Videogames are my life

Today during dinner, my mother made stated the memorable quote "What is there to respect about videogames?" While my sister tried to change her outmoded way of thinking, I promptly went down here to write an angsty blog.

But don't worry, I am not going to bore you with tales of how games can have engrossing storylines, foster social skills and a sense of community, challenge you, and just about meet or exceed the abilities of any other medium of entertainment and self-advancement (ie, srs-bsns movies, eg Schindler's List). You're on Dtoid, so you're a gamer, so you should know that.

No, I am going to explain to the world why I consider video games the focal point of my life - and why that is far from a bad thing.



Let's get this straight, 21st century - the stereotype of the lone, palefaced gamer who spends all his time in his basement is so old and pretentious it's unbelievable. How is this myth still around?

Video games are my primary medium of entertainment. I play games with my friends, I play games by myself, I have a videogame blog and read about videogame news.

But I'm not a social shut-in, and overall, am a pretty well-balanced individual. Most of my really close friends play videogames so that is how we spend a lot of our time together. In fact, I would argue that it is something that brought us together. Point in fact - Halo splitscreen. Inviting over friends to play Halo, or any other game, is just a really fun experience that I love to do. I have a ton of memories about this sort of thing. Why are these memories less worthy than those of, say, a board game? However, that doesn't mean all my friends are gamers, or that I can't interact with non-gamers - far from it; most of my friends don't game heavily, but I love to hang out with them. But all my closest friends share my greatest passion (that's gaming, in case you missed everything above this sentence).

Furthermore, I do a lot of things besides gaming! I play traditional board games, card games, and tabletop wargames. I go swimming, hiking, trampolining and stargazing sometimes. I'm an artist, writer, and straight-A student. I'm politically active, self-confident and overall happy.

But throughout all that - videogames are the most important thing to me. Not more important than my family, or friends, or being a good person, but more important than swimming or playing a card game that is considered to be better than a videogame for some vague, abstract reason (the only thing that comes close is politics).

What is so wrong with videogames that they are considered inferior to all other forms of entertainment?
Why do people love board games but deride video games?
What's the difference between a strategic card game and an RTS?
Why are videogames less respectable than movies?

Why doesn't the world [i][b]make sense?

[move]YEAAAAAAH[/move]