Thank the Maker for Videogames

P1. Media is educational

P2. Videogames are a form of media

C. Videogames are educational

Yeah, okay, that argument's pretty bad. But the conclusion's true. Addictive or not, videogames teach people a lot of stuff! I present to you some of the most notable things that videogames alone have imparted onto me:

1. The difference between 'effect' and 'affect'

There came a point in high school - it was an exam, no doubt - when the sentence I was penning was to adopt one of the two most commonly confused words in the English language. Being more pedantic about grammar than content (as you are by now well aware), I was determined to get the word right if it took me the remainder of the exam to do so. It didn't, of course. It probably took about ten seconds. Know why? Because at the onset of that ten seconds, a magical word jumped onto the subjective surface of my desk. Pokemon. And with it, the following, forever-ingrained lines of Nintendo-quality translation:

"It's super effective."

"It's not very effective."

"It doesn't affect enemy Pidgeotto."

Why Pidgeotto? you ask. Because it's Flying/Normal, giving it an astounding two Pokemon types to which it is immune (Ground and Ghost), and because it's also very common. Thus, Pidgeotto is one of the most notable Pokemon to which the phrase "It doesn't affect enemy-" is applied. Duh.

From there it was easy. I realised (and said seven times in my head lest I forget and have to repeat this time-consuming yet marvellous process) that 'affect' is a verb and 'effect' is a noun. Needless to say, I walked out of that exam more refreshed and enlightened than I did, say, the gym after earning my eighth badge! Heh heh, not quite.

2. Potion; flask; vial; phial; poultice; health globe?

Such a vast array of words, all of which tend to be used in very similar contexts. I was introduced to the potion when I was four, watching my brother play the critically acclaimed (and best game ever) Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I tended to only watch videogames rather than play them at that stage (and experience a covetous abundance of fun and joy and excitement) because videogames, even innocent ones like Mario, were too scary for me to actually play. But back to Zelda. In the northeast part of Hyrule, there was a potion shop, which sold red potions to refill your life bar, green potions to restore magic, and blue potions, which did both! This last one was quite pricey, mind you. Being the challenging game that it was, a wise player had to have equipped at least one bottle of juicy red potion at all times. There were fairies, too, which would automatically aid to you upon death; but they'd only restore seven hearts. Quite pathetic when a hit from the enemy took off three. Trainer tip: fairies are free of charge, so stock up on them early game.

3. Playing a survival-horror game is scarier than watching a survival-horror film. Immersion!

Furthermore, Regenerators are the most horrific, awful, grotesque, you-can't-help-but-pee-your-pants-at-the-sight-of-them creatures in virtual existence!

Sorry for the long video, but this one's the best! Watch from 10:00-12:00 and see this guy get owned! Kudos to him for his courage, though.

Resident Evil 4 is scary, man. When my brother bought it back in 2008 (by then it was four years old, hence the dated graphics), it took all of me and more to get through it. Even today, I can't play it at night with the lights off lest, when venturing to brush my teeth, I fear for my life that a Regenerator is lying in wait around an unlit corridor. (By corridor I mean simple hallway or room). Conversely, watching that video makes me want to play the game again!

There are scarier games; but there's no freakier enemy. I'm tellin ya.

Videogames have taught me a great deal more; but for today, those three are all we have time for. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to argue that immersing yourselves in hours of videogames is productive, nor am I pretending they're a waste of life and need justifying. I'm just stating the facts, and, uh, perhaps wanted an excuse to talk about games. Ciao!