a essay about video games

Essays About Video Games: Top 12 Examples and Prompts

Video games have revolutionized the way we have fun today. If you are writing essays about video games, check out our guide to inspire your writing.

Few can contest the fact that video games have taken over the world. From the basic, almost “primitive” games of the 1970s like Pong to the mind-bending virtual reality games of the 2020s, they have been a source of entertainment for all. Moreover, they have proven quite profitable; countries like Japan and the United States have made tens of billions of dollars solely from the video game market.

Despite their popularity, much has been debated over the potentially harmful side effects that video games may have, particularly on children. One side argues that playing certain video games can lead to people exhibiting violence in the future, while others believe that video games teach players essential life skills. Regardless, they will continue to be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future.

For engaging essays about video games, read the essay examples featured below for inspiration.

1. What electronic games can teach us by Kendall Powell

2. designers are imagining video games without guns by keith stuart, 3. playing video games all summer won’t make you feel worse by nicole wetsman, 4. violent video games bad by andrea newman.

5. The health effects of too much gaming by Peter Grinspoon

Writing Prompts For Essays About Video Games

1. video games: good or bad, 2. the benefits of video games, 3. what is your favorite video game, 4. do video games cause people to become violent, 5. video games in your life, 6. video games vs. traditional games, 7. is the video game rating system enough.

“In other studies, researchers found that gamers who trained on Tetris were better at mentally rotating two-dimensional shapes than those who played a control game. Students who played two hours of All You Can E.T., an educational game designed to enhance the executive function of switching between tasks, improved their focus-shifting skills compared with students who played a word search game.”

Powell explains a few possibilities of applying video games to education. As it turns out, certain video games can improve players’ skills, depending on the mechanics. Researchers are inspired by this and hope to take advantage of the competitive, motivational nature of gaming to encourage children to learn. New games are designed to help kids improve their focus, coordination, and resilience, and game designers hope they will succeed.

“Imagine a game where you’re a war reporter seeking to capture the most iconic, representative images in a battle environment: You’d still get the sense of peril that audiences expect from action adventures, but your relationship with the environment would be more profound. It would be Call of Duty from the perspective of a creative participant rather than a violent interloper.”

The graphic nature of some video games is said to make kids violent, so it is only natural that some creators try to change this. Stuart writes that it is possible to maintain the fun that shooter-type games induce without using guns. He gives examples of games where you do not kill your enemy, simply stunning or capturing them instead. He also suggests photography as an alternative to killing in a “shooting” game. Finally, he suggests basing video games around helping others, making friends, and doing more peaceful, creative tasks.

“Any role video games play in skewing well-being that did pop up in the study was too small to have a real-world impact on how people feel, the authors said. People would have to play games for 10 more hours per day than their baseline to notice changes in their well-being, the study found.”

Wetsman counters the widespread belief that video games “destroy your brain.” Research done with a sample of 39,000 players over six weeks has shown that whether one plays video games for long or short periods, their mental health is not impacted much. There are some exceptions; however, there are not enough to conclude that video games are, in fact, harmful.

“Some people believe that the connection between violent games, and real violence is also fairly intuitive. In playing the games kids are likely to become desensitized to gory images;which could make them less disturbing, and perhaps easier to deal with in real life. While video games aren’t about violence their capacity to teach can be a good thing.”

In her essay, Newman writes about the supposed promotion of violence in some video games. However, she believes this violence does not cause people to be more aggressive later. Instead, she believes these games expose children to certain atrocities so they will not be traumatized if they see them in real life. In addition, these games supposedly promote connections and friendships. Finally, Newman believes that these “harmful” can make you a better person.

5. The health effects of too much gaming by Peter Grinspoon

“Gamers need to be educated on how to protect their thumbs, wrists, and elbows, their waistlines, their emotional state, their sleep, and their eyes. Simple education around taking breaks, stretching, eating healthy snacks, and resting and icing your thumb, wrist, or elbow when it starts hurting can address injuries early, before they become significant. For the eyes, gamers can try the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, try to look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.”

Grinspoon discusses both the benefits and the health risks of gaming. Video games allow people to interact with each other remotely and bond over specific missions or tasks, and some research shows that they have cognitive benefits. However, some gamers may develop vision problems and hand and wrist injuries. Gaming and “staring in front of a screen the whole day” is also associated with obesity. Overall, Grinspoon believes that gaming is best done in moderation.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about hobbies .

Many parents believe that their children’s “bad behavior” is because of video games. Based on your experience and others, decide: are video games good or bad for you? Make sure to read viewpoints from both sides and write an essay based on your position. Would you encourage others to play video games? Discuss these pros and cons for an interesting argumentative essay.

Like anything else, video games have both positive and negative aspects. Explain the good that video games can do for you: the skills they can equip you with, the lessons they can teach, and anything else. Also, include whether you believe their benefits outweigh the disadvantages they may pose.

For your essay, write about your favorite video game and why you chose it. What is its meaning to you, and how has it affected your life? Describe the gameplay mechanics, characters, storyline, and general impact on the gaming community or society. You can write about any game you want, even if you have not played it; just ensure the content is sufficient.

Many claim that playing violent video games can make you violent in the future. Research this phenomenon and conclude whether it is true or not. Is the evidence sufficient? There are many resources on this topic; support your argument by citing credible sources, such as news articles, statistics, and scientific research.

Video games have been a part of almost all our lives. Recall a treasured experience with video games and explain why it is significant. How old were you? Why do you remember it fondly? How did this experience make you feel? Answer these questions in your own words for an exciting essay.

Essays About Video Games: Video games vs. Traditional games

There are stark differences between video and traditional games, such as board games and card games. For an engaging essay, compare and contrast them and write about which is more entertaining, in your opinion. Be creative; this should be based on your own opinions and ideas.

