Art Form for the Digital Age

Dr. Jenkins quotes "So are video games a massive drain on our income, time and energy? A new form of "cultural pollution," as one U.S. senator described them? The "nightmare before Christmas?" As I read through the first page, I found those questions amusing and funny at the same time for the public's narrowminded mentality of video games. It's interesting to acknowldge the parallel Dr. Jenkins address about video games and cinema. He states that critics were suspicious of cinema's commercial motivations and technological origins, concerned about Hollywood's appeals to violence and eroticism, and insistent that cinema had not yet produced works of lasting value. What critics were not aware of during the rise of cinema is that actor's work restricted to release their names and show more emotion than needed through silent films because Hollywood companies didn't want the actor's to gain power.

He mentions that games represent a new art, one as appropriate for the digital age as those earlier media were for the machine age. Video games open up new aesthetic experiences and transform the computer screen into a realm of experimentations and innovation that is broadly accessibly. I fully support this because throughout the past decade we have seen game characters evolve from pixelated shapes to actual animated human beings with emotional expressions. We have seen other genres emerge that introduces peripherals that helps the player feel more involved; hence Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band. We have seen games with incredible storyline and graphics that has shocked the gaming world to its core. An evolution to multiplayer that once was accessible in E3 cafes and now available in your own living room.

What is true about this article is that games help children spark their imaginations, taking them to new worlds. No longer can they go outside and play because of the constant fear parents have of their children killed in a drive-by shootout or kidnapping. Appropriate video games gives children to opportunity to explore a fun world and solve puzzles. It's nice to see that video games are beginning to be viewed as more than just a "waste of time."