Задание №16 — Чтение

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Grown-ups and video games

Even now, well into the third decade of the 21st century, we tend to view video games as a guilty pleasure. For anyone over the age of 25, they’re often something you sneak off to do when no one is at home. They’re a furtive treat, filled with the cultural equivalent of empty calories.

Partly this is to do with how video games have been marketed for the last 30 years – predominantly at teenage boys. The games industry has taught us to see games as loud, brash and arcane. But the last years have seen a huge renaissance in video game design. The democratisation of the medium has brought in new voices and ideas. Fascinating things are happening. So here are reasons why, if you haven’t played many video games in the past, or still feel a little self-conscious about it, you should try more – and not feel bad about it.

As the global economy shows few signs of drastically improving, getting the most out of our entertainment choices is important. Most titles have replayability features built in. Big adventure games are filled with sub-quests, hidden areas and collectible items that encourage and reward replay and exploration. Competitive multiplayer titles effectively function like sports – you play and improve over many months, discovering new skill sets and features. And of course, waiting a few weeks before buying a game, or looking out for sales will get you those experiences for even less money.

A lot of the people now making, producing and funding television and movies grew up playing video games – and that influence is becoming ever more obvious. We’re now seeing the very structure, culture and design principles of games being expressed and explored in traditional narrative media. So playing video games is effectively preparing you for the future of broadcast media, and ensuring you understand what’s going on in the next season of your favourite television show.

The popular stereotype of the lone gamer sitting in a bedroom staring at a screen was never particularly accurate, but now it is laughably out of date. Most titles have multiplayer components that let you easily play against other people online. We learn a lot about our friends through play, and how you cooperate on video game tasks is a pretty good indicator on how you will cope with real-life challenges. In short, video games will save your relationships. I’m only half joking.

With the arrival of smartphones and tablets, games are more pervasive than ever. Children are now growing up expecting all screens to be interactive – a phenomenon that’s being referred to as “generation swipe.” They are using tablets in school, they’re being taught to code, and they’re creating apps. Playing together with kids is a way of meeting with your children in a domain they enjoy and feel comfortable with. It lets them take the lead; it lets them show you stuff. The skills are also transferable and can expand into the real world.

Did I mention this? Games are fun. They provide fascinating worlds to explore and take part in, they let us do incredible, sometimes ugly things – without recourse or any external help. They test out intelligence and reaction; they posit weird futures and possibilities; they let us take control of lives and bodies that we could never own or experience. They are made by artists and visionaries, and they provide moments of utter transfixing beauty and resonance. These are valid forms of escape and experience; they tell us things.

In the years of uncertainty and vast technological change, it is time to see video games alongside – and equal to – books, television and cinema as a popular imaginative medium. It is OK to play.