The video game content rating system is used to classify video games based on their appropriateness for specific ages. However, parents complain that they are not strict enough and allow the display of violent content to children. Explore the criteria behind the rating system, decide whether it needs to be changed or not, and give examples to support your argument.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Persuasive Essay: Video Games

Teenagers today often spend a great deal of time playing video games. These games are fun and engaging and young people often feel like playing games is a great thing to do in their spare time. However, you shouldn’t spend too much time gaming and there are a number of reasons for this: it’s unhealthy, you should spend more time studying, and you need to socialize more.

The primary reason to cut down on gaming time has to be that youths that spend a long time on computers and games consoles are often not getting enough exercise. With high obesity rates, it’s very important for young people to spend as much time being active as possible, especially since studies show that people who are overweight during childhood and adolescence are far more likely to become overweight adults than those of a healthy weight when they’re young. There is just as much, if not more, fun to be had in getting out and about and being active. This doesn’t have to mean going for long runs if that’s not your thing; team sports are both fun and great exercise. Dance or fitness classes are also a good option for those not into sports.

Secondly, getting a good education is that best thing that you can do for your future. If every teenager cut down on their gaming time by 30 minutes per day and used this time to study, the whole of that generation would achieve better results and be more likely to have the career that they want. With education, you get out what you put in, so it’s really up to you to put in the additional effort. If you want to go to a good college, extra study in your own time will be completely vital, but gaming can reduce your concentration span and make this more difficult.

The third main reason that playing video games too often is that it’s no good for your social skills. Some teenagers may argue that because they can now play their games online with friends, they are socializing in their own way. However, you can’t beat face-to-face contact, and if you want to succeed in interviews and build good relationships in later life, you need to develop some proper communication skills. This shouldn’t be a chore, or difficult, because hanging out with friends is far more fun than sitting indoors playing on games all day anyway!

In conclusion, there can be no doubt that spending too much time gaming isn’t good for you. You don’t have to stop all together, but it’s all about moderation. Cut down and allocate your additional free time to doing things that are good for you, and you definitely won’t regret it in later life.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Video Games — The Benefits Of Video Games

Video Games and Its Positive Effects

Categories: Advantages of Technology Impact of Technology Video Games

About this sample

Words: 1248 |

Published: Jun 20, 2019

Words: 1248 | Pages: 2 | 7 min read

Introduction, positive effects of video games, works cited.

Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children's and adolescents' aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(5), 646-666.
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66-78.
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2012). Learning, attentional control, and action video games. Current Biology, 22(18), R197-R206.
Kühn, S., & Gallinat, J. (2014). Amount of lifetime video gaming is positively associated with entorhinal, hippocampal and occipital volume. Molecular Psychiatry, 19(7), 842-847.
McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin.
Russoniello, C. V., Fish, M., & O'Brien, K. (2013). The efficacy of casual video game play in reducing clinical depression: A randomized controlled study. Games for Health Journal, 2(6), 341-346.
Subrahmanyam, K., & Greenfield, P. (1998). Effect of video game practice on spatial skills in girls and boys. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19(3), 463-472.
Van Rooij, A. J., Ferguson, C. J., Colder Carras, M., Kardefelt-Winther, D., Shi, J., Aarseth, E., ... & Saunders, J. (2018). A weak scientific basis for gaming disorder: Let us err on the side of caution. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7(1), 1-9.
Wang, H. Y., & Peng, W. (2017). The benefits of playing video games. In Media Exposure and Risk (pp. 197-210). Springer.
Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. (2007). The Proteus effect: The effect of transformed self-representation on behavior. Human Communication Research, 33(3), 271-290.

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Interesting College Essay Topics: Video Games & Esports Part 2

Updated: Jul 12, 2023

Welcome to part 2 of our blog series about video games and esports in the college application process. If you've already read part 1 , feel free to skip to the new material focusing on competitive multiplayer games . If you haven't read part 1 , I highly recommend reading that post first, as I tackle some foundational ideas about how a single piece of culture can affect a person's values .

I'm a nerd, let's get that out of the way. I grew up immersed sci-fi, fantasy, movies, television shows, anime, video games, board games, tabletop games, and even read certain textbooks for fun (still do, looking at you A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to The Present ). My childhood pre-dated critically and commercially acclaimed comic book movies, the ability to make a living by streaming video games online, and the widespread adoption of video games for everyday audiences (think mobile phone games, or the Nintendo Wii in the mid-2000s). To put it simply, it's a lot easier to openly embrace nerdy culture now than it was during my childhood.

The social stigma and ostracization of being a "nerd" led me to hide many of my hobbies and interests from friends and family for most of my life. Sadly, I still hear echoes of these feelings in students I work with today. It's not uncommon to hear a student say, "It's easier to just say nothing than try to explain my interests, hobbies, or passions." This breaks my heart, and for this reason I've become more open about my nerdy side and encourage students to do the same.

So what does all this have to do with the college search and application process? As an admission officer and a college counselor, I've read too many essays and applications focusing on students telling me what they think I want to hear. What they don't realize is that the thing I want to read about is an authentic, introspective, and self-aware portrait of who they are as a person. Families tend to reinforce this censorship of a students personality, often both knowingly and unknowingly. We all see the stories of the 4.0 GPA, 1550 SAT, honor society student and that's what has become the standard of success. What most families don't see, but I have, is the student with an average GPA and test score that can successfully articulate why they actually participate in extracurriculars; explain their values; describe what problems they want to solve in the world; and write a unique essay that reflects who they are as a person, not just what they've accomplished. I've read thousands of essays by this point in my relatively young career, and the handful that have stuck with me had nothing to do with the students' grades, test scores, or accomplishments.

So, over the next few blog posts, I want to write about a topic that seems to grow more common each year I work with students and families: video games. It's a tale as old as the ~1980s: a parent is concerned because their student is spending too much time playing video games and not engaging with the world. I'll be the first to concede that not all students who play video games should be writing a college essay about them, and sometimes video games are just a temporary escape from the stress of life (same as movies, television, books, and any number of other hobbies). However, I'm going to posit the idea that there are a lot of students out there who have a true passion for video games and, with a little introspection, can turn that passion into a powerful asset for their college application.

