Video Games

I was really impressed with the TED talk and discussion about Video Games today. Honestly, my opinion on video games has changed drastically since my significant other and I got together five years ago. Before we started dating, he told me that he SOMETIMES played video games, and that they were a way for him to relax after work or school. Fearing the worst, that he would be spending most of his time playing them while we were supposed to be spending time together, I took a leap of faith. I honestly never saw him play games in front of me for three years, until we moved in together, and even then, he would always wait until I was asleep or at school/work to even turn on his system. Then he purchased a game called L.A. Noire, a game set in 1940's Los Angeles about detectives investigating crimes. Now I was hooked. Not only were the sets gorgeous, the graphics amazing, the music, even the FEEL of the game was amazing... I would sometimes ask him to just put on the title screen and let me listen to the music that plays there while I slept. ( the soundtrack is top notch.) This notion gave him an idea, and as he loves Film Noir best out of any genre, he felt like I should then see some of the films from that time period that inspired the game. This has opened up an entire world to me of crime, shadow tactics, and amazing dialogue associated with this era of film. Most recently, I have begun watching him play the Assassin's Creed franchise, mainly because, although a fictional game, most of the main characters are based on historical fact and historical places. ( also very beautiful to watch.) My feeling is that if a video game can interest people into some sort of historical facet of life and to remember where all this came from, then at the very least they can be all that bad.