A blog that I found interesting was one called Elegant Themes. It is an extremely useful blog that can give you resources and tips to create a better-looking website, which I know I could use!

Death is so commonplace in today’s society that the common public has become desensitized to its influence. The loss of life is something that everyone should be sad of, but we seem to have lost the ability to empathize with others who experience that loss. On every phone, computer, and T.V. there are thousands upon thousands of news articles and interviews that inform the public of horrific killings around the world. Titles such as “20 people died in a massacre” or “four killed in an unfortunate school shooting” flood the collective consciousness of the public, but we sit here, unmoving, because of the meaningless numbers presented to us. No one cares if four people died in an accident; they’ll only care if the people who died in the accident were actually known to them. A number means nothing; a personality means everything.

And now, in totally related and not at all over dramatized and fictional news, video games are the root of everything that is wrong with the upcoming generation and is causing a majority of all gun related deaths. That seems like a big jump, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, that is the jump that an incredibly large amount of people make every time they hear anything negative about young people. I am not going to sit here and say that video games have nothing to do with these problems. It is incredibly likely, if not guaranteed, that they do cause some bad things. However, this is not to the extent that the mainstream media is trying to portray. But to what extent do video games actually influence negative actions?

Before we begin by talking about the studies and numbers, it is important to the aspects of games that cannot be defined by studies. Often, media outlets attack video games by saying that they glorify the act of killing. It is impossible to put a number on this idea, but even so, President Trump, on a panel after the Parkland School Shooting, announced that video games contribute to the glorification of violence in society. This is only a fallacy, because no actual proof is given to justify that accusation. Even if it were true, what stops other forms of media from having the same effect? Books, movies , and T.V. shows all have similar glorified themes that video games have, so if this argument is brought up against video games, it must be brought up against all media.

There are themes in video games that do glorify death and the act of killing, but there are also themes that protect against those. This is a quote from one such game. “As proof of one’s life, there exists the danger of death. This proof exists as a flame, painfully burning one’s life away.” This comes from Persona 3 FES. This game has incredible themes of mourning and eventually moving on after the loss of a loved one and finding meaning in life before it ends. Unfortunately, when the debate of whether or not video games cause violence comes up, the accusers cherry pick games, and never provide a full story. Games like Doom do have obscene amounts of gore, but for every Doom, there is a Persona 3 FES. Only certain games should be considered in a bad light; a vast majority are harmless fun, or actually dissuade people from participating in violence.

With the opinionated topics out of the way, we can now begin looking into the facts. Because this idea that video games cause violence is so ingrained in mainstream culture, one could be forgiven for believing it. However, there has not been a single study, out of the thousands completed, that links video games with an increase in violent behavior. The major links are upbringing, gender, and previous disposition. There have been successful studies linking video games and a rise in aggression, but that same aggression comes when a person’s favorite football team loses, or when they don’t understand their math homework. It is not indicative of games, but of passion. One may argue that these studies are biased; that they are conducted by gamers to persuade the government that video games have no correlation with violence whatsoever. That would be false. Many credible institutions have commented on and researched this issue. one such article comes from Harvard Medical School, in which the researchers debunk many accusations slated towards video games. They stated that “Federal crime statistics suggest that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have soared.” This flies in the face of many people’s ideas when it comes to video games. This study, however, does not give any conformation that extremely violent video games are productive either. It seems that these games are incredibly neutral.

Personally, I don’t play incredibly violent video games. I don’t find them as interesting as other more nuanced games. However, I still see them as important, and certainly nothing that should be banned or limited. Video games are a form of free speech, and no matter how violent the game is, it still is to be protected. And without cold hard facts linking violent games to murders and shootings, politicians need to stop talking about them. They use games as a distraction to avoid the real problems, like the questions surrounding gun control. Instead of figuring that out, why don’t we go play a video game and then blame that.

Steam is a great platform for gaming! There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of video games lined ripe for the picking for the famished gamer. Earlier this week, I was one of the famished gamers and decided to peruse the site for possible games, and then I came across Slime Rancher. The most popular games are often gory first person shooters. They are made by large AAA companies, and they definitely provide the adrenaline that most gamers crave. However, those games can often lead the people who are playing them to tiredness. There is just so much going on! That is exactly where Slime Rancher jumps in and works its magic.

Slime Rancher is an incredibly relaxing game. The main objective is to capture and cultivate adorable slime creatures and make a profit. The character in the game is completely isolated (by her own choice) and is on a mission to find what she really enjoys: adventure. She moves out to uncover the secrets of where the slimes call home and have some fun in the process. Throughout the adventure, the character finds messages from another slime rancher who used to inhabit the ranch. The messages explain that the slimes hide so much more than the character had originally believed, and by journeying she finds what she wants.

