THE MATURITY OF GAMING

1 Corinthians 13:11: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."-NKJV

*If you want the original Septuagint translation go find it yourself.  

Video games. They get blamed for everything; violence, sexual debauchery and general sociopathic tendencies. 

They get blamed for everything except being vehicles of preserving and passing on culture and values throughout time. 

Many would argue that a grown person who plays video games is immature. They have much more productive things they could be doing instead of sitting in front of a TV with a controller in their hands. 

Of course, there is too much of a good thing. Some adults become addicted and neglect their responsibilities. This being a reality, I still would like to argue that gaming as one ages is not only a sign of maturity but an obligation to the universal language of survival skills.

In China, games are considered a pass time of the elders and one who can compete and win against them have achieved a right of passage. 

Yeah, so what? There is a difference between "Go" and "Dance, Dance Revolution."

Is there really much of a difference?

Does the dimension in which the game is played really determine the value on society?

Is it not about the interaction between two human beings?

Games teach strategy. They hone critical thinking and adaptive skills. All games do this. 

Even GTA (as violent and raunchy at times as it may be) teaches these skills.

Well, what about the desensitization is inflicts on our children?

Are you kidding me? Art reflects life, my dear. There ain't nothing going in in GTA that wasn't going on in every action movie, on the streets and on television. 

Hell, in cartoons folks are dropping pianos on each other and shooting holes in each other's heads. 

Trust me, it ain't the games that allow your child to become a sociopath. Its your shitty parenting or genetics. 

If gaming is so immature why are mature adults making millions of dollars off parents who run out and buy these games for their children.

I guess the message is its only immature if you aren't making money doing it or using it go pacify your offspring. 

But back to my point. One of the few guaranteed markets left for original (truly original) compositions of music is the gaming industry. 

One seldom hears samples in gaming music (not that sampling is bad).

I'm listening to the Tekken 7 OST right now while I'm at work. 

There are also scores of men, women, and youth that are employed as artists. They create the characters, the color schemes, the animation. 

Some games have even inspired fashion and retail. 

Now lets reveal those seldom discussed values that gaming instills in their community. 

RPGs such as DIABLO require collaboration to defeat certain enemies.

Games such as Zelda make you talk to those in your environment and investigate that which is misunderstood. 

Yes, you can do nefarious things in MMORPGs but most members of that community would label you an asshole and shun you.

There are games where you must learn to ration resources and know when to use them. 

There are games where your choices influence the storyline.

So far we got: teamwork, social acuity, resource management and accountability. 

Y'all need some more?