Tell Me a Story...With Video Games?

Regardless of who was reading, what they were reading, or how they were reading, Story Time was always a standout moment during my childhood. Full of kooky characters and jaw-dropping adventures, there was rarely a dull moment when an adult picked up a picture book and sat at the head of the class. From my best friend’s mom reading Seuss’ The Lorax, to our classroom aide retelling The Giving Tree with wild, elaborate gestures, Story Time had a certain captivating magic. Even now, 15 odd years later, I find reading aloud to be equally entertaining. Sure, the audience has grown up, and the subjects are a little more mature, but there’s an odd sense of wonder that accompanies the act of storytelling that just never gets old.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we, as readers, crave a good story—a great narrative, complex characters, and pinches of conflict just do a soul good.

And if the story is all that matters, why should the medium make such a difference?

Perhaps, it doesn't.

Playing Games in a Reader's World

Confession time: my first love was not reading.

Gasp, I know.

For the longest time, I would pretend to read books as a way to get to recess quicker or impress my teachers—even as a young child, I knew how to manipulate my way in to rewards for all my “hard work.” Actually, I didn’t care to read anything for a good deal of my kindergarten through second grade education.

Rather, I spent a great deal of time dodging books as a way to get back at my mother and father. I thought that by avoiding books, I was actually doing them a disservice, and they would feel terribly guilty for grounding me for this or chastising me for that. Once, at six years of age, I even wrote in a private journal that I would never read again as a way to show my mom how angry I was.  I guess when your family runs a bookstore you have a warped sense of how to show another person you have the upper-hand.

I’ll teach my mom to ground me! I’m never reading again! Can you imagine?

No, reading was not my fist favorite activity. Instead, I spent a great deal of time with a controller in my hand and my eyes glued to the television. Yes, dear readers, I’m afraid that I was a video games kid.

And here’s another shocker: I still am.