I picked Slime Rancher because of its calming atmosphere and the aesthetics. The game is beautiful, and it uses its graphics and sound design to envelop the player in its world. However, the game itself is not the only aspect to analyze. Steam has a really good interface and allows for anyone to customize how and what they want to play. The games are usually only a few clicks away, and it always gets that awesome feeling of finding a new game under the Christmas tree with each purchase.

Slime Rancher is very much a single player experience, so I don’t recommend playing with a group of people, but I highly recommend it overall because, like I said before, it is outrageously calming!

Playing video games is fun for many people. The game industry has become bigger than every other entertainment outlet in the world. However, with massive growth like that, problems also appear. The idea of video games being as addictive as drugs has been floating around for a while, and recently it has begun to blow up again. The first thing to look at is if games actually classify as an addiction versus a hobby.

A hobby is something that one enjoys doing, but that person will still make time for his/her responsibilities. He/she will continue to do homework, go to work, and keep with cleaning the house. An addiction, on the other hand, is a hobby that has gradually taken over more and more of a person’s life. Eventually, that hobby becomes that person’s life. He/she begins to stop completing his/her responsibilities, and is consumed by their addiction. Do video games align with the second definition? In some cases, yes. However, that is somewhat misleading. It is true that games do cause some people to slip on their responsibilities. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery lays out some of the symptoms of gaming addiction. Feelings of isolation, moodiness, dropping out of extra activities, and lying to friends and family about how long they actually participate in the game. Some people who play video games do suffer from these symptoms, and to them video games are addictive. But it is important to realize that just because something is addictive does not mean it is negative.

The most common addictions that are talked about are drug addictions. However, things that are looked at positively like being productive and exercise can also be addictive. For example, if one becomes so enveloped in being productive that they wake up to begin working, they will get a lot of stuff done, but they will not enjoy themselves ever. They will become burnt out and despise what at first gave them joy. It is unfair to look at video games as something to be abhorred because they are addictive because everything in the world is addictive. Too much of anything is a bad thing, but video games are looked down upon because of a bias against them.

Addiction is an issue that needs to be addressed, but only addressing video game addiction is akin to having a lego set and pulling one piece out and claiming that it is finished; the world misses the bigger picture when it comes to this topic. It is less that games are addictive, and more so that humans like to be addicted to things, video games or not.

Every gamer is surrounded by others who have played old games. These “others” proclaim that these old games are masterpieces and that they were ahead of their time. Games like Super Mario 64 and the original Legend of Zelda come to mind. However, newer generations hear these stories and try to get their greasy gamer fingers on these wonders, only to find that actually playing these games tends to be difficult. Getting the original consoles and cartridges is nearly impossible, not to mention expensive. However, some websites have been able to provide a way for gamers of newer generations to experience these classics.

gbafun.com is one such website. This technological masterpiece creates a place where anyone, even if they do not own a Gameboy Advance, can experience the popular games on that console. Honestly, take your pick. Pokemon Emerald? This website has you covered. Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories? Always. Many people are suspicious of such websites. They often ask if the games will be fun to play because the normal controller cannot be used. The website provides a solution. Each game has a list of inputs and which keys they relate to on the keyboard. They player can go into a menu and modify the key bindings of these inputs, allowing for incredibly large amounts of customization.

There are other benefits to using a website like this too. Games on gbafun.com can be expanded to take up the entire screen. This is quite a big difference from the tiny screen of the Gameboy Advance, that is for sure. Another positive is the ease of switching between games. If one was playing on a GBA, then in order to switch games the console would have to be shut off and the game card would need to be removed. The other game’s game card would then be inserted. The website can do all of that in a few simple clicks.

With the benefits of using websites like this, it seems weird that consoles are still the preferred way to play video games. The reason for this is usually the fact that these websites are providing these games illegally. The games that are accessed on these websites are the copyrighted materials of the companies that made them. By having them available to the public for free, these websites are essentially stealing profit from those companies. Some websites do have the permission from companies to use their games. However, those that do do so illegitimately.

Entertainment has been ingrained in the public mind for many, many years. Everywhere we go there are people talking about how the last football game ended or where the Soccer world cup is being held. As time moved on and technology improved, the entertainment industry shifted from being entirely physical to having a mixture of both physical and technological elements. Enter movies and video games, the two biggest juggernauts of the latter category. Both of these entertainment forms have enraptured the public eye for at least over 20 years, and the train does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. So, obviously, the best thing for these two art forms is to combine themselves to create an amazingly engrossing product that outsells the biggest Marvel superhero films. The combined might of both gamers and movie-watchers will overrun all of the competition! Yeah, that did not happen.

