Critical Question

A nice, short entry to start the week off. When I begun this blog, about a week ago, I said that it would take a critical look at my experience with video games. This was not such a simple task as first appeared. In fact, it’s not easy to think critically about something you enjoy so much. As a student of Film & Media, I’ve had to think critically about my relationship with film and television – this is something that I can handle considerably well. I know of others, however, who claim their enjoyment of various media forms has been ruined by subjecting that media to study. Putting a film under the microscope in the way we do in the discipline is bound to have some impact on the way we engage with those films in our own time. And to a certain extent this is also the case for me – I know how certain shots are put together to create a particular effect, for example. It’s not something I’ll automatically think about when I sit down to watch part 1 of the Deathly Hallows later tonight, but it’s impossible not to have one’s viewing somewhat affected by what one’s learnt. As I said though, for me, this is an exceedingly minor problem. Perhaps because I don’t view films with the same amount of passion as videogames. So the question becomes, how do I feel about analysing the videogame world and my place in it? I’m going to cheat somewhat here and say I don’t have a definitive answer. Rather, I believe this blog will continue to explore the question of how far I’m willing to go in casting a critical eye over my beloved pastime.