I like them. Then again, I like them far less than board and card games. There is something about the act of physically holding a deck of cards, or moving counters on a board that you just don’t get from holding a control pad. Then again, there is a great deal you can do with a control pad and a TV screen.

I have a Wii, a SNES and temporary custody of an Xbox. I also have a desktop PC and a laptop. Only two of these ever gets used for games. The Wii is my absolute favourite console and since I have always been something of a Nintendo loyalist, it seemed only natural that I would choose this over a PS3 or something similar. My PC is the other ‘console’ I use for video games. Only a couple of days ago I bought the expansion packs for The Sims 3 (not the ‘stuff’ packs, just the actual expansions) and I’m still waiting for them to arrive from Amazon. I’m getting a bit twitchy waiting for them to show up because I’ve spent most of the last week playing it to clear my head.

So… what is it about video games?

Well, for me, at the moment, its the escapism. I enjoy the way that I can turn on The Sims 3 and everything else just goes away. Its light hearted, funny and as challenging as you want (or don’t want) it to be. And it can go on for hours. The nature of that type of game is simply that it can go on and on and on and on.

My other favourite video game is Resident Evil 4. I first played it on the GameCube and I was pretty good at it. Now since that console formed part of the trade in for the Wii, I re-bought the Wii version of the game and sold the GameCube version. Now, to coin a phrase; I’m sick! :p I love it to pieces and have played it very many times through releasing all of the hidden content through doing so.

Quite a contrast there though; simulation games versus shoot em up zombie survival horror.

I watched a video today – Master D pointed it out to me – of a bunch of kids playing video games. It was just their faces while they played, with no hint of what they were playing other than the sounds that the game makes. It was weird. Watching how somebody can be so completely immersed.

And I think that’s why I enjoy it so much. LARP is the ultimate immersion for me, but I only get to do that three times a year. At times like these when I need to relax my mind or think of something else, playing a video game can take me away from whatever is bothering me. It can put me in a place that’s full of problems that are actually fixable, rather than those you spend days and nights agonising over. And they do it in a fun way.

Video games get slated all the time for promoting violence in kids and glorifying the grubbier aspects of life. But are you honestly trying to tell me that TV, music and other senseless factors don’t do that too? I guess my point is that to point the finger at video games and slam them mercilessly without thinking it through is stupid.

Why not look at the bigger picture? Changing/banning/grading video games isn’t the answer, certainly when doing so puts the likes of Mario Kart into the same bucket as Gears of War. o.O