I’m a big fan of video essays. They’re my podcasts, if I’m honest—a soundtrack to my day. And I saw a few in my recommended the other day that were about Halo. You know, the game? It was one of my favourites growing up. I had to play a bootlegged copy on my PC—no Xbox in my house—but I really enjoyed it—the modding, especially! And watching/listening to that video essay got me thinking about what I liked about Halo in particular, as opposed to all the other first-person shooters out there. My cousins generously gifted me their old Xbox One (thanks, guys!), which gave me an opportunity to explore just what makes video games an effective medium of communication. What makes them special?

I’m going to give what might seem an uncharacteristic and unpopular opinion: despite not being a huge gamer, I do enjoy the odd video game, and I think they’re criminally underrated in the arts world. Successful new media have always been considered strange at first—why should video games be any exception?

Obviously, there is a way in which gamer culture carries (or used to carry) the stigma of “laziness” or “dysfunction” in our society. If you think of a gamer, you might think of a guy hanging out at home all day, who’s maybe a bit anti-social and doesn’t shower enough. This is radically different to our imagination of a “reader”, which is much more refined and clean-cut. Maybe there is the tiniest bit of truth to these stereotypes: these different mediums will attract different kinds of people.

But when you think about what video games are in themselves, you can appreciate that they tell stories in a unique way. Yes; there’s graphics and music—two art forms considered laudable on their own. However, I think the biggest difference is that video games empower you to directly participate in the story. I can’t think of another art-form that does that!

If you’ve never played a video game in your life, then you don’t know the thrill of success on advancing the plot after a difficult level. You embody a character of your own, and this gives you a personal stake in the story. You’re not just watching or reading about a character, after all: you’re becoming them, sharing in their victories and defeats.

This is not to say that video games aren’t without their flaws as a medium. I’m not arguing that gamers are a monolith in what makes games meaningful to them. Nor am I trying to disparage books, movies, music, operas, and the like for what they “lack”. Rather, I want to show that “art” is an evolving medium. When the pen-and-paper was invented, I’m sure there were people who argued against it, saying it was lazy as opposed to oral record-keeping. Just as now there are people who decry video games as un-posh, when they are simply the latest in a long line of artistic endeavours.

I hope this offers you some food for thought just as the thought did me. Communication underlies just about everything we consume. Messages are embedded in the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the phones we carry, and so on. Do we notice them? Do we think about them? Are we intentional about how we send messages in turn? These aren’t meant as “gotcha” questions. They are merely intended to open you up to new possibilities.

After all, what is communication, if not human communion?

(Also, for those who are wondering, I haven’t read McLuhan, although I’m planning to.)