Now, people like to rag on videogames a fair amount, but few look past the blood-stained, foul-mouthed exterior and see the true goodness that they bring. Besides costing a gut-wrenching $60 a pop and being partially responsible for desensitizing our culture, here are four ways that video games have impacted my life for the better.
1) I learned how to tolerate idiots
I propose a challenge to all of you. Go turn on your console, put in Halo or Call of Duty (has to be one of these two), plug in your headset, and try to go through a minimum of two games without muting one person. Most of you probably lasted four minutes before a 12-year-old boy called you a shit-licking cock sucker. You tried to defend yourself with a witty comeback, but it only acted as fuel to his fire. The verbal onslaught begins, and before long, you find yourself returning the game in tears to your local GameStop. Welcome to the world of XBox Live, and the world of loud idiots.
And not the funny kind of loud idiot either.
Now I've been called just about everything in the insult book, from stupid bitch to mung-eating, donkey-fucking, ass-licking chode sucker. I've been called so many things for so many reasons, that I am completely desensitized to any form of insult. You can call me something and I'll probably laugh at your incompetence, or just ignore you entirely. It takes a lot to piss me off, and I used to get mad at the whiny prepubes playing Halo, but then I realized the nature of the troll. I learned of their ways, and to defeat a troll is to ignore a troll. XBox Live taught me tolerance. It is a lesson I use daily, and hold close to my heart.
2) I learned the importance of money
Anybody that has played a game once has encountered a currency system, whether it be rupees, dollars, yen, munny, credits, orbs, or genetic material. A critical part to any game is knowing how, when, and where to spend your dough. For example, if you spend all your money in Grand Theft Auto 4 picking up hookers, getting drunk, and going bowling you probably aren't going to get very far in the game. However, if you spend it on fast cars, food, and heavy weapons, odds are those Chinese druglords are going to have a shrimp-fried slice of death.
Enjoy your takeout!
Many other games include the ability to barter, such as my personal favorites Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas. From my extensive hours put into both of these games, I've learned several things about bartering, like that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and five Nuka-Cola Grenades. Or that a human life is actually equivalent to 500 Bottle Caps and a sweet Plasma Rifle. Granted these skills may not serve much use in real life besides bargaining my way out of paying $5 for used DVDs at a garage sale, but its the idea that counts.
Don't be fooled. Its just a butt plug superglued to a staple gun.
3) I learned that violence isn't always the answer
In recent years, videogames have responded to complaints that all conflicts are resolved by violence. Game series like Mass Effect and Fallout have installed options to persuade your foes into submitting, or agreeing with you. However, you can also choose to be an asshole about it, which kind of contradicts the whole point. But I digress. In Fallout: New Vegas, I learned that by simply raising your speech, you can get through a majority of the quests a hell of a lot quicker, get a lot more for rewards, and get just as much experience. For the first time in all my years of gaming, I actually stopped and said, "Wait, I don't need to vaporize everyone who disagrees with me?"
"What? He looked at me funny."
Instead of laying waste to my foes, I turned to charming them into agreeing with me, which can unlock information, and increase the speed of otherwise lengthy missions. Speech checks in videogames offer a pleasant relief to the monotony of endlessly slaying hordes of enemies. However, they're not in a majority of videogames, so in the end violence does solve a lot of issues. I just personally choose to persuade my way through the game when given the chance. Maybe I'm naturally a good guy? Oh wait...
4) I learned that being good pays off
If there's one thing from videogames that I've learned and has stuck with me its that being good really does pay off in the end. I've had a chance to play through most games with a "morality" system, and have also had the chance to play through both the good and bad paths in these games. Almost always, being really good is equal to being really evil (as in Mass Effect) or its rewarded in greater ways. For example, in the game Bioshock, you have the option to "cure" or "harvest" little girls for their sweet, sweet genetic material. The game subliminally tricks you by offering more initially by harvesting them, when actually you receive much more over the course of the game by curing all of them.
THATS WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT?
Oh my god, Harvest! Harvest them all! CANT YOU PRESS X FASTER?!
Now, playing the bad pathway can be more fun and also easier, but choosing the light side of the force will result in betterment for your character and soul. Also, games with morality systems can have reputation related to your morality. If you're an evil piece of shit who kills, humps, and eats (in that order) every living thing you see, odds are that people are going to (1) Avoid you in public places, or (2) Try to kill you. So you may have fun being the plight of all mankind, but you're just making it harder on yourself.
I JUST WANT A FRIEND!
Next Week: 4 Ways Video Games Have Not Made Me a Better Person