During this multi-part college essay blog series, I'm going to review a few different ways to tackle the topics of video games:

The Personal Impact of Video Games

Artistic, Emotional, or Developmental Impact of a Single Player Game

Impact of a Competitive Multiplayer Game ( You Are Here )

Impact of a Social or Cooperative Multiplayer Game

The Impact of Video Games on a Student's Professional or Academic Path

Video Games as a Catalyst for Pursuing a STEM Education

Video Games as an Interdisciplinary Collaborative

As a reader, I want you to keep in mind two more universally understood concepts into which we can distill these essays:

An introspective look into how a form of culture has shaped a student's ideas, beliefs, values, and personality.

An introspective look into how a student began a journey to help shape others through the act of creation or innovation.

Impact of a Competitive Multiplayer Game

It's a Saturday, no homework or tests, all of the chores are done, and a student is looking to have some fun with a pickup game. None of the student's friends are available, so they head to a community gathering spot and join some strangers to play on a team. It's a five-on-five match and all of these people are strangers to one another. They all know the rules of the game, but they don't know each other's strengths, weaknesses, or general temperaments. Together they need to adapt, communicate, and leverage each other's talents. The players are stressed and the air is tense, any number of mistakes could lead to arguments amongst these strangers. The competition is fierce and no individual person has enough talent to win alone, so this group of strangers has to become a unified team to claim victory.

I'm not describing a pickup game of basketball, soccer, or rugby at a local community park. I'm describing League of Legends, an incredibly popular competitive team-based strategy game that pits two teams of five strangers against each other in matches that, on average, last from 30-45 minutes. For those not familiar with League of Legends, imagine a game of chess with over 60 unique pieces from which to choose. Each player on your team can only choose and control one piece. Ultimately these two teams of five make moves at the exact same time (instead of taking turns) advancing through "lanes" and destroying the opposing team's "nexus" (base). The game is a mix of strategy based on immense game knowledge, real-time reaction speed against living opponents, and delicate social management to keep five strangers from losing their tempers or the will to win.

An essay focusing on experiences with competitive video games tends to be less reliant on the art, characters, or story and more on development of skills that can be applicable to the world outside of video games. These are essays that also tend to highlight a student's interest in esports (professional/collegiate level teams for competitive video games). Let's look at a quick example using League of Legends:

A student begins to play an online competitive game. They aren't the best at first, but with time and practice they begin to climb the official ranking system for the game. They hone their situational awareness, problem solving and critical thinking skills, and ability to adapt their plans and strategies to everchanging circumstances. Eventually, their practice has yielded significant increases in personal skill, but this isn't a game where one player can win the entire game for their team. So now the student has to develop a completely separate set of skills independent of their own performance. During the next 30-45 minutes the student will have to maintain a balancing act of demonstrating leadership, supporting their teammates, and playing peacekeeper if tensions run high amongst teammates. But here's the catch: the student needs to do all of this using only text. Ultimately, a student should be able to highlight personal growth, development of leadership and mediation skills, and explain how this growth and development has affected their life outside of video games.

The above example is very common, but students often lack the vocabulary or introspection to translate their experiences into lessons or skills that the general public would understand. One exercise to help a student feel more comfortable discussing their growth through competitive video games is to have them look at the experiences through a lens of competitive sports. High schools and colleges have no problem recognizing the benefits gained through competitive sports and terminology to highlight this kind of growth already exists and is readily available. Students can start by thinking about the common narratives surrounding benefits from sports, and then modify them to fit their personal experiences based on competitive video games. Here are some common questions or thoughts that might help a student get started on an essay focusing on competitive multiplayer gaming:

How and why did you get involved in competitive gaming? Are you a naturally competitive person who was drawn to that kind of game? Were you coerced into playing a competitive game because of a friend? Is playing an online game how you hang out with your friends? Think of the origin story for your passion about competitive video games.

How have you changed since you started playing competitive video games? Are you more confident? Have you strengthened your leadership or communication skills? Have you developed some resilience or grit through dealing with unruly teammates or losing a hard-fought match? I cannot emphasize enough the importance of describing your journey and transformation. After all, you are the star of this essay.

Are you interested in playing competitively at the collegiate level? Esports is the fastest growing college and high school sport in the world and a college that is putting esports as a strategic priority will be looking for talented and competitive students to help bolster their program. Demonstrating interest in a college's specific program might give you a slight edge in the admissions process.

What are some examples of lessons you learned through competitive gaming and how have you put them into practice outside of the game? If you have identified skills or lessons learned through these competitive video games and believe you have grown from these experiences then the next step is to show the reader how these changes have manifested in your everyday life.

Have you or your team actually competed in a local, state, regional, or national video game competition? If so, make sure to speak about this experience, what it entailed, and how you grew from it. Don't fall into the trap of spending your precious word count to tell a recount every detail about the event. Spend majority of your essay (60-80%) focusing on what you did during the event, how you utilized your newfound skills, why the event was meaningful, and where did you take your passion after the event (did you continue to participate in competitions)?

When talking with students and parents about how to utilize competitive video games in college applications, I usually ask about the student's interest in esports. It's important to realize not every student who plays a competitive video game is looking to play competitively in college (or after). The esports world is particularly competitive, and a student needs to be an exceptional player to continue competitively after the collegiate level. There will be a blog post later in the series focusing on the world of collegiate esports, but I did want to clarify for both students and parents that playing competitive video games can be an asset without a student needing to be involved in a collegiate esports program.

I hope that after reading this students feel a little more empowered to be vocal about their passions, and families feel a little more comfortable with the prospect of their student writing about the impact a competitive video game might have had on them. In part 3, we'll take a look at how a student can take their experience from social or cooperative multiplayer games and turn it into an interesting essay topic.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on this blog post series and receive free monthly newsletters about higher education and college admissions news and advice. As always, if you have questions or a topic you'd like to hear more about, please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly.

