Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, I was gifted my first video game console. My Grandfather bought me the first Playstation for my birthday with the original Crash Bandicoot, a naughty dog developer staple. I remember my Grandpa setting up the Playstation console to my clunky television in my bedroom and popping in the disc. I could not put the controller down as I ran, jumped, and spun through every level. Before this moment, I don’t remember playing a single video game, so as a little boy, this opened my world to other fantastical stories out there, ready to be interacted with.
While playing video games, I felt like I was embarking on a journey of fantastic plot designs and character development without leaving my room. I got to be part of a fantastic story while having fun at the same time. Around the time I hit my adolescent years, the gaming scene was exploding, with legendary franchises coming into their own innovative methods of playing games. Under my bed covers, I would turn on my Gameboy Advance and try to catch a legendary Pokemon or sit for hours on my bedroom floor playing Final Fantasy in its role-playing wonderland. The imagination of these developers and electronic artists left an imprint on me that I will always appreciate.
Today, the video game industry is worth billions of dollars, and content creators can make a living off streaming content as a high-level business brand. Gamers now have a voice to express their art. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the main powerhouses that spawned the dream-like worlds onto a screen for us to interact with on unfathomable scales compared to decades ago, from one of the very first games like Pong for The Atari to the cinematic masterpieces like Halo, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid, and much more. We created a universe of virtual reality that is only getting more life-like.
Entire careers are now predicated on the health of the gaming industry, with countless positions for developers to put out the best product they can. Some of these engines have floors of employees occupying a space with months, if not years, of testing before a project is considered complete. This allows people to live out their dreams of bringing the fantasy closer to reality. This electronic art form brings imagination to life in video motion art forms of sophisticated standards.
We went from joint sticks and coin slots at the arcade to virtual reality Oculus headsets to dive head-first into another world. The video game culture causes religion, politics, skin color, and dialect to take a backseat when competing in online tournaments or just casual multiplayer campaigns. The world is in enough division as it is. I’m not saying video games are the overall cure, but for a moment, people from opposite seas can escape unfair government rules and have fun in digital form. Energy can be used trying to earn virtual trophies and achievements together instead of constantly fighting and killing because world leaders can’t come to reasonable agreements.
Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the industry powerhouses, but I don’t view one as much better than the other. Each project is a piece of art that briefly captivates the minds and senses, creating pixelated magic with buttons on a controller. Regardless of brand, all platforms provide nostalgia and wonder in positive and healthy ways. The art might have different tones, but it’s still art.
Video games will always hold a special place in my heart, regardless of whether I am no longer a heavy gamer. The gamer is usually stigmatized negatively, but that needs to go away because the gamer culture is the life of these powerhouse industries. One video game can change someone’s life and alter their perspective on handling a real-life situation differently. Exploring the endless electronic outward imagination is meant for us to take when we turn the console off.
