Video Games: Mind Numbing or Emotionally Explorative?

When someone says "video game" a lot of people think if an nonintellectual, time-wasting, potentially IQ-lowering passer of time that is often the target of much ridicule and  most of the time gets misunderstood. There are, of course, video games that fit into this category and these stereotypes but these are not the best ones. Personally, I don't play much video games anymore, but I used to be a huuuuge COD fanatic (surprising to anyone who knows me now I am sure) so i think of video games mostly as violent and not really having a plot.

This man, Ryan Green, shows us a perfect example of how a video game can be meaningful and connect to the audience on a deep, emotional level. Through making this video game that tells the story of how his son was diagnosed with a tumor and eventually lost the battle with it, he allows others to relate to not only the grief but also all the moments of love and cherishing memories that lead up to it. The style of video game he made was more of a story video game where sometimes it is like you're watching a movie and other times it is interactive. I have honestly never played a video game like this, but it sounds very interesting and I want to try it now!

I loved hearing how Ryan reacted to people saying that it is a bad thing to make a game based on the story of a child having a tumor. He responds in such a great, eye opening way that only someone who has gone through this experience would have thought of. This reading was just really cool to me and I am so glad that there is a market for this kind of thing out there to be explored and shared!