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Essay on Video Games

Students are often asked to write an essay on Video Games in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Video Games

Introduction.

Video games are interactive digital entertainment platforms. They are played on devices like computers, consoles, or mobiles.

Types of Video Games

There are many types of video games. Some are educational, others are adventure-based or sports-themed.

Benefits of Video Games

Video games can improve hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills, and strategic thinking. They can also be a fun way to relax.

Drawbacks of Video Games

Excessive gaming can lead to health issues like eye strain and lack of physical activity. It can also impact social skills if not balanced with real-world interactions.

Video games can be both beneficial and harmful. It’s important to play responsibly and maintain a healthy balance.

Also check:

10 Lines on Video Games

250 Words Essay on Video Games

Video games, a form of interactive entertainment, have evolved dramatically from their rudimentary origins in the 1970s. They have penetrated almost every aspect of modern society, becoming a significant part of our culture and a powerful force in the entertainment industry.

The Evolution of Video Games

In their inception, video games were straightforward, consisting of basic graphics and gameplay. However, as technology advanced, so did the complexity and visual appeal of these games. Today, video games are immersive experiences, boasting high-definition graphics, complex narratives, and intricate gameplay mechanics.

The Impact on Society

Video games have a profound impact on society. They have transformed how we spend our leisure time, and have even created new professions, such as professional e-sports players and game developers. In addition, video games have educational potential, as they can develop problem-solving and strategic thinking skills.

Controversies and Criticisms

Despite their popularity, video games have attracted controversy. Critics argue that they promote violence, addiction, and social isolation. However, research on these issues remains inconclusive, and many argue that the benefits of video games outweigh potential negatives.

In conclusion, video games are a multifaceted phenomenon that has significantly influenced our culture and society. Despite criticisms, their popularity continues to rise, indicating their enduring appeal and potential for future growth. As technology continues to evolve, so too will video games, promising exciting developments for this dynamic medium.

500 Words Essay on Video Games

Video games, a form of digital entertainment that has dramatically evolved over the past few decades, have become a significant part of contemporary culture. They offer a unique blend of interactive storytelling, art, and technology, engaging players in a way that no other medium can. Video games are more than just a pastime; they are a platform for expression, learning, and innovation.

The history of video games is a testament to the incredible technological advancements of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From the rudimentary pixel graphics of the 1970s to today’s immersive virtual reality experiences, video games have continuously pushed the boundaries of what is technologically possible. They have transformed from simple, solitary experiences into complex, social phenomena, connecting people from all walks of life.

The Impact of Video Games

Video games have a significant impact on society, influencing various aspects of our lives. They have revolutionized the entertainment industry, becoming a multi-billion dollar sector that rivals and often surpasses traditional media like film and music. Beyond entertainment, video games have found applications in education, healthcare, and even military training, demonstrating their versatility and potential.

The Benefits and Concerns

Despite the criticisms often associated with video gaming, such as addiction and violence, numerous studies have highlighted the potential benefits. Video games can improve cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and spatial awareness, and can also foster social interaction and cooperation when played in groups. They can serve as therapeutic tools, helping to manage conditions like anxiety and depression. However, it is essential to maintain a balanced perspective, acknowledging the potential risks and promoting responsible gaming.

The Future of Video Games

The future of video games is as exciting as it is unpredictable. With emerging technologies like virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and cloud gaming, the possibilities for innovation are limitless. Video games are poised to become even more immersive, interactive, and personalized, offering experiences that were once the stuff of science fiction.

In conclusion, video games are a dynamic and influential part of modern society, reflecting our culture, advancing technology, and impacting various aspects of our lives. They are a testament to human creativity and innovation, offering unique experiences that entertain, educate, and inspire. As we move forward, it is crucial to continue exploring the potential of video games, addressing the challenges they present, and harnessing their power for positive change.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Happy studying!

The Field of Dreams Approach: On Writing About Video Games

Tony Tulathimutte on the future of video game criticism

Every year, more and more great essays are published on literary sites concerning video games. In the past year I’ve especially loved entries like Janet Frishberg’s “On Playing Games, Productivity, and Right Livelihood,” Joseph Spece’s “A Harvest of Ice,” and Adam Fleming Petty’s “The Spatial Poetics of Nintendo: Architecture, Dennis Cooper, and Video Games.” But for each great essay there are a handful of others written like apologies, seemingly perennial pleas to take video games seriously as a form of meaningful narrative.

I hoped to have a conversation with a writer about games that went a little deeper. There were two main reasons I turned to the Whiting Award-winning writer Tony Tulathimutte. The first was because of his response in an interview with Playboy , in which he said that his interest in gaming probably “had something to do with my desire to bend or break formal conventions in fiction.” The second was his three thousand word essay about Clash of Clans , “Clash Rules Everything Around Me,” which was exactly the type of essay about gaming I wanted to see more of. Tulathimutte is the author of Private Citizens , which we listed as one of the 25 best novels of 2016 .

What I want is long-form literary criticism. But writers should just write what they want to read. The body of work will be there and the audience will follow it. The ‘ Field of Dreams’ approach.

Graham Oliver: Can we have this conversation without getting stuck trying to legitimize video games as a medium?

Tony Tulathimutte: “Are video games art?” “Have we had the video game Citizen Kane yet?”

GO: That’s such a boring and overdone conversation. I think it’s more interesting to look at the ways in which video games actually do interact with literature, and not to hold the conversation just as a demonstration of our respect.

TT: Take the respect for granted and go from there. I thought about starting a literary magazine about video games a while back, but the discourse had by then become so toxic that, even with the most anodyne academic essay you could write, the best you could hope for was that it would be ignored. There needs to be more space for this kind of writing, but I just didn’t want to wade into it then. I feel a little better about it now, which is why I did the Clash of Clans essay.

GO: What is the difference between video game-related essays showing up on a literary site, versus a site where the primary purpose is the intersection of video games and literature? What could that site do that can’t be done (or isn’t being done) otherwise?

