So what, now my personality is being evaluated? I’m supposed to be funny now? That kinda takes all the fun out of it. And it was completion before? This sucks and I’m very tired. In any case…
I honestly didn’t come into this semester expecting a ton of change in my perspective on video games. Was I wrong… yes and no? I mean I walked in expecting not much more than an excuse to play and talk about some cool new games, which did happen. This course succeeded in getting me hooked on the Bioshock franchise, in any case. Unpopular opinion I suppose but I preferred the first Bioshock to Bioshock Infinite but that’s neither here nor there. The latter forced me to think about things and I already do that in real life so why would I want to escape reality into a world where I have to do it some more? That’s not to say it’s bad when video games make you think, but Bioshock Infinite just encouraged that thought in a very strange kind of way. I don’t hate it, I just… oh never mind I have no idea what I’m trying to say. Maybe you do. I wish the ‘s’ key on my keyboard worked properly.
But on the other hand (throwback to when I wasn’t on that weird tangent), this course, true to its namesake, taught me a lot about evaluating video games as literature. The way video games convey their themes, stories, characterization, and world building isn’t really something I had ever considered before but this course definitely changed that. This class forced me to look at one of my favorite mediums from an analytical standpoint, and nothing having to do with video games can really be all bad, can it (ignoring E.T. for Atari perhaps)?
I still love video games, always have, always will, and if anything this course reinforced that fondness I have for the genre. The games we played here will definitely be sticking with me for a long time after the fact and I think that’s one of the qualities that can make a video game, literature or otherwise, so great.
I’m super excited for the next Bioshock that’s coming up (hopefully soon) and I will definitely cop that game once it releases. If the previous games are any indication of what the next one will be like, the future looks very bright for the franchise. AND it’s supposed to be open world too? Fantastic, really. Brilliant.
As for games that are already available I’ll probably actually get around to finishing Middle Earth: Shadow of War at some point (very fun, I recommend). Oh and I almost forgot, there’s a big Warframe update coming out during finals week so that’s my present for putting up with the education system. I could rave about Warframe for hours on end (I wonder if it could be considered literature? I’d bet there’s an argument to be made there.) but I’m sure nobody really wants to read that. Very fun yet can be overwhelming, and it’s for the low low price of free so there’s really no reason not to give it a shot.
Friend me on Steam if you want to, or don’t… ‘lest?
