into the fantasy world of the game the are playing? Thus comes a strive to become better; I myself learned to read by playing video games.
A different perspective: Books, movies, and games are first and foremost a financial venture. Companies produce these things expressly to make money. The reason they use whichever media is because those companies perceive a market niche that may be exploited. These media approaches are not entirely unique -- meaning that a consumer will not necessarily choose only one and ignore the others. But a VERY large percentage of consumers will, in fact, choose one over the others. However, each format offers a different perspective of the subject material: Books are passive, relying mainly on the readers' imaginations to fill in the "color" and sound. Movies are less passive, providing much of the color and sound, but still leaving the audience as a witness to the story. But video games are interactive, actually making the consumer a participant in the events of the story. Which would YOU rather be: a witness or a participant? When it comes right down to it, no wonder video games are so often described as "addictive".
In the latter years there have been a lack of awesome fantasy books out there; it seems more and more story-tellers are leaving books and moving on to new media, such as video games. Harry Potter, Pendragon, Lord of the Rings? Its only going to keep a kid of this age entertained for a short while.