TT: Part of it is just volume. You can’t have a general interest magazine like the New Yorker covering video games to the same depth or degree as it does film or music or even theater. Every big magazine at this point covers video games occasionally — I know the New Yorker has written about Minecraft and No Man’s Sky , for instance. New York Magazine just did a big essay on gaming more broadly.

But for some reason, there’s no video game editor at the New Yorker , no dedicated departments or verticals, except at newer places like VICE, Vox , The Verge . Unlike music or movies, video games aren’t equally distributed through the culture; it’s more compartmentalized. This owes in part to a marketing apparatus around games that caters to and fosters a specific audience, and because the audience for certain genres — responding to these pressures — became self-selecting, especially with respect to gender. Video games may be art, but they are also a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] industry, which makes them no different from any other STEM field in that regard.

GO: It’s a question of access. I was thinking about your Clash essay; you have this entire paragraph that has to explain this massively popular and mechanically fairly simple game. Does that automatically turn off an audience who are already proficient in those basics? In which case, are you only writing for people who don’t game? I suppose that’s another conundrum of coverage in a general interest publication…

TT: If you read an essay by Susan Sontag or Martin Amis about the great books, or by André Bazin about film, they can assume a certain level of knowledge about the text or film from their audience. I can write that way about games on my own time and my own dime, but there’s no presumed canon or general readership for games, because they’re not taught in schools and not regularly discussed in big publications. So you either write for the diehards — the equivalent of film buffs or bookworms — or for novices.

GO: Is that why we haven’t had novels which interact with video games the way David Foster Wallace did with tennis, or Ann Patchett with opera? Neither of their books included explanatory paragraphs; it’s so ingrained in our culture that it seems almost impossible to have grown up without some idea of what tennis or opera are.

TT: Most people have played a game, and the average gamer spends six hours a week playing them. I think it has less to do with the medium inherently than just the failure of writers who have approached the subject. I haven’t read everything on games, but so far, the fledgling efforts have been too literal or kind of corny. Some writers seem to think that you’re supposed to transpose the form of games into fiction — to provide this very lightly remediated experience of reading a book so that it feels like you’re playing a game.

The last thing you want to do is create a watered-down experience of gaming in a text. A book should still work as a book. It’s the usual difficulty of writing about other mediums; there’s that old chestnut that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. But there are special considerations for how to write about any form in a way that conveys deep presence and vividness comparable to the experience itself.

GO: When you’re writing about games in one form or another, do you find you prefer to write for someone who is like you — very interested in both writing and video games — or is your preference for someone in that liminal space somewhere between them?

TT: I approach it as I do with all my creative writing, which is to write for the audience of Tony. That frees to me to write things irrespective of their publishability. Right now I’m working on a long essay about Metal Gear Solid — the whole series. That’s between ten and twenty games, depending on which ones you call canon. The dialogue alone stacks up to something like sixty thousand words each. And the companion synopsis is almost three thousand words. I’m just trying to make points about the series that haven’t been made before. Would Kill Screen or The New York Review of Books ever run that? Hell to the fuck no.

If writers keep doing this, eventually there will be a readership equipped to deal with it. For the longest time there have been really smart people playing video games and wondering where all the good criticism was. It’s a discoverability issue, to a certain extent. There’s so much good writing out there about games, but most games-writing outlets cater to fairly niche perspectives. Action Button is extremely good, irreverent creative criticism, probably my favorite. Five Out of Ten is academically oriented, Kill Screen is mainstream journalism. What I want is long-form literary criticism. But writers should just write what they want to read. The body of work will be there and the audience will follow it. The Field of Dreams approach.

GO: You said earlier (and you’ve also mentioned it in your Playboy interview) that the discourse around games is toxic and partisan. Are you talking about within or outside of the gaming community?

TT: All of it. Partisan lines have been drawn within it for purposes far beyond aesthetic disagreement. In part because so much of this discourse occurs in a medium where people are not held accountable for their words, i.e. on the internet.

GO: How does that compare to conversations within the literary community? You’ve written before, for instance, about the MFA vs. NYC debate .

TT: I want to do my part to de-estrange gaming discourse. Not de-stigmatize or demystify, but de-estrange. This cancerous shit happens everywhere — it just happens in a spectacularly aggressive and organized way in gaming.

GO: When you’re not actually writing about video games, what place do they hold in your life? Are they the stress relief at the end of the day, the reward after two hours of writing? Or something you try to avoid when you’re in the middle of a big project?

TT: I’ve played video games since I was three years old. I have loved video games a lot longer than I’ve loved literature — which is not to say more. Actually… yeah, probably more. It just so happens that I’m a writer. I don’t feel the guilt that some people do who, even if they enjoy gaming, approach it feeling as if it’s a waste of time, or a form of entertainment which takes them away from their “real life.” You wouldn’t condemn a cineaste or a lover of literature. But a fug of non-respectability still attends video games.

That said, the reward mechanisms in most games are designed to get you hooked in cognitive motivational ways that don’t apply to most literature. So it’s absolutely possible for games to displace other things that you would want to do just as much. I don’t struggle to fit them into my life, but I probably would, if my life consisted of much more than just teaching and writing.

GO: I suppose I was thinking more about the effect on your mental state. For instance, I have to save video games for the end of the day, because I have a hard time going from the almost meditative state of game-playing into writing. How does it fit in, not in the sense of time but in how it interacts with your ability to produce writing afterwards?

TT: If a visual narrative enters my head before I start writing, it’s enormously difficult to pull myself back into writing. A huge amount of psychic inertia has to be overcome to transition from consuming a narrative to assembling one. I have a lot of wacko bird theories as to why. Perhaps language is such an information-poor medium that it demands a sparseness of input, so that you can have room to envision or create new stuff in your head. Maybe the act of viewing, which puts you in the posture of evaluation and judgment, beefs up the inner critic that makes it hard to write. That’s all pure superstition, I have nothing to base that on.

