14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago I decided to put an end to my most disgusting habit: smoking and, as expected, most of my friends have rushed in to congratulate me. But the idea for this weekend's reading came after one of my oldest friends (and, at the same time, a guy that never played a video game in his life) told me something like: "Well done, bro! Now, you only have to stop wasting your life in front of flat screens and you'll be perfect!". It was the moment it clicked. Everything became crystal clear. Invisible puzzle pieces were, in an instant, joined together, presenting me the big picture: games are like smoking!
Of course I am not completely insane to believe or say that video games could damage the health of any rational human being. I just see the same pattern here: it was back in the 70s when smoking was considered to be the coolest thing a person could do. I even remember that different Hollywood superstars had trademark ways of smoking and everybody tried to hold the cigarette and blow out the smoke in specific ways - everything just to be a bit more interesting.
And then, slowly, the anti-smoking campaign started. People finally understood that smoking would seriously damage one's health and it is not cool nor the smartest thing to do: everything because people everywhere started to repeat how bad smoking was, posters were listing all the consequences of smoking, movie superstars were no longer smoking and so on. One thing is clear: none of these things would've happened if the entire campaign hadn't been backed up by ads, posters and lots of people repeating the same thing over and over again. (Just a quick note, to be sure: I totally agree with the fact that smoking IS bad for one's health!)
Back to recent times and what matters the most to us: history is repeating and, since tons of money are involved both in the games industry and the other entertainment sectors which now generate less income because of our good old games, there are numerous people that have started to repeat the same things over and over again: games are unhealthy, games are bad, GAMES KILL.
We are receiving lots of research results proving that video games have a bad influence on those playing them, we have writers publishing books stating that video games are nothing but the devil's work, we have attorneys dedicating their lives to an endless fight against video games, we have the mass media fighting against game developers (and providing false accusations, by the way) and city authorities are trying to stop the distribution of video games to the masses (while, sometimes, other city authorities can't handle the pressure of the media). We already know that new and harsher game ratings are in the works and could become a reality, we already know that politicians have tried to stop the distribution of video games (and some are still trying), we already know that most of the people who will never call themselves "gamers" are against this fun, harmless phenomenon.
It is exactly the same thing that happened to smoking: playing games is cool now and many people are starting to dedicate their lives to this, but the "others" have appeared and they're trying to convince everybody that this is an unhealthy habit - something that is changing the entire society in a bad way. And, ironically, the similarities between smoking and playing games go even further: a while ago, it was suggested to stick cigarette-styled warnings on video game covers! A bit too much resemblance, right?
Of course we know that all the studies, books, random ramblings and all this anti-games s* that's going on is miles away from being true, but many people don't. They could accept it as a true fact if enough well known and respected institutions, TV stations, superstars, politicians and so on would keep saying it to them. And that is exactly what is happening at the moment: many people are repeating to us, to the whole world, that video games are bad for our health. Just like cigarettes.
The only difference - a major and decisive one - is that smoking indeed was bad for one's health while gaming is not. That's the only advantage we have over cigarettes and probably the only thing that will stop turning games into an extinct species. I know, games are fun, harmless, pure entertainment - but keep telling people that games are actually something else and they'll start believing it. What could we do? I don't know... spread the word maybe. Tell the world that games only give us virtual entertainment in virtual worlds and nothing is going to affect the real one. It's not games which change the world in a bad way - people are.