10 Things Non-Gamers Don't Understand About Gaming
4. Interactivity Enhances Emotional Investment
Even in 2020, there are still many who find the prospect of emotionally engaging with a video game laughable, that the human element simply isn't sufficient enough to generate such a response.
And while it's fair to say that most video games are still lagging behind books, movies, and TV where the visceral stakes are concerned, it's also important to appreciate that the uniquely immersive potential of gaming can take it to emotional heights these other media can't even begin to imagine.
Consider The Last of Us, a game with one of the greatest stories and richest casts of characters video games have ever seen.
Given that we as players spend around 15 hours in this world fighting for survival ourselves, the sense of investment is so much greater than had we simply been passively watching the drama unfold over the course of a TV series.
Yet for those who've never played a video game, it's difficult to appreciate the added involvement that comes with being an actual, physical component of the storytelling yourself.