GO: What about when it comes to the type of video game? You’ve mentioned playing DotA 2 in other interviews, which is very different from more narrative-heavy single player games. In the middle of a big writing project, do you find yourself drawn more to one type of game over another?

TT: With the caveat that writers are the worst self-appraisers, I’ll say that I have not noticed any influence from the type of games I’m playing on what I write. I think games engage an entirely different part of my brain, which might also account for the difficulty I have toggling between those two modes. That said, I think longer games can work like long books — immersively — where you have to pinch your nose and take a deep breath before plunging into the Neapolitan books and it just becomes the medium you swim in for months. Some games demand a higher or more frequent degree of engagement to get any kind of nuance at all. You can play a thousand hours of DotA 2 , without coming anywhere near understanding it.

GO: How does that compare to the relationship between reading and your own work? Do you avoid other people’s writing when working, or do you keep books on your desk for the sake of referencing them?

TT: I do. I try to keep a messy puddle of books around my work area, in case I want to steal something from somebody else. But I Google as much as I refer to other books. I don’t disconnect from the internet when I’m writing, like some writers who have this almost mystical anathema against technology. I generally find I benefit from my procrastination.

You can have a rom-com game, a campus game, an adultery game, or a boring-but-important game that will get taught in high schools circa 2110.

GO: You referred to language as being information-poor a minute ago, which reminds me of the AGNI essay you wrote on boredom. The thesis of that essay was basically that boredom in literature is okay. Can you also apply that idea to video games? Can there be meaningful or productive boredom while playing, through the act of repetition, for instance? I just played Her Story, which I know you enjoyed, and while it has a super interesting story you have to slog through a certain amount of repetition to get to it.

TT: The democratization of game creation is producing a wider range of games, like the Super 8 camera did with film. You can have vignette-style games like Nina Freeman’s — Cibele , how do you Do It? , Freshman Year , etc. You can have “walking simulators” that are almost purely meditative, like Gone Home , Firewatch , or Dear Esther . I just saw a piece on a game based on Thoreau’s Walden .

The impulses and tendencies that make people want to create literature are present. It will happen more as people are able to do what they want to do, without enormous corporate financial support or even crowdfunding, which, to an extent, just moves the bottom line to having to be crowd-pleasing. Games can be plenty boring in spite of themselves, even if that’s not what they’re trying to do. It’s a cliché by now to point out that the most time investment-heavy games like World of Warcraft consist largely of “grinding.” Or, if you play something like DotA 2 , queuing for a game.

GO: For DotA 2 you also have to spend a lot of time reading up on viable builds. Work that’s not in actually playing the game.

TT: Yes, although I will say that that intellectual work doesn’t feel like tedious labor to me. I have fun looking up builds. The deep strategy and understanding are coextensive with the pleasure of playing the game.

Moments of boredom are built into games for reasons that range from comedy to suspense. I think a lot about the moment in Final Fantasy VI where you’re directed to just wait at the edge of a floating continent for a character to come along. On the one hand you’re sitting watching a clock tick down. On the other hand, it’s extremely tense.

Contrasting aesthetic effects in games to those in other media is not always productive, because it’s like playing Twenty Questions. Can games do X like books? Can games do Y like films? In the same way we should assume games are art, and that there’s an audience out there hungry to make something of them, we should assume that games can do anything. You can have a rom-com game, a campus game, an adultery game, or a boring-but-important game that will get taught in high schools circa 2110.

GO: I go to these academic conferences where a similar conversation is happening among professors who write in the field of gaming studies. Some bring in literary and film theory, and try to lay that on top of video games, while others reject that. The tools and the language are already there from other fields, so it seems easy. On the other hand, it can be kind of reductive, and perhaps prevents you from having the more meaningful conversation.

TT: Right, or even just the conversation you’re trying to have. There are also those efforts to create a language around game studies, partly I think try to legitimatize it in the eyes of the academy. You get people going on about the Ludologists versus the Narratologists, about ludonarrative dissonance, copping these quasi-academic terms. I can see the point of systematizing things, but my favorite criticism helps you not to just describe and understand, but to enjoy stuff more.

GO: How much do you worry about the effect that being an “out” gamer will have on your literary career?

TT: If I were bashful or coy about my love of video games I wouldn’t do this interview. The same goes for pornography or television. Even the language of being “out” implies a political and social pressure or an importance that just doesn’t exist. I’d hate to believe that being a writer means living in a constant state of deposition, publicizing everything you do, think, or feel. The fact that I like video games isn’t interesting. Video games are interesting. I love talking about them with smart people, both within and outside of gaming culture. But I’m also perfectly happy to be left alone with them.

GO: Do you hope there’s a day around the corner where a game developer decides to make a narrative-heavy game like Life is Strange , Her Story , or Kentucky Route Zero , and they look at a list of literary authors to figure out who should write it?

TT: Not at all. I believe that I can do a lot of things in writing, but I haven’t felt an urge to create a video game since the third grade. It’s always good to have some kind of interest that is totally pure, where you’re going to be an eternal fan, because sausage-making can disillusion you fast. If part of the charge of art comes from mystique or sheer baffled admiration, that’s something I want to preserve in at least a few departments of my life.

GO: As a writer, you’re expected to be both a creator and a thoughtful critic as well. It seems like once you publish a book, there is an expectation that you’ll be reviewing or blurbing for other books for the rest of your life. How does your approach to writing about literature differ from your essays on games?

TT: I review books as a practitioner; I know what goes into putting one together, so I can pan one that isn’t well-made. I write about games as an appreciator, in that I want to take something I like and enlarge people’s sense of pleasure or wonder at it. This doesn’t mean that I can’t be critical of a game. I have negative things to say about everything. But because I’m not highly qualified to trivialize or disparage a game on the level of craft — for instance, a sunbeam in a video game might look shitty and aliased because of technological or budgetary constraints that I’m not aware of — my main task is to study its narrative and to add value.

GO: You’ve been thinking about games critically for a long time. I read that you wrote your theses — both in undergrad and for your first master’s degree — on video game interaction. What were you looking at in those?