The biggest problem with combining games and movies is that they have two entirely different ways of entertaining people: one completely lacks interactivity, and the other is entirely based on interactivity. When producers try to merge these conflicting ideals, all that ends up happening is a movie that lacks the charm of a completely original idea. For example, the Ratchet and Clank movie that came in 2016 is based on the incredibly popular Ratchet and Clank franchise (Who could have guessed?). Personally, I adore all of the original four Ratchet and Clank games, and find the future trilogy to be okay. However, when I went to go see the movie, I found it be devoid of any and all charm that the original games had. This is due to how games and movies differ in entertaining people. A movie’s drive is all focused around the characters and the story; there is nothing else to keep the audience entertained. With a game, you have the story, characters, AND the gameplay. This leads a dip in quality for the story and characters to allow for a polished gameplay system. However, when a movie adaptation comes along and tries to modify a game, they are left with two aspects that are not necessarily the focus, leading to a movie that does not do much of anything.

Despite this, producers continue to try and create a good video game movie. I personally do not see a time in which a video game movie will ever outshine a purely original movie. A movie is entirely focused around the aspects that make something entertaining to watch, not to experience. A video game is more so focused around the aspects that make something fun to take part in yourself, not to passively enjoy.

Video games are defined by the fact that the person enjoying it has to interact with the game. Without the inputs from the player, the video game holds no value and can provide no entertainment. Movies are the exact inverse of this; they are entirely passive. A viewer of a movie does not have an affect on the outcome of any events or the characters. However, the growing popularity of video games has enticed the movie industry into cashing in on it. For quite a long time, there have been games created that have been based around the worlds of these movies. However, rarely do these games ever end up being enjoyable.

The biggest reason for this lack of quality is that video games and movies are two entirely different forms of entertainment. Each form relies on different aspects in order to succeed, and combining those aspects creates a muddled mess as opposed to adding to each other’s strengths. For example, if you take one of the really popular Harry Potter movies and give it game play, its not nearly as interesting. When Harry moves through the halls in the movies, he interacts with characters and it feels like he is exploring the school of Hogwarts. However, if a player, as opposed to a viewer, is in the shoes of Harry, suddenly the only thing the player is doing is walking in straight lines and talking to NPCs. The allure of movies does not translate well to video games. The game play ends up being boring and repetitive because movies focus around the entire lives of the characters within them, and lives are boring. Every day the characters wake up and continue adventures. In video games though, you do not experience the boring parts, and only enjoy the awesomely fun engaging parts.

The mixture of games and movies does not work whatsoever. It is better to keep them separated, or we will only continue to receive mediocre products.

Art is, for the most part, subjective. To one person, a painting can invoke feelings of magic and wonder and transport them to a world of joy. For others, however, that same painting can be as dull as an unlicensed box of tissues. Because of this huge divide in opinion, it is incredibly difficult, or rather impossible, to fully nail down what the definition of art really is. However, though a definition is impossible, a standard can be found. If enough work was put into a project, enough soul, that the viewer can almost see the hours melted into the image in front of them, that enters that project as being able to be defined as art. For example, the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting of all time. The quality of the painting is easily identifiable, and therefore the painting is considered art. This definition could fit onto other forms of art as well, such as statues and even architecture to an extent. Each chisel, each measurement of those creations can be seen and felt by those who look at it. So why is it that video games are sometimes left out of this conversation?

Video games have engrossed a incredibly large amount of people. Everywhere around the world, there are citizens who spend their time fighting magical creatures and saving princesses in entirely original worlds. In these worlds, expanses of bright green plains and the melodies playing throughout entice and entrance players just as those soulful paintings and statues do. There is no substantial reason as to why video games should be withheld from being labeled as art. Those who struggle to find a reason, however, state that an art piece has only one way of looking at it. The creator of the piece determines what he or she says it should invoke, and that is the only thing that the viewer should feel when looking at it. Video games offer an infinite amount of ways to experience them. This characteristic, though, actually only benefits video games. Any and all people can enjoy a video game because of the multiple avenues games have. Other forms of art, if the previous statement is to be trusted, can only be fully appreciated by those who understand the select thing the creator was trying to say.

Games provide so many emotions. Anger from losses and happiness from victories are some examples. These emotions mirror those found in well known art pieces, and that should not be understated.

As technology has advanced, so has video games. Originally, with early games such as “Tennis for Two,” the one and only reason one had for playing a game was the game play. It all revolved around the inputs of the player and what was happening on the screen; there was no need to create a reason for the player to engage with the game. However, with time, this ideology began to fade away. Players wanted to become immersed in a game’s world instead of being stuck in their own. The catalyst for this change was the introduction of storytelling into the interactive medium. The gamers now could become a character; they could struggle through the same hardships and fight through the same battles as the character within the game, and that made all the difference.

