In Defence of Video Games

Fast forward to 1984 and the movie “The Last Starfighter,” the first movie to integrate CGI effects into the movie. I was fascinated beyond all belief.  I wanted to know everything I could about computers, and video games, and how they worked. 

In order to gain this understanding, I spent my newspaper route money in the arcades, or saving up for the state-of-the-art computers and game systems of the time (I had 4 paper routes in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY).  I tore the systems apart and successfully put them back together.  I learned how to double the RAM (Random Access Memory) of my TRS-80 Color Computer II, learned how to solder, taught myself some BASIC, COBOL and Machine Language computer languages (long since forgotten)…

…and somewhere along the line, I became (in theory, at least) a world class video game player.  Had I known at the time that there were world records for playing video games, I would undoubtedly hold a few, flipping the score of the classic game “Missile Command” nine times on one quarter and playing “Asteroids” for more than 50 hours straight on one quarter.

When my father’s mental health started coming apart around 1985 and he started using cocaine, the video arcade was a haven for me (when I wasn’t hanging out in the public library or sneaking into the Brooklyn Aquarium). 

Drop a quarter in a game and I could put my reality on hold for an hour or so before going back to my dismal life.  In 1986, I dropped out of high school and worked full-time at McDonald’s on West 12th St in Brooklyn, NY, picking up double shifts just so I would not be around the apartment that had become a crack-den (before that was burned out on the inside and we became homeless).  The little money I earned was used on food (I became responsible for grocery shopping, etc. at age 16) and video games.  

I played them ALL, and mastered as many as I could, because the sweet release and mild escape actually did me good.  I mean, I raced with the best and fastest, out-shot the ultimate snipers, wiped out hordes of hungry monsters, protected an endangered Earth.  I was a superhero, a cop, a crook, a martial arts master, fighter pilot, sword wielding warrior, race car driver.  I was unbeatable, and on the rare occasion that someone bested me in a game, I played and played and played until I was better, until all the arcade games in the area had my initials at the top of the Best Scores.

Even after I joined the US Navy and was stationed in Scotland, I saved my money to buy the best computer at the time (IBM-PC Jr), modified that, and introduced some of my shipmates to the wonders of video games.

Somehow, however, no matter how much I immersed myself in the games, I never lost sight of who I was, and even with my head in the clouds I never lost touch with reality.  I never forgot that the game was a game and not tied into reality.  I’ve never pointed a gun at anyone, nor had the urge to mow down a real-life crowd.  I don’t speed when I’m traveling, always use my turn signals, and even try to practice common courtesy on the road when traffic flow permits.  I don’t have the need to fly a drone and bomb people, and never mistake my coworkers for Orcs or aliens from the moons of Jupiter.

At 44 years of age, I still play video games.  I find them to be a wonderful outlet to release anger and frustration, or to put my everyday concerns to the side for a short time.  While my muscle memory and puzzle-solving skills are actively trying to, say, complete a lap on a circuit at 217 miles per hour, my subconscious mind is cycling through more serious issues and providing me with “A-ha!” and “Eureka” moments to no end. 

Perhaps I’m exceptional; perhaps being told from an early age that things on the screen (television, movie, computer) are make believe helped ensure that I wouldn’t get “lost” in fantasy. I don’t know, but whatever it is, I still know the difference between reality and make believe.

 As a parent, if I think a game (or movie, or book, or television show) is inappropriate for my children, I will just not allow my children to view this material.  Its up to parents, and not critics, or governments, or schools, to raise their children with awareness of reality, and when a child (or adult, for that matter) starts to lose touch with reality, the parent is supposed to step in and “ground” (not in the disciplinary sense, necessarily) the child back to the real world.

CONCLUSION

Although there is some truth to video games being addictive and possibly changing the chemistry of one’s brain (especially as a youngster), video games can be a wonderful outlet for creativity and angst.