TT: I majored in something called Symbolic Systems, which would be called cognitive sciences anywhere else. They add linguistics and philosophy to the standard curriculum of formal logic, computer science, and cognitive psychology. I applied the extremely specific language of human-computer interaction studies to video games. So I wrote pretty dry literature surveys of game-writing and interaction theory, and how the latter could be applied to the former.

One was about game controller design, which ended up anticipating the Nintendo Wii controller by a couple of years. I talked about the potential for modular design and gestural input. The second thesis was about menus. They’re the basis of turn-based RPGs, and in games their definitional boundaries are weird. Take the Warp Zone Pipes in Super Mario Brothers . You go over a ceiling and drop into a room where you’re invited to select one of three pipes to go through. It is very clearly a menu, where you’re selecting one of three options, but it’s also a part of the action.

God, I sound so stoned when I talk about this.

GO: I hate to keep mentioning Her Story , but I just started it today. In that game, the user interface also has this blurry boundary. You read a ReadMe file to learn how to use the system, but that’s all part of the in-game computer you interact with as part of the story.

TT: Yeah, it’s brilliant. Any computer interaction can be extrapolated into a game premise. Here it’s basically Database Search: The Game, but it’s fun and well written. To analogize with literature, there are plenty of stories whose premise comes from its formal conceit. My favorite is “ Going for a Beer ” by Robert Coover. He takes a simple sentence gimmick — where two things that happen at different times are written as though they’re simultaneous — and it becomes the conceit of the story. The story is, “what if your life was composed of moments with endings and beginnings but no middles?”

GO: Form matching content. That happens in all types of art, right? There was a piece on Hamilton which pointed out that, as the first half progresses, the Marquis de Lafayette’s rhymes get denser and faster, coinciding with him being in America and increasingly speaking English. The music reflects the plot.

TT: Form generating content, I would say. It’s a classical idea. Sometimes it’s done very explicitly, like with Oulipo. It can be super corny, but it’s a dependable source of inspiration.

It’s Tristram Shandy-levels of batshit.

GO: Going back to your idea for a game-writing website, were you imagining a place that just collected the kind of long-form writing you want to see, or were you also imagining a community that would be built around it?

TT: I am not too concerned with building community. The idea was simply to get critical essays on games — not fiction, poetry, reviews, or personal essays, but literary analysis. Like the essay I’m working on about the Metal Gear Solid series… So many of the male characters lose their hands and are sterile and have daddy issues and misinterpret the will of one female character, The Boss. Aside from the glaring Freudian overtones, what’s that about? This is not stuff that figures into the plot as it plays out, but is something that I think screams out for conversation.

GO: I was a Nintendo kid and then jumped to PC gaming, so I never got into the Metal Gear games.

TT: It’s like the Infinite Jest of games. As far as I know, it’s the longest continuous scripted narrative in games. You can make a strained case for things like Zelda or Metroid , but this is the most sustained vision from an auteurist figure, Hideo Kojima, and it’s just bonkers. It’s Tristram Shandy -levels of batshit.

GO: Well, that sells it. I now have to ask the big, speculative question, since you just called it the Infinite Jest of games. What do you think David Foster Wallace’s writing would have been like, had he been obsessed with video games rather than television?

TT: This question is so enormously counterfactual it might as well be a novel. The guy was hugely tech-avoidant. He typed with one finger on an old computer. But games seem very contiguous with his concerns in Infinite Jest . Though who’s to say Virginia Woolf wouldn’t have also gotten equally invested in games? Wallace is a gimme because of the technological overlap, but to me the more interesting speculative question is, What would a game written by P.G. Wodehouse be like? I want to see an essay on that .

How to Have Fun Destroying Yourself: An Interview with Tony Tulathimutte, Author of Private Citizens

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Chapter 6: 21st-century media and issues

6.5.2 How video games affect literacy (synthesis)

Anonymous English 102 Writer

February 2021

In the world of literacy there are many common everyday activities that can be used to get closer to literacy without even realizing it. Most things people do within the day may improve or at least relate to literacy without them even realizing it. Video games, for example, can improve a person’s literacy each time they play it without even knowing. Whether it’s through communication between players or improvement of reading and writing skills, video games are much better at improving literacy than advertised. I chose this topic for this essay because video games are a hobby of mine and I believe they are very good at increasing a person’s skill in literacy than most would assume.

The way video game players communicate with each other is a very specific variation of standard speech. Rather than communicating through long, full, detailed sentences, they instead most of the time speak in short bursts of specific details about what they’re trying to tell each other. In James Gee’s “What is Literacy”, this is what would be known as an identity kit for the community of video game players. An identity kit is basically a set of instructions for how the members within one community act and interact with each other (18). With this kit of instructions players have found a new and more specialized way of communicating that is more efficient for them. When communicating in a more streamlined way like this, players cut out unnecessary details and only say what they need to. This concept works for the reading and writing aspect of literacy as well. When reading and writing within a game or community of video game players it is more efficient to use a shortened and simplified form of it. Skimming texts and writing with abbreviations are a few examples of this. In his article Gee discusses what he refers to as discourses which are the groups of people who use the identity kits for their specific needs (Gee). In this case the discourse of video game players uses an identity kit of efficient communication and simplified reading and writing to help them do better in their games.

In “Video Game Literacy Exploring new paradigms and new educational activities” by Damiano Falini it is further proven that video games have an effect of literacy. Playing video games usually subconsciously leads to the player improving their literacy skills whether they know it or not. Media analysis of video games causes the viewer to acquire more literacy skills such as language and technology (Falini 4). This acquisition of skill may not be as extreme as learning a language in school or from reading texts specifically designed for education, but it still has an effect on the players that can benefit them and their literary abilities. Many see this type of learning as negligible and a waste of time but learning in a way that is also enjoyable can often be much more efficient than traditional education. Throughout this article Falini cites several other articles including one that was also written by James Gee to support his argument about video games. Falini also references an Italian study that was still in progress at the time of writing that was meant to determine what effect a media education course about video games would have on students (Falini 4-5). With the finalized results of this study, it is possible Falini would have had even more support for his argument, but it seems he has high hopes for the results of this research. Falini then dedicates a section of the article to detail how he believes young students who wish to be educated in video game design should work step by step. In order the steps are introduction, then on to paper designs, followed by full production and concluded with testing (Falini 7-9). To conclude the article, Falini discusses a similar study to the previous one where students were surveyed about how well they like the video education course. The study concluded that for these students the course had proven the importance of collaboration and teamwork skills and that the students had learned something and done well on the tests attached to the video education course (Falini 11). Overall, it is apparent these video game development courses had a positive effect on the students involved.

