I guess by the very nature of this forum, the people who read this are obviously going to stand firmly "for" video games, but it's interesting to read the perspective of a total outsider. These two completely contrasting articles (interestingly, both from The Guardian) are great reads: From gaming ambassador (and total legend), Charlie Brooker: Why I love video games. From gaming virgin, Stuart Jeffries: Video games: My First Time Enjoy. EDIT: Apologies for the typo in the subject. It's early...
That one was...interesting. Unfortunately he seems to have completely missed the entire point of video games, and instead of viewing them as simple forms of entertainment tries to justify their existence in terms of human accomplishments. His main argument: is therefore fundamentally flawed, since many of the same people who are curing cancer or learning Arabic also play and enjoy computer games as a form of relaxation and escapism. He also couldn't have chosen three worse examples of what games have to offer in terms of artistic merit, although these are curiously three of the most popular games around today. Give him a game with a decent, immersive storyline and I'm sure he'd have a different opinion. If he doesn't, then that just proves he's a stubborn git with an unfounded prejudice towards games and the people who play them.