On a personal note, I believe that story is the most important part of a video game. The narrative is what drives me to complete a game, and nowhere is this more evident than in the 110 hour odyssey that is Persona 5. Persona 5 revolves around a high school student who is wrongfully accredited a crime he did not commit by a corrupt politician. Because of this, the student is forced to transfer schools to a large city in Japan called Shibuya. There, everywhere he turns, a corrupt society is crushing him, trying to make him conform. However, the student does not bend and, with help of other students who have been wronged by societal norms, changes the hearts of amoral adults. The game revolves around incredibly heavy and relatable themes that drives the story forward. I did not play Persona 5 for the game play (which, by the way, is turn based). I played it for the engrossing story. The game actually made me think about the parallels between the society within the game and the society that we all live in currently. For example, one of the major themes of the game is how people love to be “mindless.” (Spoilers ahead!!!) At the end of the game, the group of students, now calling themselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, changes the heart of the corrupt politician, Shido. Shido, to all normal citizens seems like a perfect candidate for Supreme minister due to his amazing speeches of grandeur and societal reflection. Behind his mask, however, lies a man that has murdered an innumerable amount of people in order to get the power that he desperately wants. The Phantom Thieves make him confess his crimes to the public. The horrendous stories are laid out for all to hear, and yet, the public is indifferent. They still want this man as their ruler, despite his atrocities. The people wish that they don’t have to think. They all live under the mantra that ignorance is bliss, and the people settle for a murderer if it means they can continue to trudge through their lives unaware of the world around them.

Problems and themes such as that in Persona 5 drive the player to push through the game. I always wanted to know more. I wanted to figure out what the Phantom Thieves were going to do to conquer society. I became so invested in the narrative that when the credits rolled on my journey, I cried. The game changed my outlook on my own life. I realized that I was one of the mindless citizens in the game. I too wallow in ignorance, only aware of the things that I want to be aware of. This game has changed my life. I began to think more critically about the world around me, and I encourage everyone to do the same. However, there is one thing that I did not need to ponder about. Persona 5 would not be the masterpiece that it is today without the story. I would not have cried at that game without the powerful narrative, and it would not have changed my life without the characters and the themes held within its code. A game can be more than a game, and Persona 5 proves that without a doubt.

Boredom is hardly ever a good thing. It turns perfectly fine days into monotonous slogs. However, there are a few instances where boredom can lead to something that isn’t entirely awful. Enter flash games, the short and sweet games available at any time in any place. These things have surrounded the newer generations since they first had access to a computer. I have experienced many of these games before, but there is one that has recently caught my interest: Strike Force Heroes 3. This game has the potential to be an impressively enjoyable experience.

This potential shows itself most evidently in its game play. Strike Force Heroes 3 is a shooter game with a secondary focus on RPG elements. In each level, the player is tasked with an objective to conquer, whether it be to capture a point or to destroy a certain amount of enemies. The player can control his or her character with both the arrow and WASD keys and aims with the mouse. With this control setup, the character in the game is able to move and shoot in opposite directions, which is vital in order to conquer the level objectives. The games becomes deeper with the introduction of multiple playable characters. From my experience, all different characters specialize in a different gun and have completely different passive abilities. For example, the original commando the game starts with has an automatic rifle and his passive ability is health regeneration. The next operative I obtained was a gunslinger; she used a handgun, but was not able to regenerate her health. Instead, her passive ability gave increased damage on head shots, which makes her a character a high risk one, but she has the potential to absolutely dominant. However, immediately after this discovery, I was greeted by an unfortunate mechanic: time gating. Instead of having new operatives be held behind levels, Strike Force Heroes 3 only allows the layer to draft a new character once every day. However, despite this setback, the game still has some awesome qualities.

One such quality is the graphical prowess of the game. Despite being only a flash game, Strike Force Heroes 3 has impressive animations with its characters as well as pretty cut scenes. I use the word “pretty” deliberately though. The game is not going to astound the player with its beauty; rather, the graphics of the game serve to support the great game play. The opening cut scenes have a retro pixelated look to them. It feels like they came from a more modern Ninja Gaiden game. The graphics while in the game, however, look quite good as well. Like I said, the games art style is not looking to impress anyone; it’s only trying to be adequate, but it actually exceeds that benchmark by a small margin. Strike Force Heroes 3 looks great. The backgrounds serve to create a believable background for the player to run around in, and the different particle effects coming off of the bullets being fired add to the atmosphere as well. The game is not amazing nor mediocre, but right in the middle.

Overall, Strike Force Heroes 3 provides a good deal of fun in a good looking world. It is not the best playing game or the best looking game, but it hits the goals it sets for itself, and because of that, it is an enjoyable time. It is definitely something one can jump in to for a few minutes if he or she is bored, and that makes this game a success.