Similar affects are analyzed in “The Game of Reading and Writing: How Video Games Reframe Our Understanding of Literacy” by John Alberti. The correlation between video games and literacy is often not clear but it has always been there. Video games have always challenged players to broaden their view on reading and writing through new literary practices and firsthand experiences within the games (Alberti 260). Interaction with a virtual world is bound to cause the player to experience new things and expand their scope of understanding. Experiencing new things through video games challenges our pre-existing version of literacy in a way that can make the player view literacy in a new and possibly more beneficial way (Alberti 261). Alberti then discusses the visual aspect of gaming and how it plays a role in literacy by being a more non-static and moving way of seeing something that can be educational (Alberti 264-265). Through these and several other aspects it is clear Alberti believes that video games can have quite an effect on the literacy of someone’s mind. Alberti often discusses the aspect of motivation in education and believes the playing of video games has a similar aspect to it when determining why people play the games in the first place. Playing video games and reading is motivated by pleasure and results in questions about why people play them, what exactly that pleasure is and where it comes from (Alberti 268). Overall Alberti is more on the fence about the effectiveness of video games as a whole but still discusses how video games and literacy are tied together in multiple aspects.

Literacy within video games is even further discussed in Silviano Carrasco’s “Meta-Literacy in Gameworlds”. The beginning of this article relates somewhat to Gee’s concept of identity kits by discussing how games interact with their players. Meta-Literacy is someone’s ability to differentiate different sections and understand their differences when playing a game (Carrasco 32). Interacting with a game world has the ability to bring out many aspects of the players’ literacy abilities. Carrasco cites another source to discuss how the motivation to become more literate in a subject such as possibly video games is the appeal of sharing a common knowledge with everyone else which can apply to many types of media literacy including video games (Carrasco 33). With this type of motivation many people would be much more likely to want to be involved in a certain group of others that also enjoy a piece of media which in turn would help them be more affected by wider ranges of literacy. Carrasco also discusses video games’ connection to outside media. Video games that reference external media act as a new perspective on another piece of work that can possibly give it extra or entirely new meaning (Carrasco 37). The enjoyment of video games is partially dependent on the players knowledge of the world through past experience, without previous knowledge of the game world the player is in they are possibly missing out on aspects of the game that would go unnoticed by players that are not already well versed in the game’s world and story (Carrasco 39). With possible faults such as this it would be very helpful to a player’s literacy within the game they are playing to seek out and learn more about what they are experiencing, thus improving their literacy. Carrasco then discusses how so-called tutorials improve the players’ ability and literacy. Often early in the game a text message will show on the screen telling the player how to do something and with few reminders after this that action will become second nature to the player, and they will not need the text reminder anymore but instead will already know what to do (Carrasco 40). The player’s literacy is subconsciously improved throughout a game when they pick up on new tips and tricks without needing to be constantly reminded. When the player knows what to do on their own, they have genuinely learned something new. Video games are less geared toward learning through heavy reading and more geared towards learning through association with images and narratives that are displayed throughout the game (Carrasco 41). The repetition of the games story and main themes throughout a game is a more effective form of learning in a game than ordinary learning and data memorizing like learning in school. Carrasco concludes by discussing the potential emotional value that video game stories can hold and how it further draws the player into a game and story it is telling.

Ultimately, these articles may be different in some respects, but overall contribute to the conclusion that video games can be closely related to the development of literacy. Gee’s description of discourses and identity kits very accurately summarize the community of video game players and how their shared common literacy helps them communicate effectively about their shared interests. The other articles also broadened my view on this subject, especially in the aspect of specifically video game development rather than just video game playing. The development aspect contains even more hidden literacy than I had previously thought it could with the various routes to becoming more educated and well versed in the subject. Overall, after writing this essay I believe even more in the role video games play in literacy.

Works cited

Alberti, John. “The Game of Reading and Writing: How Video Games Reframe Our Understanding of Literacy.” Computers and Composition , vol. 25, no. 3, Jan. 2008, pp. 258–269. EBSCOhost , doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2008.04.004.

Damiano Felini. “Video Game Literacy – Exploring New Paradigms and New Educational Activities.” Medienimpulse , Dec. 2010. EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.8fae855c6cce45bfa699d70f385ee68e&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Gee, James. “What Is Literacy?” Journal of Education , vol. 171, no. 1, 1989.

Silviano Carrasco, and Susana Tosca. “Meta-Literacy in Gameworlds.” Anàlisi: Quaderns de Comunicació i Cultura , no. 55, Dec. 2016, pp. 31–47. EBSCOhost , doi:10.7238/a.v0i55.2936.

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Anonymous English 102 Writer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Video Games Essay Examples

Video games and violence: debunking the myth.

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Do Violent Video Games Cause Behavior Problems

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The Harmful Effects of Violent Video Games

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The Positive Effects of Violent Video Games

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The Benefits of Playing Video Games for Children

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The Negative Effects of Video Games: Exploring the Impact

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About Video Games

A video game or computer game is a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a monitor or other display.

The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. Spacewar! was developed by MIT student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first such games on a video display.

Currently, there are five main platforms in the video gaming space: The Sony PlayStation Microsoft’s Xbox Nintendo’s Switch PCS Mobile

Minecraft, Fortnite, Fall Guys, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive etc.

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