Video Games are an Art Form

So these days, video games are in the same league as films and TV shows. But why is that? 10 years ago, Video games weren't considered as much as an art form as they are today, and 15 years ago, they weren't even looked upon that much other than the people who played them. But video games have made such an impact on the entertainment industry that they have become a huge part of every day life.

Games are like films these days with their epic story lines and solid characters while 15 years ago a video game had a central character with not much back story to them with the aim of the game to get through different levels with very little story.

So why has the video game medium become so popular and so big? I think it's because games offer more escapism for people. A film only allows you to watch events of a character, while a game lets you be the character. You chose what you want to do, you can save people in certain games, blast your way through enemies in others....it allows freedom of choice.

However games have caused controversy for a long time. The growing concern that video games influence children to be violent is continuously around. However the people who make these accusations have very little knowledge of games themselves.
Take a look at this video. It is a clip from the Alan Tichmarsh show where they are having a debate about violence in video games.



As you can see the argument is ridiculous as they are blaming parents for giving kids the games yet they fail to go into how children watch films which have high age classifications.

At the end of the day, games are an art form, with a colaboration of people making them what they are, just like films are art. I feel the only difference between films and games are the fact that we can play games. They should be treated as such rather than being pushed aside and shunned for "causing violence".

Games are art, and will remain such for a long time.