READY PLAYER ONE!

While video games have been around since the 1950s in forms as basic as OXO (first released in 1952), Pong (first released in 1972), and text adventures, it’s only really since the 80s that games have made genuine efforts to tell more sophisticated stories. It’s fascinating to watch both as a gamer and a writer as the merits of the video game as ‘art’ get debated, but I feel it’s fair to say that in 2020 video gaming is unequivocally a form of art. Not only do we have stunning graphics and advanced gameplay that makes the player feel as though they are really there, but we have complex, deep and emotional character and narrative arcs that drive things along and really connect with the player in the way a movie, TV show or book might. If you want recent examples you only need to look as far as the heart-wrenching The Last of Us series, the Bioshock series or the terrifying Outlast series, among many other standouts.

What this advancement has led