How Video Games Changed my Life

Any hardcore or moderate gamer knows the story - it's the summer holidays, you're feeling lazy or you're broke, and facing that terrifying glaring sunshine is just too much to bear. You grab your duvet and stumble over to the TV like a zombie on its day off and turn on your Xbox, intent on spending the day shooting, assassinating, or slaying dragons. And then you hear the inevitable footsteps, faint at first but growing closer. The door opens.

 "You're on that thing again?"

 You probably mumble something incoherent and hope the parent goes away. Unfortunately they don't.

"You could be doing something productive with your time. You'll never learn anything if you play games all day. Go out, it's a lovely day."

 Unfortunately for them, the parents don't realise just how determined us gamers are to avoid direct sunlight or social interaction on days like these. All that results from these one-sided conversations is the irritation of both parties, and the mutual shaking of heads. Generally they make a closing statement along the lines of 'You'll never amount to anything if you carry on like this', and storm from the room, leaving you to wallow in your own melanin-deprived squalor.

 The fact is though, that I spent most of my childhood playing computer games. From a sturdy old Master System, to a Playstation 1, N64, Dreamcast, PS2, and Xbox 360.  I'm now in my mid 20's, at university and with a busy home life, but even now if given an hour to myself you'll find me sat in front of an Xbox slaughtering my way through Renaissance Italy, shooting foul-mouthed 12 year olds on CoD, or riding Chocobos across wild and alien lands. Yes, I'm a game addict, but is that necessarily a bad thing?

 I remember my first experience at 6 years old playing a Master System. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had just been released, and therefore everybody I knew had got the cartridge. The week before, we'd been playing in the playground as Power Rangers, now we played Sonic (much to my disgust, I never got to be Sonic - apparently girls were only good for being kidnapped by Robotnik).

 I started writing 'Sonic stories'. The teachers let me have an exercise book just for my stories, since I was defacing all my spelling books. I used to be so engrossed that they would let me skip school assembly so that I could carry on. I still have some of the exercise books in a drawer somewhere, and one of those stories would one day become the groundwork for my first attempt at a novel.

 Since the Sonic reboot in the past few years, the blue spiky one has risen in popularity again. My 6 and 4 year old nephews are obsessed, and thanks to my days in front of a Master System it means that I can relate to them on a level playing field. There's a lot of satisfaction to be gained from being regarded as the God of Sonic Knowledge, let me assure you. It also means I get to run around with them pretending to be Sonic characters again (alas I still don't get to be Sonic himself - I've been demoted to chasing the two of them round impersonating Robotnik. Sigh.)

 The first game I took an interest in on the PS1 was the Final Fantasy series. I'll always remember playing through Final Fantasy 7 when I was just turning to my teens, and being embarrassed that a game could make me weep like a baby, and that the music could inspire me so much. This was before the advent of Youtube or MP3 players, and so the only way for me to listen to the music was either to leave the game playing, or to use a VHS to record my favourite music and keep rewinding it. Nobuo Uematsu became my music deity. Of course, my music teacher had never heard of him and when I said he was a game music composer, the teacher broke into that smug, derogatory smile. Apparently though, it wasn't so funny when I sang a slightly less Engrish version of 'Eyes On Me' at the Christmas concert. He asked me who wrote it, since it was such a lovely song. Ha, Mr Nicholls. Just ha.

 Besides the music, the Final Fantasy games also gave me the inspiration to become a fantasy writer. Spending hours in another world where everyone's hair is perfect and you can ride around on mutant chickens? There's something deliriously euphoric about that. I'd also like to think that my altruism and moral standards were inspired by the lessons that Final Fantasy gave me as I was growing up. It's just a shame that the rest of the world can't learn the same lessons.

 

 I developed my writing skills under the influence of Final Fantasy 7, writing fanfiction about my favourite hired hitmen - the Turks. What developed from that was a novel-sized story that took me over a year to write and remains my proudest achievement to date. I've always meant to return to those boys in blue, but never had the time. No doubt I'll go back to them eventually. Writing with the voice of a bad boy is addictive.

 At the age of 17 I developed depression and dropped out of college. When the world was too much for me, it was the escapism of playing my PS that stopped me from going over the edge. I suppose to a certain extent, that need for escapism is one of the reasons I still play them today. Adult life is stressful, you know.

 Resident Evil taught me to stay calm under pressure. (when I first started playing, I would turn the console off as soon as this bad boy turned up. Oh Nemmy...)

I'd also like to think I now know how to survive the Zombie Apocalypse, even when wearing a miniskirt.

 Playing the Elder Scrolls games again introduced me to a new escapist world, and gave me more inspiration for my writing. It also introduced me to Jeremy Soule, who wrote the soundtrack. If you've never heard his music I recommend it. You can find one of my favourite pieces above. It makes great background music for reading or writing.

 And finally we come to my most recent addiction - the Assassin's Creed franchise. As well as escapism and the incredibly satisfying dance of the poisoned guard, the care taken to present the surroundings fairly accurately, plus that amazing database facility gave me an understanding about the Renaissance - a period of history I'd never really payed much attention to. Through the ministrations of Ubisoft I know now the history of Venice, Florence, Rome, and Istanbul; The life of Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, and the Borgias; The architecture of some of Italy's most Iconic landmarks; How Gondolas are made; Banking, government, law, religion, philosophy, geography, technology.... need I go on?

 In my next term at university I'll be studying Renaissance literature, including Machiavelli. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ubisoft for giving me a fun and gripping way to study for university. Of course, I won't be writing essays about how Machiavelli was an Assassin...

 Another thing that I have to thank that beautiful game for is not shying away from death. It's tempting for any story to end on a 'happily ever after' note (I like to call them Disney Endings), but Ubisoft refuse to do so. Thanks to them, we get to see both Altair and Ezio grow old and die. Although I still tear up when watching Embers, they present death as a natural and inevitable thing. For me at least, this somehow makes facing up to this fact less scary. Ubisoft I salute you.

 

 But what about Call of Duty? Surely a shoot-em-up can't be educational in any way? Surely if anything it breeds violence, hate, and smart-mouthed little brats? Violence is, unfortunately, true, but I'd also like to point you to this article as a redeeming feature. I'd also like to say that CoD has acted as excellent anger management for me at times when I was close to committing GBH.

 It's easy for a parent of the non-gaming generation to see the violence and apparent empty-mindedness that gaming entails. It's true you might be sitting in a darkened room, drinking far too many caffeinated drinks and avoiding as much social interaction as possible, but in an era that thinks it socially acceptable to sit in front of a television watching Jeremy Kyle and 16 and Pregnant, but considers game addicts antisocial, I feel quite proud that I'm challenging myself, making new discoveries about music, history, morality, culture and storytelling. I'm learning tactics, teamwork, creative problem solving, and prioritization.

 Now tell me - what other medium could teach me all that?

Anneka Mason 
Twitter - @FFTurkaholic